Today a message of freedom and sacrifice has been presented to me from two very different pulpits. A message that warns of the evils of complacency and apathy; and begs for the virues of justice, self-sacrifice and passion.
It started with my pastor Tim Keel at
Jacob's Well Church as he spoke of
slavery and liberation, (a message he had put off for months due to the difficulty of such matters). He spoke freely and boldly to remind us that the freedom born out of the redemption of Christ was not simple a ticket to heaven designed for our
individual benefit, but rather for the benefit of the entire world. He challenged that as we walk out the redemption of Christ we are called to walk out an alternative reality. A reality of justice and compassion born out of the freedom received through this redemption. He shed light upon the difficult teachings of Christ (Matthew 16:25 ~ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. John 12:24 ~ I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds) and the reality (opposed to what this world would tell you) that true freedom is found in a life given up or sacrificed for a purpose. He spoke of Joseph, the Egyptians, Moses and the conflict, oppression and sacrifice that combined to create the Exodus story and the freedom of the "people of God".
Ironically, just hours later, I was flipping the channels and came across Barak Obama (C-SPAN nonetheless - I think that was a first for me) reflecting upon the stories of Moses and declaring that the Moses generation has gone before us. As he spoke to an audience in
Selma, Alabama in commemoration of "Bloody Sunday" and of course campaigning for the 2008 presidential seat, he reminded listeners that the fight for freedom is not over. He said "I am here because somebody marched, I am here because you all sacrificed for me. I stand on the shoulders of giants. I thank the Moses generation; but we've got to remember, now, that Joshua still had a job to do. As great as Moses was, despite all that he did, leading a people out of bondage, he didn't cross over the river to see the Promised Land."
They stand over looking the Jordan, peiring upon the city of Jericho, the entrance to the Promised Land. They could of stayed and praised God for the weight lifted off their shoulders. For the freedom from slavery and the oppression of Pharaoh. They could set up camp in the wilderness and said WOW, we have come so far...
Is this how we live? Is this how our lives have become? Do we settle for the status quo even though the promised land is in view. Do we gaze upon the deep waters of a dividing river and the strong walls of a fortress city and say this is good enough. Do we sacrifice the possiblity of hope for our own personal comfort?
I must confess that I often settle for comfort. I let the fear of failure and rejection keep me safely at arms length. I hold back great passionate ideas and bold love that yearns within because I am too scared to let the freedom run wild. The freedom that I was created for. The freedom that calls me to give of myself, to give freely, to give without return. The freedom that calls, not for my benefit but for that of others. Therefore, in my comfort I don't live in freedom at all...but in bondage to that fear.
The messages of these two men shine light on the dichotmy of bondage and freedom. Returning to the words of Christ to say it with no other clarity "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." Wow if I could walk in that kind of freedom...
