Unwrapped: The Gift of Being Set Free

Dec. 8, 2019  The Gift of Being Set Free

Scripture: Luke 4: 14-22

            Last Sunday we began the season of Advent with a new sermon series called “Unwrapped: Discovering the Gifts of Christmas.” We took a deeper dive into the gift of reconciliation and discovered that God wants to have a restored relationship with each of us, a relationship made possible by the greatest gift we could ever hope to receive, the gift of Jesus. Today we’re going to explore another meaningful gift we find when we find Jesus: the gift of being set free. Would you read with me?  

            I don’t know about you, but there are some nights I lay awake and wonder if I’ve missed really important opportunities- maybe I was too focused on my day’s work or too tied up in family matters or simply had too much on my mind- but whatever the reason, I never enjoy the feeling I get when I think I’ve missed an opportunity.  And I almost missed one a few years ago.  Just as I was ready to walk out the door to start my day, I noticed a woman standing near the entrance of the church.  She looked lost and bit disheveled, and I quickly entertained the thought of escaping through my back door, but something compelled to put my stuff down and approach this woman. And so I did.  When I asked if I could help her, she simply asked, “Are you the pastor?”  And when I said yes, she abruptly said, “I want to be baptized and join this church.”  I was a bit taken aback because I had never met this woman. I had no idea who she was or where she was from, so I gently suggested that she worship with us for a month and reconsider- just to be sure we were a right fit for her.  And she did. And not just worship, but she launched herself completely in the work of the church.  She started attending our weekly prayer meeting and our women’s meeting- anytime the church was open, she was there. Finally, after a month, we sat down for a cup of coffee and I asked her, “Why do you want to be baptized and join this church?”  Because, she said, I want to follow Jesus.  

            I cringe when I think that I almost missed this moment. Looking back, I had a lot on my “to do” list that day, yet nothing was more important than that “out of the blue” conversation. Nothing that day was more important than obeying the prompts of the Holy Spirit. In the month that followed, I discovered more of this woman’s story, which was heartbreaking. I learned that her name was Mary and she was from Pittsburgh. I learned that her family had dropped her off at a local rest home, telling the director, “Here’s a check.  Don’t ever call us again.”  And I learned that she had nobody. No family, no friends, no community, and she was simply yearning for a place to fit in. But despite her gut-wrenching story, despite being kicked to the curb by a family who no longer wanted to bet bothered by her needs, Mary carried within her a beautiful faith in Christ that became for me a sign of God’s presence.  It wasn’t the turning around of an entire nation, or a dramatic conversion of an obvious sinner, or the miraculous healing of a person given months to live; it was a woman who once felt alone, but now had a home, who once felt abandoned but now had a family; who once had very little reason to hope, but through Christ had been set free. 

            In his first recorded sermon, Jesus makes very clear that his mission is to set people free. Claiming the words of Isaiah 6, Jesus outlines his ministry as one of bringing good news to the poor, proclaiming release to the captives, giving sight to the blind and letting the oppressed go free.  And contrary to the type of Savior the people expected, one who would lead a military campaign and overthrow an oppressive government, Jesus instead chose to do his work of liberation on the margins.  That’s where his life began, in an out of the way manger in an out of the way town called Bethlehem. It was on the margins where he met Bartimaeus, a man who could not see.  It’s where he met a woman at a well, a woman who was ostracized because she was from the wrong country.  It was where he met Zaccheus the tax collector, a man who was hated because he was working for Rome. And it’s where he met Mary Magdalene, who was labeled and known not by her worth as a person, but by her poor choices.  And each was set free- physically, socially, spiritually, emotionally, relationally- by a God who refused to overlook them.  

            I’m so grateful that we don’t have a God who overlooks us. In fact, we have a God, who sees our bondage, our pain, and our struggles and invites us to be set us free. Instead of turning his back on us, like this world is prone to do, or telling us to get our acts together, Jesus approaches us and invites us into his work of grace-filled liberation. And when we give Jesus an opportunity to speak into our lives, when we give him an all-access pass to those chains, the fears and the pains that hold us down, the gift of freedom becomes a very real possibility. 

            When I think of the gift of being set free, I can’t help but think of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. You might know the story. A man is left for dead on the road, beaten and abused by a gang of robbers. The first two travelers who happen upon the scene of the crime notice the man, but they keep on going. The third man, however, stops. He’s the most unlikely of the three to take any meaningful action, but he does. And when he stops, he begins to see the man. Not for how he is different, or all the “what if” questions that could make him think twice. Instead this man sees the blood, the pain and the tears.  He sees the fear, the hopelessness and the loss of dignity. And he sees a person created and loved by God who at this moment needs someone to bind up his wounds and get him to a hospital.  And so that’s what the Good Samaritan does. Jesus uses this story the convey the type of people he hopes we’ll become, and I hope you and will become more and more like the Good Samaritan. But Jesus also uses this story to reveal the heart of God, who never overlooks anyone, and never leaves us the way he finds us.

I don’t know what you need to be set free from today, but I know that God has the power to do it. Maybe you feel discarded or forgotten by family and friends. Jesus can set you free from that pain and renew you sense of self-worth. Maybe you’re caught in a web of poor decisions and fear you’ll never stop making the same mistakes over and over again. Jesus can intervene and give you the discipline you desire. Maybe you’re weighed down by a spirit of negativity or despair, or maybe a sense of hopelessness has made its home in your heart. Jesus can lift you out of that darkness, if you let him. That’s the key. You have to let him. 

A few weeks after our coffee meeting, we baptized Mary. Surrounded by a few new friends, Mary received the message that God love her so much that he sent his Son, and the tears started rolling down her face. This is her picture. Mary was fully alive that day…because God had set her free. But what you don’t know is that the week before her baptism, Mary fell down the steps in the personal care home and broke her neck. She couldn’t come to church on the day of her baptism, so we took the church to her. Discarded by her family, living an hour and a half from home in a place that didn’t feel much like home, and now a broken neck that kept her from her church, Mary had every reason to be bitter and to spend the rest of her days in anger and hopeless. But she had been set free from all of that. That day stood for me as a reminder that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead continues to awaken new life today. And that new life, that freedom, that joy, can be awakened in you. 

I don’t know the mess you’re in, the challenges your battling, or the concerns that keep you up at night. What I do know is that we have a God who isn’t scared by any of those things. And he wants to help make it right. That’s what Christmas is all about. The promise of Christmas is the gift of a Savior, a Savior who enters our mess, enters our world, and sets us free. And not just a distant freedom somewhere in eternity, but a real, tangible freedom, in this life. If that sounds too good to be true, I invite to give Jesus a try. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

As we wrap up today, I’m going to ask you to join me in a time of prayer. If you feel like you want to respond to Jesus, or if you want Jesus to set you free from some hurt, habit or hang up, I’d like to give you that opportunity. I’ll invite you to close your eyes and place your hands in an upward position. This is a tangible expression of handing something over to Jesus while simultaneously receiving what Jesus gives in return. 

Pray this prayer in your heart along with me.  Jesus, I want to be set free today. Your life is better than the one I’ve tried to create on my own. Take away my fears and failures, my mess and my mistakes, my hurts, my habits and my hang-ups. And set me free. Set me free to live with peace and purpose. Set me free to love you with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. Set me free to love myself and to love others. Set me free to live a life that is marked by joy and hope. I give you my chains and receive your freedom. In Jesus’ name, Amen.