Intro: This morning, I want to begin by visiting the closing tag of the movie “Finding Nemo.” It features a number of aquarium creatures who have just escaped from the aquarium inside the dentist’s office.
(Play clip from the end of the movie "Finding Nemo" - “OK. Now what do we do?”)
Nemo’s friends aren’t the first ones to wish for freedom and then wonder what to do with it.
• After 13 American Colonies warred for and won their independence from the British Empire they had a huge task ahead of them. The formulating of the Constitution and the first U. S. Government was a hard, drawn-out task.
• After the North won America’s bloodiest war ever, the former slaves were free. But free to do what? More than 4 million former slaves who’d previously lived in the South found themselves without land, without education, and without work.
• It isn’t too unusual for men who’ve served time in prison and then are free to end up back in prison; recidivism, it’s called. What do they have once they’re released? In OH, I once had a man come in off the street seeking help. He’d just been dropped off, by bus, after serving a several year prison sentence. He was free now. He had very little money, no car, no place to live, no family to turn to, and basically only the clothes he was wearing. It’s no wonder someone like him would end up back in prison.
• Many students, once they’re finally free from high school, discover what that freedom includes. I left home and went to Bible college – where I was the freest I’d ever been – free to do my own laundry, pay for my own meals, and to take care of my own problems. Many students arrive at secular universities and about 85% free themselves from their faith in their first year of college.
• The US made the move and liberated the nation of Iraq. On the day that Saddam Hussein was captured, there was celebration in the streets. In the Middle East, that involves shooting guns in the air. Somewhere around a dozen people died from stray bullets fired in celebration that day. Since then, Iraq has been dealing with the challenge of restoring order while lawless people seek to cause trouble.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech, Aug. 28, 1963, ended with: “And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
OK. Now what?
Freedom isn’t the absence of rules or authority. Doing away with law and authorities in power just creates chaos. History has proven it and current events illustrate it.
Israel was free. Egypt was in their rearview mirrors. The chariots of Egypt were buried in the Red Sea. No more slavery. No more taskmasters breathing down your neck. No more beatings and insults. Freedom. And right away, they have challenges and new needs:
• For 400 yrs the nation of Israel lived in a society full of gods. In fact, each one of the 10 plagues was a judgment on some god of Egypt. Israel hadn’t been free to worship God in the way He wanted them to. Now, they needed to organize proper worship of God in their community.
• Israel had never needed an army. Now, they’re getting ready to conquer all the nations of Canaan. They weren’t ready for this.
• There wasn’t a very well established system or structure of government for a growing nation. They were already over a million in number. They would need to establish that.
• They didn’t really know where they were going, or how exactly to get there. Just finding food and water for so many was already out of their hands.
Israel was free, but that meant they had a lot of challenges to handle. So, one of the first priorities in the history of Israel, as a free nation, is ch 20ff of Exodus. You can remember Exodus 20 as one of the 2 places in the OT where the 10 Commandments are listed. From there, God goes on to list another 603 commands that will give Israel the help they need.
Those 10 Commandments really aren’t that radical – they’re pretty basic. I like the way Erwin McManus points this out. They aren’t the standards of heaven – the rules by which angels live. The 10 Commandments are the lowest possible standard of humane living. But they gave something to Israel that all free people need in order to remain free people: rules to live by, and to please God.
Now, we’ve been talking about the way that Israel’s freedom from slavery in Egypt is also a preface to the story of our freedom from sin. So remember, as we continue to look at Israel and learn about them, we’re continuing to look at ourselves and learn about us.
We’ve been freed from slavery. At least, if you’ve accepted Jesus’ gift of freedom and life, you’ve been freed.
Everything that led up to Jesus on the cross had you in mind. And now - now that you’re free, what do you do? What do you need? Like Israel, being freed from slavery means there are some new needs in your life. What are they? What’s going to get you across this desert we call life to the Promised Land we call Heaven?
If you’re free at last, or if you’re considering what it means to be freed, there are 3 responsibilities you’re going to need to take on:
1. Watch Out For the Hazards of Freedom
We all live by certain rules or laws. For instance, you all live according to the law of gravity. Obey gravity. It’s not just a theory. It’s the law! And those who ignore it will pay.
We live by moral laws too, whether those come from God or just some that you make up for yourself. Everyone has them.
God gave Israel His Law. It served its purpose. They needed a law.
But that Law wasn’t meant to be His final word. He promised that it would be replaced one day. Now, on this side of the cross, God has given us something new.
Romans 8:2
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
Now that we’ve been made free by the blood of Jesus, there are 2 hazards that face us:
One is that we would make following Jesus just another set of laws. That’s called legalism.
The other hazard is that we would attempt to make following Jesus just an absence of all laws. That’s called anarchy.
