The Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 15, 2015
St. Andrew’s Church
The Rev. M. Anthony Seel, Jr.
2 Chronicles 36:14-23
“True Freedom”
As I began to think about today’s sermon, I was a bit perplexed. Some weeks, I get a clear sense of direction and I pray that God will guide my sermon preparation. Other weeks, like this week, I pray, “Lord, what is it that you want me to preach.”
When I get really stumped, I sometimes pull out this book, Preaching the Lectionary, by Reginald Fuller. Dr. Fuller was an Anglican priest and professor that I had the privilege of meeting a few years ago. Dr. Fuller’s assessment of our first lesson is this: “The Old Testament reading does not seem to yield very much appropriate material for a sermon…”
My hope is that at the end of this sermon you will disagree with Reginald Fuller. If not, you can tell me at the door that Dr. Fuller was right!
Our first lesson contains the final verse of 2 Chronicles. It tells us the story of the fall of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah, the southern kingdom of divided Israel. Josiah was the last good king of Judah and he was followed by four bad kings. The first verse of our reading summarizes that part of time:
v. 14 “All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy in Jerusalem.”
Judah was no longer following God. The religious leadership was corrupt. No one listened to the prophets. They wouldn’t even listen to the great prophet Jeremiah. The king did evil. So, God brought Babylon to destroy the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah.
Jeremiah predicted the fall of Judah and exile for the people of Judah in Babylon. The people refused to listen to him. They asked the political leaders to kill Jeremiah (Jer. 26). Jeremiah was arrested, beaten, and imprisoned because the people said he was pro-Babylon. Actually, he was pro-Judah, but the people would not listen to him.
In the summer of 586 BC, the magnificent Temple build by Solomon was destroyed. The people of Judah were taken captive and exiled in Babylon. All that Jeremiah prophesied came to pass.
Os Guinness is a prophet for our times. He is Irish, but he lives near Washington, D.C. and is a member of one of our churches, the Falls Church in Falls Church, Virginia. He has a PhD from Oxford, he is the founder and director of the Trinity Forum, and he has written over 25 books.
In his book, A Free People’s Suicide, he sums up a portion of our national history:
We are nearly eight decades after the Great Depression,
seven decades after Pearl Harbor and World War II, four
decades after the tumultuous and influential 60s, two
decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the
bi-polar world, one decade after September 11, and in
the midst of two of the most revealing and fateful
presidencies in America history. [p. 15]
He is referring to George W. Bush and Barrack Obama. Guinness sees us at “just the beginning of a mounting sea of problems engulfing America from many sides” [p. 16].
According to Guinness and the Founding Fathers, what he calls “the special glory of America” [p.17] … “requires truth and virtue” [p. 151]. This was true for Judah and it’s true for us. Guinness says
Freedom requires a firm refusal of what is false, what is
bad, what is excessive, what is ugly, and, above all, what
a person is not and should never try to become. [p. 152]
Guinness explains,
In sum, there are things that each of us as free people
simply cannot and should not be, and should not do,
although we could. The promise that in a free society
we can be anything we want to be is a specious modern
delusion. [p. 153]
Guinness finds inspiration in what he calls “Two of the most progressive movements in Western history – the Renaissance and the Reformation. [p. 197]
Both movements in their own way looked back to the past to find a new way forward.
The Jews were graciously that same prospect when God worked in the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia. Persia has defeated Babylon as prophesied by Jeremiah. Afterwards, King Cyrus issued a proclamation:
v. 23 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.'"
After 70 years of exile, the Jews were allowed to return to their homeland. God used a foreign king to not only return His people to the Promised Land. Cyrus also decreed that God had “charged him” to “build [God] a house in Jerusalem.”
When God is blessing His people, even a foreign government supports the work of God on earth. That’s a powerful principle.
When Solomon was King of Israel, he held dominion over all the nations from Egypt to the River Euphrates and across to the Philistines. The Queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s wisdom and visited him, bringing gifts of gold, spices, and precious stones.
Later in Israel’s history we see this principle at work for Daniel, and following the decree of Cyrus, for Ezra and Nehemiah. In the New Testament, we see this principle laid out by the apostle Paul in Romans 13:
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. (vv. 1-4)
The apostle Paul exhorts us to to good no matter who is in charge of government.
God is in control of even evil governments. They cannot step beyond the limits
that God has established for them.
Does this mean that they are prevented from doing heinous acts? Of course not.
We must never forget the holocaust or the killing fields of Cambodia, or so many
other acts of inhumanity by evil men. The cross was a heinous act, yet God
allowed it and through it God has done immeasurable good for us and for all who
have or will receive His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Israel endured much persecution and other suffering, yet God did not abandon
them forever. He purified them through their suffering in exile and He returned
them to the Promised Land.
Lent is intended to be a season of purification. Through worship, study, self-
imposed deprivations including fasting, through prayer, self-examination and
repentance, we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in preparation for celebrating a
joyous Easter.
