Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! To all who find themselves enslaved by the sadness and sorrows of life; whose days are in the grip of a malevolent master, the living Lord says, “I have come to set you free.” Today’s message says, “If God’s Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
A few millennia ago the Greek philosopher Socrates was asked to explain why Alcibiades, rich Alcibiades, brilliant Alcibiades, the well-traveled statesman and soldier Alcibiades, seemed to be so magnificently miserable. Socrates’ reply was profound in its perceptivity. He said, “Alcibiades is unhappy because everywhere Alcibiades goes, Alcibiades takes himself with him.” Socrates understood that even when people seem to have everything any person could logically want, they still are enslaved by innate sins and shortcomings of their souls. Alcibiades was enslaved by power, pride, and pretentiousness. Other people are enslaved by other masters, unwanted masters – masters which seem to rule their lives. Is it possible you have such a master?
“What a strange question,” you might think to yourself. “Reverend, don’t you know, physical slavery, the slavery of shackles and subjugation was officially suppressed well over a century ago?” We are free. So important is liberty to us, that many believe the removal of a felon’s freedom, not his execution, is the worst punishment society can hand down. Truly, we live in a society that is infatuated with freedom. Freedom is the word around which labor and management, Republican and Democrat, student and teacher, young and old can all rally. The initiation or preservation of freedom has compelled our sons and daughters to sacrifice their fate, their futures, their fortunes, as they fought and died on foreign shores.
Still I wonder, “Are you enslaved by a malevolent master?” Recently at a conference, one of the presenters told a story. He told how he was taking his daughter to a school function. Surprisingly, for no apparent reason the traffic coming from the other direction stopped. It didn’t take too long before the man’s lane also came to a complete halt. A mother duck was, with a fair amount of dignity, leading her brood across the boulevard. Looking neither to the right or left, fairly proud of her ability to stop rush hour traffic, the mother paraded on.
Walking across the metal bars of a storm grating, the mother kept her eyes fixed on a small pond straight ahead. Sadly, the ducklings with much smaller feet didn’t fare as well. The first of the ducklings slid through the grate; his disappearance didn’t stop the siblings. One after another they followed. One after another they disappeared through the grate. They could have gone around; they could have made a detour; they had the freedom to do both. They did neither. On one level the ducklings were free, on another they were enslaved by an unerring and unvarying instinct to waddle in their mother’s web tracks–free, but not free; the same as many of us.
So I ask, “Are you free? Is there a master in your life who is enslaving you?” The question is not a foolish one. You’ve seen the movie stars, faithfully followed by their fans, able to fulfill every far-fetched fantasy, rich beyond rhyme or reason. Although these so-called stars have anything and everything success can serve up, many are time bombs, ticking away the moments until a mental or emotional or spiritual explosion occurs. For them, the question is not IF they will explode, but WHEN will they erupt in some grand act of self-destructive behavior. To all who look beneath their stylish surface, it is obvious that the strings of these stars are being pulled by some private puppeteer, some master motivator who is overriding all logic, overruling common sense, and enslaving the celebrity to a lifestyle of illegal drugs, alcohol abuse, and personal promiscuity. It is a great wonder why these stars, so perceptive in their playing of a part, can’t see their present path is leading them to destruction. It is a greater wonder that society says if you want to be cool, clever, and classy, you need to talk like, dress like, love like, and live like these stars. It is the greatest wonder of all, that we, like the ducklings, keep on following.
Are you free or are you a slave? Over 50 years ago, America sent young men and women off to fight in a war against Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany. Countless historians have tried to identify the demons that could so enslave a man’s heart that he would be willing to begin a world war, exterminate those in society who were different, sacrifice an entire generation of his followers, and demand in the closing days of his life that his country die along with him. The world continues to spawn leaders gifted with considerable charisma and an unquenchable thirst for power. What sickness of the soul enslaves the Hitlers, the Saddams, and the Bin Ladens? What great emptiness can enslave the people of a nation so they eagerly set aside their humanity, their dignity, and their morality to follow them? The answer is simple: nations can find themselves enslaved by a malevolent master.
Are you free or are you a slave? Although I disagree with the radio shock jock’s use of foul language and fouler topics, I understand his slavery to getting higher ratings. What I don’t understand are the millions who daily listen to his gross garbage and glamorize his obscenities. Although I disagree with the internet pornographer, I understand his slavery to making money. What I don’t understand is the enslavement of multitudes who deliberately click onto his website and keep him in business. Although I disagree with a dealer’s selling of the most recent designer drug, I can understand he is a slave to power. What I don’t understand are the many who are enslaved, eager to trade their bodies, their futures, their tomorrows, for a moment’s release from reality. You see the point? Humans, individually and communally, can be enslaved by sinful masters buried deep within them.
