Flaunting your Freedom in your Family – Gal 5:1-16
Gladstone Baptist Church – 16/10/05 pm
Run the Chicken Run video clip.
In our society, We desperately seek freedom. We exalt freedom as the be all and end all – the panacea that will cure all ills - Freedom of religion, freedom to refugees, freedom to work anywhere that you choose or not to work even – even if your not suited to the job, freedom to choose to eat or not eat genetically modified food, freedom to go on holidays in safety, freedom to use your holidays when you like, freedom to choose the shop you buy you clothes in – Freedom. In fact in our society the ultimate punishment is the depravation of freedom through imprisonment.
We like to see ourselves as a land that is free – But that freedom cost some people a great deal - for some it cost them their lives – that is what we remember on Anzac Day.
But Freedom is a somewhat difficult thing to define. What a lot of people call freedom, isn’t really freedom at all.
It’s a bit the trained elephants which are described by James Belasco in his book “Teaching the Elephant to Dance.” Belasco describes how trainers shackle young elephants with heavy chains to stakes driven deep into the ground. In that way the elephant learnt to stay in its place when they are young so that when they are old and powerful enough to pull any stake out of the ground, the elephants never try to leave. Their conditioning has limited their movements. With only a small metal bracelet around their foot attached to nothing, they stand in place. The stakes are actually gone – they are free to leave when they want to, but they don’t or can’t! Like powerful elephants, many people are bound by earlier conditioned restraints, which are as limiting to their progress in living a life of freedom as the unattached chain around an elephant’s foot.
The scandal of freedom in Christ is that we are really, truly, 100% free, but we don’t act like it. We are free to be alive and to live the way God intended from the very start. But we are scared – it is not what we are used to and we’d far prefer to believe we are still restricted by our chains – why, because we feel safe there. We therefore invent step-by-step instruction manuals about what to do with our freedom – how we are to live, what rules are we to obey. We end up with a heap of rules and regulations to live by instead of actually being responsible for what we choose to do with our freedom.
Paul talks about our freedom in Galatians chapter 5. He uses it as a spring board to telling us that instead of using our freedom for selfish gain, God gives us freedom to serve him and to serve others within the context of being in the family of God. True freedom is freedom that serves one another.
If you’ve got your bibles there, take them out and open them up to Gal 5. Let’s pray before we read God’s word.
Gal 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. [A bit of strange thing to say. You were freed to be free. Err Derr … I have never heard of someone who has escaped from jail going up to the next prison down the road and knocking on the door and saying – “excuse me, I’m free, but can you please lock me up again.” Paul says that Jesus set us free so that we can be free – truly free. Don’t allow yourselves to be “burdened again by a yoke of slavery” The Message puts it this way – “take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.” What is going to enslave them – Paul Goes on …
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. [Now that is a drag] 4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. [Paul says that the burden of slavery we were rescued from was the burden of having to gain our salvation by working for it.
To have a relationship with God we have to have a clean slate. Nothing that is not perfect can enter heaven. There are 2 ways to able to be perfect. The first is by living a sinless life – by living perfectly – by having no black marks on your slate at all. It is BEING perfect. By obeying every law there is to obey and living perfectly without one mistake. That is a huge burden to bear – you are enslaved to obeying the law. That is not an easy life to live – actually it is impossible.
But Jesus made another way – instead of trying to never Sin – which is impossible for us, Jesus said – I’ll make you perfect. The second way is not living perfectly, it is BECOMING perfect in God’s sight. Jesus said, I’ll get rid of your sins – I’ll forgive them – completely erase them and I’ll get rid of the guilt you have also. I’ll free you from the pressure you have and the burden you feel. You don’t have to worry about sin any more, I’ll set you free by offering to forgive you.
Paul is saying to these people, Jesus has offered to set you free, why would you even consider going back to your old way of trying to impress God by living up to requirements of the law.
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. 11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! [Paul is a bit excited here… He says – if you going to teach circumcision – why not go all the way and castrate yourself.]
13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
This sermon is the last in a series about living as a member of the family of God. Paul’s whole thrust in Galatians is that when we choose to join God’s family, we receive freedom. We become free – but that freedom, Paul says, has consequences for how we live out our life today in the family of God. In this passage, Paul shows there is aright and a wrong way to use that freedom. There are 3 things we need to do to ensure we use our freedom in the right way – the first thing we need to do as members of God’s family is
1) CHERISH the freedom we have in Jesus
Paul says that Christ has set us free so that we can be free. Too often we don’t appreciate that fact. We don’t have to live with the burden of Sin. Oh we can be like the elephants and continue to believe we are restricted by Sin’s chains, but we are kidding ourselves – we are free. When we are forgiven by Christ, he takes away the guilt that we have and we can enjoy a relationship with God because he sees that we are perfect – We have become perfect because our sins have been forgiven.