As Christ walked to the cross, we walk with Him. As He is delivered over to His enemies, we are invited to stand with Him. In Christ and His ways, we find a freedom for living that is not found anywhere else. In Christ, we find true freedom. Following Jesus, we have discovered that He is the way, the truth, and the life.
Governments will fail and fall. Religious leaders will fail and fall. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He will not fail. He will not fail you.
As Christians, we believe that freedom is a gift given to us by God through His Son Jesus Christ. Israel lost her freedom many times…
To the Assyrians, then to the Babylonians, and then to the Persians. Yes, they were given religious freedom under Cyrus. They were able to return to their homeland and rebuild their Temple. But they were under Persian rule until 333 BC. Then Alexander the Great defeated Persia and took control of the region.
Judas Maccabeus led a revolt against the Seleucids, the next ruling empire, and secured freedom in December 164 BC for Israel until Roman rule settled over the region through 390 AD.
Then it was the Byzantines (390-611), followed by Arab rule (636-1099). Israel was never free again until 1948. Some consider the present-day State of Israel to be a miracle.
Nations come and go, even nations under God lose their way, but they can return to God. Return and restoration are always possible.
On January 14, 1776, General George Washington wrote, “The reflection upon my situation and that of this army produces many an uneasy hour when all around me are wrapped in sleep. Few people know the predicament we are in.”
In his work, 1776, David McCullough writes about George Washington’s state of mind, saying,
In less than two weeks, on December 1, the enlistment of
2,000 of his troops would be up, the men free to go. It was
the same nightmare prospect he had faced at Boston a year
before, and with the misery of the men greater now than
ever, and morale suffering, there seemed every chance that
his army would evaporate before his eyes. [p. 249]
Two weeks later, on Sunday, December 1, those 2,000 militia men did leave the war. [p. 256] General Nathaniel Green reported that George Washington’s army was down to less than 3,000 men. He commented, “a very pitiful army to trust the liberties of America on.” [p. 257]
McCollough writes, “on New Year’s Day, all enlistments would expire. And what then?” [p. 269]
The total number for the Continental Army stood at 7,500 men, but only an estimated 6,000 were fit for battle. On December 27, the Continental Congress voted to authorize George Washington to use all means necessary “to prevail upon the troops… to stay with the army.” [p. 286]
The war would continue until the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. McCullough reflects,
The year 1776, celebrated as the birth year of the nation
and for the signing of the Declaration of Independence,
was for those who carried the fight for independence
forward a year of all-too-few victories, of sustained
suffering, disease, hunger, desertion, cowardness,
disillusionment, defeat, terrible discouragement, and
fear… but also of phenomenal courage and bedrock
devotion to country…
Especially for those who had been with Washington
and who knew what a close call it was at the beginning –
how often circumstance, storms, contrary winds, the
oddities of individual character, had made the difference
- the outcome seemed a little short of a miracle. [ p. 294]
Here we are, in the year 2015, and maybe we need to be reminded that freedom is never free. It is costly. It also takes vigilance to maintain.
Os Guinness writes,
At the height of the American experiment, two things
will remain open-ended forever. The first is the nature
of freedom itself. Freedom never lasts forever, because
its very vitality is built on a combination of elements that
are dynamic, difficult to hold together and easy to corrupt.
[p. 134]
According to Guinness, freedom is sustained by virtue and faith [p. 99]. Faith and virtue shape character, national character and personal character, and this “moral constitution” is essential for freedom.
Guinness cautions, “A republic grounded only in a consensus of calculation and competing self-interests can never last” [p. 100].
Guinness reflects,
Beyond any question, the way the American founders
consistently linked faith and freedom, republicanism
and religion, was not only deliberate and thoughtful,
it was also surprising and anything but routine. [p. 106]
Character matters and faith sustains good character. Private morality matters and faith shapes private morality. Virtue matters and faith feeds virtue.
All of this is grounded in God and God’s ways. Israel lost sight of this. We dare not lose sight of this ourselves.
As Christians, the Holy Spirit works in us to draw us to God and to find new life in Him. As we draw near to Christ, and feed on Him in our hearts by faith, we are shaped by Him. As we draw our life from His life, the fruit of the Spirit shape our character. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control grow in us as we grow in Christ.
How is God growing in you? How does God want to grow in you?
Our primary and ultimate allegiance is to Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. Having acknowledged that, we must also recognize that we are citizens of this world, particularly the United States of America. The truth, virtue, and character that are ours in Christ serve both God and country.
As individuals and as a church, we serve the greater good as we grow in Christ. How do you need to grow this Lent? How does God want to grow in you?
People of God, grow in Him. Grow to be more like Him. Honor Him every day as a devoted follower as you grow in His love.
In Christ and only in Christ will you find the true freedom that everyone seeks. In Christ and only in Christ will you find the power you need to live a godly life.
Draw near to Christ and He will draw near to you. That is His promise to you.
The place where you meet Christ is the most blessed place on earth. Draw near to Him now and forever. May that be the constant direction of your life, and you will find the abundant blessings that flow from His hand. Amen.
