Jesus sets us free December 13, 2015

Jesus sets us free

December 13, 2015

RUMC

That should have been the response of the folks in the synagogue that morning.

Come to think of it, that is how we should respond to the gospel reading too!

What a morning that must have been. Jesus had just returned from church camp- you know... 40 days testing in the wilderness. You know how excited we are when we come back from camp! He had just defeated the devil in a head-to-head battle of spiritual wits. He must have been really pumped up.

As was his habit, he went to synagogue on the Sabbath. If there was ever ANYONE who could afford to skip church, it was Jesus. But he never missed… it says it was his habit… Remember that next time someone tells you, “I can be a good Christian without going to church.” Even Jesus needed to go to church.

Anyway… as was his habit he went to the synagogue. Everyone stood to read the scripture; men on one side, women on the other. The kids probably played in the back. Jesus was asked to read the scripture. Now I don’t think it was a coincidence that the scroll was open to what we know as the 61^st chapter the prophet Isaiah. This was the launch of his ministry. I don’t think God left anything to chance. Jesus stared to read,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
  bring good news to the poor.
Proclaim release to the captives
recovery of sight to the blind,
let the oppressed go free,

Good news, release, recovery, freedom! What great words.

Then Jesus sat down, as was the tradition for teaching and he said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” That’s not just good news, that’s GREAT news! Great news for us. Release for us. Recovery for us. And freedom for us!

But wait… most of us are not poor compared to the rest of the world, we are not prisoners, we are not blind, we live in the freest country in the world. Why do we need to be set free?

Think about it… the word oppressed, basically means to pressed down. I’ll bet that if you think about it there are things that press you down, things that rob you of joy and hope. If so you are oppressed. Politically, we might be the freest people in the world, but still in very personal ways, we are all oppressed. We are all captive to something, blinded by something, a prisoner of something.

Maybe it is the illness, which might be physical or mental, that you have been fighting for so long that has become your prison.

Maybe it is an addiction you can’t manage.

When you hear the news every day, are you captive to hopelessness, fear, anger? What is it that keeps you down?

Guilt, shame, unforgiveness.

Some of you may be trapped in a relationship that is almost like a prison.

Some of us are approaching the first (or maybe it is your 21st) Christmas without our loved one we are captive to your grief and emptiness.

Is it uncertainty, or your job, or the expectations of others?

Or is it something else for you. What oppresses you? What makes you feel trapped?

Whatever your prison is, Jesus came to set you free.

Do you feel free?

Just over 70 years ago, January 28, 1945, an elite group of army rangers liberated over 500 American POW’s from a Japanese prison camp in Cab-an-tuan Philippines. The story is remarkable because the POW’s were so defeated, diseased, deceived, that they could not believe they were free. They literally couldn’t grasp their newfound freedom. Japanese guards gone and the American army rangers standing in front of them they wondered Was it a trick? A trap? An illusion? It was almost impossible to convince the now free POWs that they were indeed free.

Are we like that? Jesus came to set us free. The prison bars are gone, but we continue to live as though we are behind the very same bars that have imprisoned us for so long.

Are we is like a dog that spends most of his life on a leash in the yard. I saw this once or I wouldn’t believe it. When I was a paperboy, there was a dog that was “always” on a leash. He’d come to the end of his chain and bark at me as I put the paper in the paper box. He had worn a big circle in the yard so I knew exactly how far he could come. One day as he stood there barking at the edge of the dirt circle, I realized he was not on his chain. There was nothing keeping him there, except that he believed that he was still tied up, he stood right at the edge of his now imaginary prison and barked his head off while I safely walked back to my bike. It was amazing. But I think we do the same thing. We live as though we are at the end of our leash, even though we are not. We live as though we are trapped, even though Jesus has set us free. We live as though we are blind, even though Jesus has restored our sight. We live as though we are prisoners even though Jesus has torn down the prison walls.

The Christmas message is not really about shopping, and greed, and meeting unrealistic expectations, and waking up in January to the credit card bills, like a bad holiday hangover.

No, the real Christian Christmas message is that Jesus was sent to set us free. Jesus was sent to set us free from anything that imprisons us. Jesus was sent to set us free from anything, real or imagined, that oppresses us. Jesus was sent to set us free from anything inside or outside us that keep us from being the best that God wants us to be. The Christmas message is one of emancipation, liberation, hope, and freedom.