1. Legalism
Understand that legalism doesn’t mean you’re someone who keeps the law. If you drive the speed limit and are careful to make sure you pay your taxes, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re legalistic. It just means you’re keeping the law. Good for you.
But legalism doesn’t mean you keep the law. It means you try to wrongly use the law. When it comes to how we relate to God, being legalistic means that you use God’s good law for yourself.
Some use it as a way to put down others.
You know: We don’t smoke, and we don’t chew, and we don’t go with the girls that do! And the more good things I can manage to pull off, the more I can look down on people who don’t live by the same standards. Why would I do that? Well, it’s like being on that diet where you feed everyone that’s around you. The heavier everyone around you becomes, the thinner it makes you look! That’s true of legalistic law-keeping too. The more you can point out that others are breaking God’s standards, the better it makes you look…and feel, as long as you’re not caught breaking them too.
Some use it as a way to try to earn their way into Heaven… with limited effort.
That’s what’s really behind legalism. It’s relying on my own ability to be good enough to earn Heaven. Are you good enough? Have you done enough good stuff? Boy, you’d better, because, you know, one day, God’s going to come, and He’s going to take that naughty and nice list, and if your nice doesn’t outweigh your naughty, you’re in big trouble! That’s legalism.
Let’s be honest, legalism is easier in some ways. It’s easier because, when you’re living under law, you only have to give 10%, and then you get to stop. It’s easier, because you only have to refrain from murder, but you still get to hate someone and wish they were dead. It’s easier, because you just have not to commit adultery with someone, but you can still wish that you could. It’s easier, because you only have to worship God at certain times, rather than letting thoughts about Him fill every day. You just put in your time, your money, and don’t do certain things and bodda-bing, bodda-boom, you’re in!
That’s legalism. It reduces your relationship with Jesus to a list of rules – a bunch of do’s and don’t’s – a bunch of motions you go through - and you just hope it’s good enough to get you in – but you’re never really sure.
That’s not what God’s Law is for! If that’s what you’re doing, you’re just trying to use God’s Law for yourself. You’re making it all about you! It isn’t!
In the OT, God’s Law was given to establish Israel as a nation, and to give them the framework for being God’s people. But for us, now that Jesus has come and changed it all, it serves a different purpose.
Romans 3:20
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
God’s perfect law shows us just how much we need help! It shows us that our very best, at its best, is a pile of garbage when it comes to being good enough.
Isaiah 64:6a
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
Every religion of the world has some set of standards – some law to keep. Keep the law, and you make it into Heaven or Nirvana or you have good karma or something like that. It’s all about being good enough to get something for yourself. But along with that, every religion of the world leaves people always unsure if they’ve really ever been good enough. That’s legalism – relying on your ability to keep the rules so that you’ll make it into Heaven.
But Jesus made a different way when He died on the cross. He not only assumed about you and me that we weren’t going to be good enough, He paid the price for our mess-ups. Now, we’re saved on the basis of our belief about how good He is, how perfectly He kept the standard, and how much we need what He offers to us as a gift.
2 weeks ago, we watched as Vanessa Williams was baptized and accepted Jesus’ gift for her. It wasn’t some good act she was doing to be good enough. She was just glad to receive the Lord’s gift!
Galatians 5:1
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that you’d live like it wasn’t enough to forgive you! Don’t fall into the hazard of legalism.
The 2nd hazard of freedom is
2. Anarchy
Anarchy is the word that means “without a ruler.” That’s the condition of a country where there’s a revolution by a mob who overthrows a dictator. He’s gone, but there’s no one in charge. That’s some peoples’ idea of freedom – no one in charge of anyone, period. After all, it sounds so oppressive for someone to be in charge of someone else. So you end up with looting and chaos and economic disaster when it happens to a country.
And when a person is freed from sin, it’s a similar situation. Some people think that becoming a Christ-follower means putting away all rules. After all, Jesus gave us a New Covenant. The 10 Commandments, and the other 603 are all part of the Old Covenant. But Jesus changed that at the cross.
Colossians 2:13b-14
…God made [you] alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Ephesians 2:14-15a
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances…
But I find a great concern in the NT about this wrong idea that says keeping God’s commands doesn’t matter. Being freed from the Law isn’t the same as being freed from God’s leadership in our lives.
1 Corinthians 8:9
But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.
1 Peter 2:16
Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
Galatians 5:13
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Do you see the pattern here? Being freed from Law doesn’t mean I’m free to just do whatever I please. I can’t use my freedom to make others stumble, or to just serve myself, or as a cover-up for doing wrong. That’s not the idea of our freedom in Christ.
We’ve been freed from the Law as a way to make it to Heaven – and it’s a good thing, too, because all of us already blew it! None of us were going to make it! Instead, Jesus fulfilled the Law, and then took our punishment on the cross.
So, when we accept that gift, God’s grace, we’re free. It doesn’t make us free to live whatever way we choose. It makes us free to obey God because we love Him. Now, I can do what’s right because I know that pleases God.
