Enslaved by Freedom

1st Kings 19:15-21; Luke 9:51-62; Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Central Baptist Church, Lowesville, VA

01 July 2007

It is fear that most often enslaves. It keeps us from trying new things. It keeps us from stepping out into the unknown. It keeps us from enjoying life as we worry over the uncertain, unknown, and yet unseen. Fear enslaves us to become the protectors of our sense of comfort and security. It enslaves us to the idea of freedom as retaining the status quo. Can we trust God to rescue us from slavery to fear in order that we might be faithful servants?

Last Sunday, we found Elijah trapped by fear and depression. He felt that all was lost, since even after Yahweh’s great display of power above Ba’al Jezebel still would not leave Ba’al to serve Yahweh. At the mountain of God, Elijah found God’s presence, not in the great things of the world, but in the stillness of a whisper. After repeatedly asking Elijah what he was doing there, God then sends the prophet on his way with work to accomplish.

God offered Elijah no explanations for the why’s that beset him. God did not offer Elijah a promise that Israel would turn back to Yahweh in the end. God did not tell him that everything would be just fine. God basically redirected Elijah to the task at hand. The message was simple. The greatest prophet in Israel was simply a servant of Yahweh. It was not up to Elijah to understand all that Yahweh was doing, to define success, nor to worry with the reactions and responses of others. Elijah had never been in control of the process. He was simply God’s servant.

Yahweh had freed Elijah from Jezebel’s grasp, but such freedom was never about Elijah having his own way. God had freed Elijah from Ahab’s wrath at the proclamation of the drought. That freedom had not been to allow Elijah free reign for personal exploits. Yahweh had freed Elijah from the effects of the drought, famine, and the rage of political oppressors in order that Elijah might live up to his servant calling. There was no reason for Elijah to allow fear, doubt, and discouragement to distract him from God’s call and purpose for his life. He had been freed for useful service. He was called to set his fears aside and get on with the task at hand. What fears impede our faith and service to God? Can we accept God’s faithfulness as sufficient to meet our fears?

We naturally fear what we do not understand or what is different. What is different challenges our way of life and our sense of security. So the Jews feared and harbored hatred against the Samaritans, for their very existence questioned their prized ancestral purity. The Samaritans likewise resented and the Jewish avowal of their inferiority with regard to having a mixed heritage. Rather than weigh the validity of the issues, each group found it easier to oppose the other in fear masked by animosity.

As Jesus came onto the scene, passing through Samaria, we are told that he was rejected because his face was set toward Jerusalem. They did not want to deal with Jesus when he was determined to head on toward Jerusalem. It might force them to look at the issues that separated the groups, calling them to question the validity of their sense of acceptability before God. Rejection of Jesus was a response aimed at preserving life’s security as they knew it. It was a reaction of self-protection and fear. The disciples’ response was the same.

Shall we just get rid of opposition? Shall we silence opposing views in order to protect our own sense of rightness? After all, opposing points of view necessarily negate each other. One must be wrong for the other to be right! Jesus, however, was not threatened by those who would not accept him. He did not stoop to react in fear of those who might disagree. He called the disciples to a different level of trust that required freedom from the anxiety and fear that more naturally control our decisions.

Some wanted to follow Jesus, but he called them first to assess their fears and anxieties. Would the security of a place called home impede some from following Jesus? Others found family standing in the way of accepting Jesus’ lordship. Others wanted to add Jesus to their established framework of security. They wanted to stack the deck against fears of the unknown. They wanted freedom from their anxieties and insecurities, but were still enslaved by these fears. They could not trust their fears to God’s care and provision.

They wanted to follow Jesus, but their primary allegiance was to protect themselves from the fear which drove them. This was as true for the Samaritans as the Jews, the crowds and the disciples. Jesus did not stoop to this enslavement to fear. He lived in freedom from such anxiety and fear. In freedom, he allowed others to formulate their own responses to the call of faith. While free to choose faith, they opted to remain enslaved by their fears. Setting their fears aside would demand a whole new assessment of security. It would mean accepting Jesus as a completely sufficient security, with no holds barred. To what point are we willing to follow Jesus faithfully?

Two hundred thirty years ago, our forefathers fought for independence to protect us from fears of growing oppression. We believed self-governance would protect us from our fears of abusive power. The idea was that if we were in control, others could not control us. As a nation, we are still on course to ensure that no other might gain power over us. Can we accept love’s complete surrender as the experience of true freedom?

Circumcision legalism was bound up in this same anxiety for security. Paul wrote to remind the Galatian believers that faith was an all-or-nothing proposition. Either salvation was by grace through faith, or grace and faith were meaningless. Either one is freed from the finding salvation through legalism, or one is yet enslaved by its demands. The law is still a guide into righteous living, yet love is the higher guide. Love is the key to true freedom.

The aims of love are not tied to self-gratification. Love is not bound to seek after its own passions and desires. It is not infatuated with one’s personal security. Rather than living enslaved by self-indulgence, love seeks to satisfy the needs of others. It frees us and enables us to live by the direction of God’s Spirit. It does not consider freedom in terms of indulging self, for that is merely slavery to our fears and anxieties. Do we trust God enough to let go of self-indulgence?

We are called as disciples of Christ Jesus. We are enjoined to lay aside our fears, doubts, and anxieties, casting them all upon God in Christ. We are offered the freedom to live according to God’s love, giving freely of ourselves in order that others might live. The freedom to which we are called is not reckless abandon of responsible action. It is the freedom to love recklessly, laying aside our anxieties and fears over the sufficiency of God’s grace and provision. Will our lives bear testimony to this greatest of freedoms? We are free to choose whether to live under the control of our fears or the direction of God’s love. Which will we choose?

—©2007 Christopher B. Harbin