We may live in a land of freedom, but that doesn’t mean all of us are free from the slavery of soul and spirit. You’ve seen the man who, in wanting to provide for his family, became enslaved to his job. You’ve seen the young girl who, in wanting to look good, ended up starving herself. You’ve seen the student who, desirous of getting good grades, became enslaved to a lifestyle of cheating. You’ve seen CEOs become shady because they were enslaved to keeping intact, their string of unbroken successes. I won’t go on.
If you are like most people, you have a master who rides and rules you, discourages, depresses, and destroys you. Most people have a master who has been specially designed to take advantage of their weaknesses, feel out their shortcomings, capitalize on their flaws. Who is your master? Take a look at him. See his handiwork in your heart, your life, your relationships. Does he make you feel proud of yourself, or are you generally ashamed of who you are? Has he made you afraid of what someone might do to you or what you might do to someone else? Has he filled you with anger and anxiety, fear and frustration? Do you have an inescapable, irrepressible feeling that your life should be somehow different, considerably better, brighter and more beautiful, but your master gleefully suggests these things will always remain outside your grasp? If I have described your life, your day, your now, you can be sure you have a master; and like generations before you, you are a slave.
Which takes me to the point of today’s message: your life, your present, your eternity don’t have to be lived in slavery. You have an alternative. St. Paul, writing to us as well as the church in Galatia, confidently says, “You, my brothers were called to be free.” Listen to me when I say, “You in Christ, can be free. You in Christ, don’t have to be a slave.” Most of us have been to a circus. If so, you might remember seeing the elephants. When they’re not working or performing, the elephants are sometimes tethered to a tiny stake. Anyone seeing that sight knows the elephant has the strength to yank that stake right out of the ground. Seldom does an elephant do so. Why? Because when he was younger, smaller, weaker, the elephant struggled against the stake. After a time of unsuccessful struggling, he gave up. The elephant concluded the stake would always be more powerful than he. The elephant had the potential to be free, but he thought freedom would always be an impossibility.
You are not an elephant. You can be free. You need to know, to believe that your masters who have up until this very moment, successfully enslaved you, body and soul, have been overcome. Like the elephant, you may not realize freedom is yours. Unlike the elephant, who has the power and potential to free himself, your freedom can only come from Jesus Christ, the Savior. To free you from humanity’s shared masters of sin, devil and death, to free you from your own personal masters of enslavement, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born into this world. His entire life, from cradle to cross, was designed to free each of us from our enslaving masters.
The tax collector, Matthew, was as hated as any modern day drug dealer, but Jesus freed him and called him to discipleship. Without Jesus, Peter’s life was a roller coaster ride; bold statements were countered by cowardly comments. With Jesus, Peter became a successful spokesman for the redemption which had been won by the Savior’s bloody sacrifice. Paul, Pharisee and murderer, was forgiven, and then he was freed from the enslavement which had demanded he work his way into God’s grace.
Understand, what Jesus did for these men, He can, and wishes to do for you. If your life is a blackboard filled with a list of sins and disgraceful acts, Jesus’ nail- pierced hands have erased them. All He asks is that you believe in Him as your Savior and Substitute. You are free to believe. If you are plagued by doubts and indecision, Jesus can free you, and show you a new and confident way to live. Do you think your future is filled only with darkness and despair? Jesus wants to be your Light. Whatever, whoever has been your enslaving master, Jesus wants to set you free.
Although I cannot see your faces or look into the hearts of Lutheran Hour’s listeners, I believe that right now, even as your hear me say, “Things can be different”; even as I tell you, “Jesus, Savior and Lord, is calling you to a Divinely ordained life of forgiveness and joy,” there is another voice who is whispering into your ear. The voice of your old master is telling you, “Impossible. Don’t listen. He’s telling you lies. Don’t believe him. Jesus is a myth, a fraud, a fake.” That is the voice of your old master. He, whoever he is, whatever form he takes, wants you to stay right where you are. He wants to keep you lost. He wants you to live in the darkness; he wants you to die in the darkness; he wants you to spend eternity in the darkness, damned forever.
To whom will you listen? I encourage you to hear Jesus. What I say next are not my words, they are His. Listen to the love, the compassion, take notice of His invitation. This is what Jesus said: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into this world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Jesus is not condemned” (John 3:16-18). This is what Jesus said: “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt.11:28-29).
All of us have a master. Some have a master that enslaves and some have a Savior who sets them free. Who will be your master? As the Lord is calling you to faith in Jesus, “The Lutheran Hour” is ready to help you. Call the number we’ll give you before the end of the broadcast. We won’t ask for money. We will introduce you to a new Master, a Master whose single purpose is to set you free.
Not so long ago, there was a very special worship service at an Ohio penitentiary. The occasion had been made special because the governor had announced he was offering freedom to several of the inmates. With understandable impatience, the imprisoned waited for that moment when the governor would reveal those singled out for a pardon. The chaplain stepped aside from the podium and gave the mike to the governor. The first name read was, “Lawrence Layton. Lawrence Layton, come down and get your pardon.” Nobody got up. Nobody came down. The chaplain, wishing to help the governor who had a list of names but didn’t know the faces, started to look around. Spotting Larry Layton, the chaplain pointed and crooked his finger in invitation for Larry to come on down. Larry still didn’t move. The chaplain said, “Larry, he means you. Come down here.” Larry, thinking there must be another Lawrence Layton in the place, stayed sitting. They certainly couldn’t mean he was free.