Jesus offers us freedom from GUILT, freedom from SIN and freedom from the FEAR that we will not be accepted by God. If we want to accept this gift, we can be free – free to have a relationship with God.
Paul tells us to CHERISH that freedom. Don’t throw it away by voluntarily putting back on the chains that were so uncomfortable. Don’t think we can keep the law perfectly and therefore please God – You can’t, so stop trying!!!! Appreciate what Jesus has done for you – Cherish it
If you have haven’t accepted Christ’s offer of forgiveness, you are still in those chains. You are guilty before God and will be rejected. You want freedom from guilt, freedom to Live how you were created to – then you need to accept Jesus. You need to accept the freedom he offers.
2) Avoid SELFISHNESS. Instead SERVE One Another in LOVE.
The next thing that Paul says as members of God’s family is to live as though you are free. And that means not being selfish, but serving others.
Some of you may think that is a bit odd. In our society, we place a huge emphasis on our personal freedom. The freedom to do what we want with our time, money, energy and lives. Freedom to do it when we want to and how we want to. If anyone tries to limit our choices we resist. Many people today are flaunting their freedom by being as self centred as they can be.
But this is not the freedom that God designed. God’s freedom is not freedom to INDULGE OURSELVES. Selfishness was never part of God’s vocabulary. That is something we have dreamt up – That is part of our distortion of God’s perfect creation. God created us in community to put others before ourselves.
Paul writes (vs 13) do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
Selfishness is part of our SINFUL NATURE – it is doing what I want to do when I want it and stuff anyone else. Relationships work best when instead of every member serving their own interests, they serve one another.
Paul Goes on to add that Freedom is not freedom to EXPLOIT OUR NEIGHBOURS. He says … 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” [That’s a quote from Jesus who was answering the question – “What is the greatest commandment” – Matt 22:27 37 Jesus replied: ”‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
We have been freed to love God – we can do that because we have been made perfect. But we are also to love your neighbor as yourself. That means not taking advantage of them or exploiting them, but caring for them in Love. What does this mean in practice?
Watch this clip and watch how this family loves or doesn’t love their neighbours …
Tell me all the ways in which this family failed to show love to their neighbours.
What would it look like if we secretly filmed you and put 10 minutes of your life up on the screen. Would it look any different to this?
Paul says that when we are truly free, we don’t indulge ourselves, we don’t exploit our neighbours; instead we SERVE ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE and put other’s needs above our own. Serving others is what you do if you want to flaunt true freedom.
Think back to the movie - Chicken Run. Ginger, in the chicken run, describes freedom as a place with green grass and without the constant demands of meeting the farmer’s egg quotas. But according to Rocky, the Rhode Island Red Rooster who accidently finds his way into the farm yard, that is not freedom – freedom is being free of responsibility, not having to care for others, being able to be his own chook. I don’t want to spoil the movie for those who might not have seen it, but in the end, Rocky falls in love with Ginger and he discovers that the kind of freedom he wants is no longer possible. When we love those around us, freedom to serve ourselves is no longer attractive. Freedom becomes something we can choose to use for others. When we are in love, we choose to limit our freedom for the sake of another.
Most of you will know what it’s like to fall in love or have a boyfriend or girlfriend. Suddenly you want to please them and you end up doing things you would never have chosen to do if it was just you. Guy’s go and see “You Got Mail” or “Sleepless in Seattle” or some other girlie flick at the inema. You make compromises, why? Because you want the other person to be happy – you love them and what the best for them. When we love someone else, we restricts our freedom to do what we like. That’s not a problem at all for us – we are happy to do it and it doesn’t mean we are not free. No we are free, we just are free to use our time, money and energy to build up someone other than ourselves.
Being part of God’s family means loving others – and loving God – can’t forget that one. Just think of all that God has done for us. We are to respond in love to God. Does that not mean we have to give up a bit of our freedom to do what we want? Maybe it does – but that is not bad
God says that being part of my family is being free and being in love. You see God is love and when you become part of his family, he wants you to act in love towards others. When we are loving others, we seek to serve them. That is what being part of God’s Family is all about – Avoiding Selfishness and Instead Serving one another in Love. Let’s flaunt our freedom in Christ by serving others.
3) LIVE by the SPIRIT.