God’s Law paved the way for righteousness through faith in Jesus and His work on the cross. If you’ve been frustrated because it seems like you could never be good enough, praise God! It worked!
Let’s go on to the 2nd responsibility that freedom gives us:
2. Remember the Intent of Freedom
Living as free people not only means we need to avoid the dangers of freedom, it also means we need to remember what it’s purpose is. We need to remember the intent of freedom – especially the freedom that we have under God’s grace instead of Law. God gives you that freedom for some reasons:
1. So you’ll choose God as the center of your life, not yourself
Israel didn’t have to get very far into the desert before they started complaining. There wasn’t water. There wasn’t food. The food wasn’t good enough. Blah blah blah…
They became self-focused. They needed to remember that God didn’t bring them out of Egypt for just themselves. He brought them out to use them for His plan. Their freedom wasn’t all about them. They belonged to God. Their future belonged to God. It was His plan.
We too often think of God and get the idea that He’s like the Genie of the lamp. Give it a few rubs and out pops God, ready to do our bidding! But that’s not the reason God made us and it’s not the reason God gives us freedom. We’re here for Him. We belong to Him.
We need to relate to God with a God-centered attitude – where God is the center of everything, not me. That’s why He gave us freedom.
2. So you’ll serve Him with right motives
The rules of giving flowers to your wife include the special occasion clause - that is, if it’s her birthday, or Mother’s Day, or Valentine’s Day, flowers aren’t a gift; they’re required. Same thing if you’re in the doghouse. Required. But if you give your wife flowers “just because,” that’s a different story!
When we live under Law, we can’t do anything good without it being tainted by a selfish motive. Everything good I do goes back to benefiting me – so I can make it to Heaven. It’s like giving money to a charity and then they offer you some free gift. Can’t I just give out of the goodness of my heart? Not under Law. It’s all required. You can’t give it. You owe it.
But, if my good works really don’t earn me anything, then I won’t do them for wrong motives. Under grace instead of law, my good works are for a totally different reason. It’s not to save my neck, it’s to please the God Who saved my neck. It’s not to earn my way to heaven. It’s to say thank you to the only One Who was able to earn my way to heaven for me. It’s not to help myself. It’s to please Him.
Okay, let’s get to the last responsibility:
3. Revere the High Cost of Freedom
We’ve made it a practice in our nation to remember the sacrifices of our veterans. We remember significant dates from past wars. We exercise our privilege to vote. We respect the flag because of all it stands for. We thank God for the sacrifices that were made and that are being made so that you and I can enjoy freedom. Freedom is an item where we’re going to leave on the price tag, because we must not forget. It cost too much. We can’t forget. And when we look at pictures of that cost, when we remember what was paid so that we could be free, it stirs something inside us. It motivates us. We ought to be moved by the high cost of freedom.
In the same way, we ought to be moved by the price that Jesus paid for our freedom.
• It ought to move you to accept Him. If you haven’t accepted Jesus, and you’ve spent some time thinking about the cross lately, let me ask you: what’s holding you back? Do you care about the price He paid for your freedom? Does it move you to do anything? If it hasn’t moved you to accept Him, then I challenge you this morning to revere the high cost He paid for your freedom, and to not let that go to waste.
• It ought to move you to serve Him. Paul wrote “Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.” There’s no greater motive to do something for Jesus than to look at the cross and to consider the price He paid. If you’re able to sit through it, I recommend you watch the movie “The Passion of the Christ” and as you do, remember that Jesus did this for you. It ought to move you to want to give back to Him.
• It ought to make you want to be with Him. I enjoy being around the people who love me the most, don’t you? And when I look at the cross, I’m looking at the greatest love on display. Jesus said that there is no greater love than for a man to lay down His life for his friends. Jesus is coming again, because He wants you to spend forever where He is. The price He paid for your reservation will go to waste unless you’re there. That ought to move you.
Lord’s Supper
Understanding how our good works fit into life is important in our understanding of the Lord’s Supper. For many, participating in the Lord’s Supper on a regular basis has become just another hoop that we have to jump through in order to make it to heaven – another good work that we do – and if we do it often enough and well enough, we’ll please God enough and He’ll let us into Heaven because we were good enough.
This most important time of meeting together today isn’t a ritual that gains us points toward our goal of Heaven. Only the death of Jesus, once for all time, can do that. God isn’t looking to be impressed by our outward actions. Right now, God is looking at our hearts. He wants us to do the same.
Paul wrote: …whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
That’s what matters this morning. What’s on your heart as you do this? Will you, as you prepare to eat this bread and drink from this cup, look where God is looking? Will you examine your heart?
Let’s make this a time where we respond with gratitude as we consider Jesus’ sacrifice, where we approach God with humility because of the cost of our failings, and where we share great joy, because Jesus is alive, and one day He’s coming again!
