For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free -- FPC sermon excerpt
“For freedom Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). What a good line to ponder as we get ready for Independence Day picnics and parades.
My colleague Phillip Dennis called the children of his church forward for the children’s sermon one Sunday. It was a day like today, the Sunday before July 4th, so he told them about freedom in the United States and, more importantly, our freedom in Christ. One boy exclaimed, “I’m free!” and Dennis agreed with him.
Not to be outdone, another boy proudly announced, “I’m four!”
So we laugh about being free, but we need to watch out. Freedom is not just a good idea — it can be as explosive as a Fourth of July firecracker.
I recently read about a surprising study (The Washington Post, September 14, 2006): Two economists have discovered that the freedom to shop on Sundays contributes significantly to wicked behavior. And the people most affected are the ones who are the most religious.
Jonathan Gruber and Daniel Hungerman have studied what happens when states repeal “blue laws” — statutes that prohibit the Sunday sale of nonessential items such as jewelry, liquor and cigarettes. They have found that church attendance declines when stores are open on Sundays, while drinking and drug use increases. Most striking is that the biggest change in bad behavior mostly occurs among those who frequently attend religious services.
Before the shopping ban was lifted, 37 percent of people attended religious services, at least weekly. But once the stores were open on Sundays, attendance fell to 32 percent. And instead of going to church, many of the faithful are going astray. Marijuana use increases among church attendees, as does cocaine abuse and heavy drinking.
Open the stores, and suddenly Sundays become sinful.
As Americans, we are certainly great lovers of freedom, but it’s time we took a long, hard look at the dark side of independence. Like kids who get their drivers’ licenses and then wrap their cars around trees, or students who go off to college and get wasted in frat houses, we’ve got to learn how to handle the freedom we are given.
What do we do when we suddenly find ourselves without boundaries or constraints? Do we have to sit in front of the television and channel-surf for hours? Yes, I’ve been guilty of that, especially since getting Hi-Def. Do we have to become total party animals, stumbling from regular church attendance into drug and alcohol abuse?
Or, can there be a much more uplifting outcome to being set free from the law?
“For freedom Christ has set us free,” says Paul (5:1). This liberty doesn’t have to result in Sinful Sundays.
I like to think of Paul’s letter to the Galatians as a spiritual Declaration of Independence, because it frees us from Jewish legal obligations and insists that we become right with God only through our faith in Jesus Christ. But Christian liberty is not a license to go crazy. When we are set free from the Jewish law, we are not given permission to do whatever we want. Freedom in Christ is freedom to do what Jesus wants — it is a freedom that says, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (2:20).
My colleague Phillip Dennis called the children of his church forward for the children’s sermon one Sunday. It was a day like today, the Sunday before July 4th, so he told them about freedom in the United States and, more importantly, our freedom in Christ. One boy exclaimed, “I’m free!” and Dennis agreed with him.
Not to be outdone, another boy proudly announced, “I’m four!”
So we laugh about being free, but we need to watch out. Freedom is not just a good idea — it can be as explosive as a Fourth of July firecracker.
I recently read about a surprising study (The Washington Post, September 14, 2006): Two economists have discovered that the freedom to shop on Sundays contributes significantly to wicked behavior. And the people most affected are the ones who are the most religious.
Jonathan Gruber and Daniel Hungerman have studied what happens when states repeal “blue laws” — statutes that prohibit the Sunday sale of nonessential items such as jewelry, liquor and cigarettes. They have found that church attendance declines when stores are open on Sundays, while drinking and drug use increases. Most striking is that the biggest change in bad behavior mostly occurs among those who frequently attend religious services.
Before the shopping ban was lifted, 37 percent of people attended religious services, at least weekly. But once the stores were open on Sundays, attendance fell to 32 percent. And instead of going to church, many of the faithful are going astray. Marijuana use increases among church attendees, as does cocaine abuse and heavy drinking.
Open the stores, and suddenly Sundays become sinful.
As Americans, we are certainly great lovers of freedom, but it’s time we took a long, hard look at the dark side of independence. Like kids who get their drivers’ licenses and then wrap their cars around trees, or students who go off to college and get wasted in frat houses, we’ve got to learn how to handle the freedom we are given.
What do we do when we suddenly find ourselves without boundaries or constraints? Do we have to sit in front of the television and channel-surf for hours? Yes, I’ve been guilty of that, especially since getting Hi-Def. Do we have to become total party animals, stumbling from regular church attendance into drug and alcohol abuse?
Or, can there be a much more uplifting outcome to being set free from the law?
“For freedom Christ has set us free,” says Paul (5:1). This liberty doesn’t have to result in Sinful Sundays.
I like to think of Paul’s letter to the Galatians as a spiritual Declaration of Independence, because it frees us from Jewish legal obligations and insists that we become right with God only through our faith in Jesus Christ. But Christian liberty is not a license to go crazy. When we are set free from the Jewish law, we are not given permission to do whatever we want. Freedom in Christ is freedom to do what Jesus wants — it is a freedom that says, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (2:20).
posted by Henry Brinton | 11:02 AM
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