Finally the chaplain came down, took Larry by the arm and led him forward to receive the precious certificate. After shaking the governor’s hand, Larry sat down with the other prisoners. Amazingly, when the prisoners had to go back to their cells, Larry Layton lined up with them. That’s when the warden got involved. He said, “Larry, you don’t belong there anymore. You’re a free man!”
Today your Savior comes to your prison with a pardon. This pardon is signed in His blood. Pardon in hand, He calls to you, “Come on down. Be free.” What will you do? I pray you won’t pull a Larry. I pray you won’t ignore the Lord, His invitation, His pardon. Don’t think He is talking to someone else. He speaks to you. When this message is over and you go back to your life, please, please don’t get back in line with the condemned. You don’t belong there. In Jesus, the sacrificing suffering Savior, you are free. Amen.
Lutheran Hour Mailbox (Questions & Answers) for July 11, 2004
Topic: God is Everywhere
ANNOUNCER: And stay with us as Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from our listeners. I’m Mark Eischer. Here’s an e-mail that came into our Response Center. This listener says she used to be a practicing Christian, but now she believes God is everywhere, and as long as she treats people well, she’s doing God’s will. She doesn’t need to be in a church to do that.
KLAUS: First things first, Mark, if this lady was a practicing Christian at one time, it’s appropriate she should talk to her pastor or priest about her current beliefs.
ANNOUNCER: But isn’t that beside the point?
KLAUS: Possibly, but when she was confirmed in the Christian faith, she made some promises. If her beliefs have changed, she should ask to be freed from those commitments. At the same time, she should give her church an opportunity to respond to her new way of thinking.
ANNOUNCER: Good point.
KLAUS: Now let’s get to the sum and substance. The lady says she’s come to believe God is everywhere – great. The Triune God is everywhere, He is omnipresent. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He talked about much the same thing with the Samaritan woman (John 4). Samaritans believed a person had to worship God on Mount Gerizim. The Jews maintained He could only be worshipped in the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus said, “The time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is the Spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24).
ANNOUNCER: So our listener gets a point for believing that God is everywhere.
KLAUS: And if we’re scoring, she gets a point for thinking “It’s God’s will for her to treat people well.” Jesus said the second greatest commandment is to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39). According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus went further. He said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28).
ANNOUNCER: Does she get any more points?
KLAUS: She probably could get a point for saying she doesn’t have to be in church to believe in God. The thief that died alongside Jesus believed in Christ and was saved. The only place he went was to the cross. The jailer at Philippi heard the story of salvation in his home. The Ethiopian eunuch heard God’s salvation story while riding in his chariot. The message of Christ crucified and risen has been preached on river banks, homes, throne rooms, jails, even right now on this radio.
ANNOUNCER: So you’re saying our listener really has it just about right?
KLAUS: No. Not saying that at all. ANNOUNCER: I detect a change of tone here.
KLAUS: Pretty easy to read, huh? Let me try to explain. I think this lady is a very fine person. I think she’s to be commended for trying to figure out how to live her faith. For her, faith is a real thing. That’s wonderful. But it’s always dangerous to base your belief on feelings, or as she said it, “what you’ve come to believe recently.” A few years ago, the president of my congregation, who was a lawyer, said, “People can bring a lawsuit over anything they want, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to win.” Translating that into religious talk, “You can believe whatever you want, but that doesn’t mean your belief is going to get you to heaven.”
ANNOUNCER: Now that sounds pretty severe.
KLAUS: It’s meant to sound that way. In spite of this lady’s good intentions, she should know a couple of things. First, she’s not getting into heaven by being nice to her neighbor. Only faith in the blood of Jesus can do that. Second, it’s true, Jesus has freed us from mandatory sacrifices and prescribed forms of worship. On the other hand, if you never feel the need to worship the Lord, something’s definitely wrong.
ANNOUNCER: Anything else?
KLAUS: Actually Mark, I’m just getting warmed up. The Christian faith was never designed to be practiced in a vacuum. Jesus, in His high priestly prayer, petitioned the Father that His followers “be one” (John 17:11). When St. Paul talked about the church, he referred to it as a body with many different members, all brought together for a purpose (1 Cor. 12:12ff). It’s a good thing for this lady to have a personal living faith, but the path she’s on is dangerous. Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” I could go on, but this lady is missing something when she no longer hears the Word in the company of her brothers and sisters. She’s missing more when she neglects the sacraments and the words of Jesus who said, “Take eat, this is My Body; take drink, this is My Blood.”
ANNOUNCER: And if you, the listener, would like to know more about how you could be connected to Christ through the ministry of a local congregation, please call us. Our toll free number is 1-800-876-9880.