The last thing that Paul says to us in regard to our freedom as members of God’s family is to live by the Spirit. 16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
God grants us freedom and then says – use your freedom to build up others and serve them instead of yourself through love. That is not always the EASIEST thing to do is it, because everyone is not lovable. Have you ever noticed that – your teddy bear is lovable, your wife is lovable (most of the time – except when she puts those face masks on and has her hair up in rollers) – but what about the Grinch who sits in the third row from the Back – 4 seats in from the centre aisle. You know as you were growing up when your parents used to tell you that if the wind changed direction, your frown would be permanently etched on your face!!! – Well this guy was frowning as an eye of a cyclone passed over him – the wind was blowing from one direction and then it stopped and started from the other direction. You know the sort of people I mean – how do you love them???
Paul gives us the answer – he says – live by the Spirit. We can’t love people in our own strength, we can only do it by being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Lucky for us, the Holy Spirit comes as standard equipment when we accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour. When we receive the Holy Spirit he comes and fills us with God’s love. Look down to vs 22 – a whole list of things that the Holy Spirit brings us … Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, gentleness, self control.
But how do we get rid of our selfishness and feelings of dislike and contempt for others. How do we love. It is easy …
Imagine that the air in this glass is the sin and the selfishness we all struggle with. How do you get the air out of this glass. Well we can try to suck it out. We can suck and suck and suck – but we won’t get all the air out – we’ll get most out, but not all, so we suck even harder and eventually, the vacuum will be so strong that the glass shatters. You can’t get rid of selfishness by trying to suck it out. How do you get rid of all the air in that glass … you fill it up with something else – like water.
Just like that water displacing the air in the glass, the Holy Spirit when he comes to reside in us displaces our selfishness and sin nature. Unfortunately we try to hold onto some remnants of our old selfishness – we hold onto some bubbles, resisting the Holy Spirit’s desire to get rid of it.
Paul says, don’t hold onto your sinful nature – give up those desires and live by the Spirit.
So There it is - when you join the family of God, you are set free. Paul says that we must recognise and cherish the freedom. Once you are free, don’t throw it away and allow you to be put back in chains by those who want you to live by a whole list of rules and regulations.
Rather than a whole list of rules and regulations governing your freedom, Jesus and Paul only give 2 – Love God and love your neighbors. Love is what regulates our freedom. How does it regulate our freedom – it leads us to service of others, rather than service of self. Service rather than selfishness is what God created us for. It is how his family is to operate.
Now that is a huge challenge for you and I. Selfishness is part of our sin nature that corrupts us to the core. It is not the way it was meant to be, but that is the way it is now and making changes is difficult – if not impossible for us to achieve on our own. Paul knows that – that is why he points to the solution – the Holy Spirit. Live for the Holy Spirit says Paul – allow him to fill you up and then you can live according to God’s will. He and only he can transform you so that you no longer think of yourself first. But others.
That is what being part of God’s family is all about. Being free to live for God and for others.
As we close tonight, I want to ask that we all bow our heads and I’m going to pray 2 prayers tonight. The first prayer is for Christians – those of you who have already given your life to Christ. You are already free, but for some of you – you are like the elephants who think they are still bound by chains. You aren’t bound – you are free. You recognise your freedom and Cherish it. You need to allow the Holy Spirit to fill you up completely and start to live for others by serving them. If this is you, why don’t you pray this prayer with me
Dear Lord, I am your child. You are my Lord and I know that I am free from the bondage of sin and guilt. Thankyou for what Jesus did for me. Lord, I am struggling to live a free life of service to you and others around me. I need your Spirit to come and fill me up. Fill me up with Love and joy and peace. Fill me with Patience, kindness, gentleness and self control. Help me to be others centred instead of self centred. I pray this in your name. Amen.
As we’ve still got our eyes closed, there are others of you who are not free – you are bound by sin and guilt still. But Jesus is offering you freedom tonight. To be all that he made you to be. Freedom to live with him forever. Freedom to love, Freedom to serve. You want to know freedom tonight. Well all you have to do is ask for it. If you want freedom, then I invite you to pray this second prayer with me …
Dear Lord, I want to be your child. I want to be free from the burden of sin and guilt. I know that I am selfish and have done wrong things – but I am sorry. Please forgive me and make me perfect in your sight. Lord, I want to be part of your family. I want to serve you and others in love. Come and take control of my life now I pray. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I might live for you. Help me to flaunt my freedom by serving others. I pray this in your name. Amen.
If you have prayed either of those prayers, I encourage you to tell someone so they can rejoice with you. If you have gained your freedom for the first time tonight, I’d love to pray with you after the service. I’ll be down the front, so come on down and we can celebrate together as brothers and sisters in God’s incredible family.