Half of the Christmas message is that we are set free FROM something. The other half is that we are set free FOR something. We are not just set free for freedom’s sake.

We are set free FOR something.

Jesus did not come in the manger to be cute… he came in the humility of the manger, and the humbleness of a rabbi, with the attitude of a servant, in order to show us what God’s love really looks like. He died on the cross to set free from sin, and was resurrected to set us free to love as God loves.

If you haven’t seen the recently released movie about the life of mother Theresa, called Letters, I recommend it. It won’t keep you on the edge of your seat, but it will open your eyes. Mother Theresa was a nun in the Sisters of Loreto. But that was an order devoted to prayer, not service. It was not where she was called to be. That convent became like her prison. She worked and worked until she finally was set free by the church hierarchy… not just to be free, but she was set free SO THAT she could love the poor and dying in the slums of Calcutta.

We are not set free for freedom’s sake. We are set free to love.

Christ does not set us free just because he loves us, but because he wants us to love.

Let me tell you, if you haven’t figured it our yet… Jesus came and set you free, the prison door is hanging open, the bars are melted, and the oppression is lifted. But that doesn’t mean it is time to sit back and enjoy our new freedom. (There will be a time for that) but that is not why we are set free.

You have been set free in order to love.

You have been set free in order to be an instrument of God’s love in this place and wherever you go.

The second half of the Christian Christmas message is that Christ comes in the humble manger of your heart, the lowly places of your lives, the dark silent nights of your soul SO THAT you can humble yourself enough to love God and those around you.

Lanecia Rouse is a pastor and artist in Houston Texas. Her church is part of a project they call “Room in the Inn” in which churches take turns taking in homeless people feeding them, and giving them a warm place to sleep for the night. Lanecia writes of one time that their turn to host “Room at the Inn” fell on Christmas Eve. She immediately volunteered to be the staff person in charge that night.

As soon as the staff meeting was over, she called a group home in which one of the member lived. The member’s name was Ms. Ruby. Ms. Ruby had an intellectual disability, but she loved to be at the church and she loved people. Lanecia asked if Ms. Ruby would like to host, “Room at the Inn” on Christmas Eve, and the answer was an immediate “yes.”

When the time came, the beds were ready, the dinner was cooking, and 12 men came to the door. Lanecia announced to Ms. Ruby that they had guests, and Ms. Ruby squealed, “Wheeee. Jesus is here!” Well, being Christmas Eve and being called “Room in the Inn” that seemed like a logical conclusion.

Ms. Ruby proceeded to greet each man with the words “Hello Jesus, Ho, Ho, Ho.”

There were many special moments that night, but at one point she turned to one of the homeless guests and said, “I love you, Jesus.” The man replied, “I love you to Ms Ruby.”

Finally, as the night wound down, Ms. Ruby said good night to each man one by one. “Good night Jesus. Ho, ho, ho. Good night Jesus. Ho, ho, ho.”

Ms Ruby’s ability to see Jesus in each and every one of those men that night can be a lesson for us on how we are to live the love of God.

I asked you earlier to not write on both sides of your red prayer card. I wanted you to save one side for this moment. I want you remember that the first message of Christmas is Jesus set you free, the second is you were set free to love. Think of someone you don’t normally show love to. It might be a specific person with whom you have conflict, or someone to whom you don’t pay much attention, it might be a complete stranger in line behind you at Wal-mart. Write on your prayer card. “Free me to see Jesus in ___________. “ Let that become your prayer for the week. And during the last song, we will bring them up front and hang our prayers of love on the advent wreath.

Free me to see Jesus in _____. I guarantee, if you make that your prayer “Free me see Jesus in _____.” I guarantee you, that you will find a way to love them in a special way. It is a prayer that Jesus set you free from your preconceived ideas, your unforgiveness, your prejudices, your self-centeredness, your busy-ness, or whatever prison you carry around with you. It is a prayer that Jesus will help you to step out of that self imposed prison long enough to see Jesus in the manger-heart of the person who bumps in to you at the grocery store. In the grouchy clerk at the quick shop. Or in the family member to whom you haven’t spoken for years.

Jesus, free us to see you in all the people around us. And to love them as you loved us. AMEN