Freedom. Do you have it?

Recently my family and I had the privilege of traveling to Moscow, Russia for vacation.  If you know anything at all about Russian history, you might know something of its tumultuous past and volatile leadership dating back to the 14th or 15th century and well through the WWII era.  Then there was the cold war, the Soviet Union as it was, and the ensuing oppression of its people, still, after having already suffered so much loss and tragedy in the war. We had an incredible tour guide, a lovely Russian lady named Lydia who took us through both Red Square and the Kremlin sharing the minutest details of her country both past and present.  Lydia was herself a young girl during the days of the USSR regime.  She and her family grew up in a one bedroom, one bathroom flat along with 3 other families!  They would alternate the days each family used the bathroom. Still this was luxurious compared to what Lydia’s parents had endured during the war.  Lydia recalled with detail how their travel was limited if not made impossible by the government, how their thinking was distorted and manipulated by government ideology, and even their movement around their own city was hampered.  As we visited with Lydia and toured her beloved city for hours, the contrast between my upbringing and hers became undeniably obvious to me.  Later when Paul and I were alone, we marveled how “In her whole entire life, Lydia had never known freedom in the way we had.”  In her whole life, more than 60 years, and she has not tasted freedom like you and I! Needless to say, the spiritual lessons were undeniable.  Most of us have enjoyed lives free of political oppression.  Most of us.  More importantly as Christ followers we have found true freedom in Christ. Freedom from our sin, from a life in bondage to the flesh, freedom from fear.  Undiluted, glorious freedom.  Galations 5 says  It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.  Yet how often do we allow Satan a stronghold in our lives. Guilt, shame, bitterness, anger, and/or hurt. Even our overcommitted schedules and many of our worldly pursuits hold us in captivity, and prevent us from fully embracing the abundant life with Christ.  All of these things can take root in our souls, and when they do, we are no more free than that little girl who grew up in the USSR in a one bedroom flat. Perhaps less so.  We live like captives.  But indeed Christ has set us free.  We should be singing this from the hilltops.  The thief has truly come to “steal, kill, and destroy,” but Christ has come to give us life “and to give it abundantly.”  Christians of all people should start acting like free persons. We should show the world that we are Christ followers, and our lives have been transformed by the One, the only One who gives us true freedom.

Psalm 119:45
I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.

Romans 8:20-21 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

2 Cor. 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Ephesians 3:12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Compelled

This week a very good friend of mine shared her “heavy heart” with me. So much pain and suffering all around her, she felt overwhlemed.  I understand how she feels. Too many marriages crumbling, children emotionally devastated by circumstances beyond their control.  There are so many who are suffering with cancer.  I wonder “why doesn’t God just wipe this disease out with a single word?”   We see a world, cities, communities torn apart by violence or unemployment, or homelessness.  We often ask the question, “Will  this ever stop?”  Then one of you steps up to the plate, picks up her armor, and swings the bat. Hope for the hopeless. Food for the hungry.  A shoulder for the weary.  You answer the call of trial and sufferings with your available heart, your spiritual gifts, and your compassion.  By coming together and giving up your time, your resources, your money, your talents-by being generous with what God has given you, in this way, we make a glorious difference in the world around us, and in the lives of others. 

We don’t have to look far to see pain and suffering, discontent, crisis, and struggling families. Do we? While we know as Christ followers, we can have the assurance that God is so much greater than our trials (1 John 4), still yet, the suffering that surrounds us can be overwhelming

Yet, isn’t this a call to arms for us as Christ followers? If ever there was any question of what God is calling us to do, or if He is indeed calling us to do anything at all, you have only to look around you and see this, people in emotional turmoil, marriages on the brink, children impacted by our economy and family crisis, and then you must truly be compelled to say, “Here am I God, Send me!” How can we respond any other way? 

Isaiah said this in a scripture familiar to all of us in chapter 6, when with a totally contrite heart he recognized who he was in relation to who God was, and he was compelled to say “Here am I send me,”  to the question that God asked “Who will go for us?”  ( Special Note on “us-” God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.)  God asked the question “who will go?”  and then raised the stakes when He added “for us?”    Isaiah responded with a resounding yes. We should all be so sensitive to His call. One commentary I read on the prophet Isaiah said “Isaiah’s account of God’s call on his life, leaves no doubt about what motivated the prophet for the next half century.  His vision of God was unforgettable.”   Wow. 

If we do not individually and personally have a vision for missions, simply a burden for reaching out to others in need, then I would humbly submit perhaps we need to revisit our own “vision of God.”  Like Isaiah did, we should recognize who God is and who we are, and respond accordingly.  We will leave that place compelled to serve shoulder to shoulder.