Real Freedom

Jesus read…. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

One of the hardest things to do as a pastor is to return and preach and teach at the congregation that you grew up in as a boy. That experience, that privilege, happened to me a few weeks ago when I returned to speak at Guardian Lutheran Church in Dearborn, Michigan. Wow, how great it was to be back home in the church that still holds some of my most special memories of being in church and hearing the Word of God.

But to return home has some challenges. I mean people might remember me at my best when I was a young man, but they also might remember me when I made some of those same mistakes that young people are prone to make from time to time. I do remember in grade school getting in trouble one day at recess for fighting on the playground. I mean, Joel Petrie stole our baseball and he wouldn’t return it. What was I supposed to do, just sit there and take it? Just when I felt the battle on the playground was swinging my way…..both of us felt the tug of an angry Pastor Voss….who literally carried us to his office for some “counseling,” if you know what I mean.

But seriously, sometimes it’s hard to hear the “things of the Bible, the things of God” from someone close to you, someone you know all too well. That’s why I told the people of Guardian, it’s great to be home, and pray for me to deliver God’s best, which both they and I needed all too well. And what a joy it was to revel in the grace of God together!

When it comes right down to it, it is so easy when listening to a sermon, to be judges rather than seekers who are anxious to hear God’s Word and apply it to our lives. We get so wrapped up with judging whether the speaker says things we want said or says the message passionately when we should be focusing our own attention on whether we are hearing the Word of God for ourselves!

This was one of the problems Jesus was facing in our text when He was preaching His first sermon in His home synagogue in Nazareth. He was the Guest Preacher for the day. Imagine what people were thinking and saying. They might have been thinking, “This is little Jesus, Joseph and Mary’s son. He helped His father build the table and chair set in our home. I can’t imagine that He has become a Rabbi. From what we hear, He has become quite a preacher. Have you heard about His sermons in Capernaum? He has even performed miracles. You think we will see some miracles today?”

At the end of the service, Jesus is handed the scroll which contained the Scripture for the day. He sat down, as was the custom; and He read this text from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim God’s Good News to the poor….to proclaim liberty to the captives…..sight to the blind….to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

These people were probably thinking that these words were for Isaiah’s time. After all, that’s when the people of Israel were really in captivity, in bondage, slaves in Assyria, slaves in Babylon. I’m not sure what the people of Jesus’ day thought the passage meant for them; they knew they weren’t in prison, in slavery; maybe they wanted more freedom, but that’s something that everybody wishes for. These folks were probably not ready at all for what Jesus was about to say.

How about you? Are you ready to hear what He has to say to you and me? And let me say this, “His message is just as relevant today as then,” so brace yourselves because you won’t believe what Jesus said. Here it comes. Ready?

The first thing that Jesus does that day is He reads the words from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim Good News” and He claims that the Prophet is talking about Him. He claims that He has the very authority to preach and proclaim God’s Word, God’s freedom. He is the very chosen, long-awaited Messiah of God ordained to bring the good news of liberation for the people of Israel; in fact, for the whole world. He brings a freedom which cannot be obtained in any other place or in any other way.

The jarring message that Jesus brought then and now is that real freedom can only be received from Him, that real freedom lasts only with Him, and that real freedom is following Him in all things. That shook up the crowd then; that shakes us up now. Why?

Well, because the kind of freedom He’s bringing many today don’t think they need it. Many don’t feel they want it, and many feel they can take care of their own freedom themselves. (You see, we’re just like the people in the synagogue that day!)

Then, like today, we think we know what’s important in life. We think we’ve got it all figured out and all we have to do is try harder, think smarter, or throw more money at the problem and our wisdom will win out. Sadly, because of our sin and arrogance, we can’t see our own foolishness when it is plain to anyone who is willing to look. And, when it comes to freedom, we often miss that, mess that up when it’s the one thing that we really need.

I was reminded of the depth of our foolishness when I heard about the story of a project that was being conducted at the University of Oklahoma. For many years, it was said, a project was underway to teach a 15-year old chimpanzee, named Washoe, to talk by combining sign language with simple recognition. Over the years, the chimp learned 140 different signs.

Finally, the project directors decided that it was time for Washoe to “conceptualize,” meaning, instead of merely imitating human words, she would express thoughts on her own. Now, understand that Washoe was a pampered animal in the university’s laboratory. She was well fed, physically comfortable, and safe from harm. And yet, when she was able to put words together to make a phrase on her own, the first three words – which she has used repeatedly – were, “Let me out! Let me out!” You know this is a metaphor but the so-called smart people missed the whole thing, didn’t they?

For many of you listening today would you have dismissed Jesus too? The people then thought they knew the freedom they needed, even though they remained in cages of their own spiritual captivity, just as we are today. Yes, all of us might want freedom from the government, freedom from taxes, politics, terrorists, and wars; but there’s an even greater bondage if you can just imagine it.

Not only was Jesus the Lord, the authoritative One to proclaim God’s Good News, but He defines our bondage and offers His freedom on His terms alone. Wow, what a day it must have been when Jesus read…. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”

Okay, let’s try to listen then. “What kind of freedom are you offering us, Jesus?” Here’s freedom for the poor, the prisoner, the blind, the oppressed.

People today try to flatten this teaching out to mean politics, food banks, prison reform, and scientific help for the infirmed. Now all those have purpose and meaning, and Christ and His church have led the way in being more humane to others, helping create a more humane world; that’s a fact.

But you and I are missing the point if you think that Jesus only came to reform a sinful world and make it a little better. There’s a greater bondage, there’s a greater sickness in humanity and the words of Isaiah confront us all.

The poor. The Greek word that is used here for “poor” means a person who is in total destitution. In other words, it is like a beggar who sits down in the shadow and begs. You can see him sitting with one hand over his face and the other hand stretching out holding a cup to receive money. This word doesn’t describe the ordinary poor who had little money; it describes those who are destitute, who have nothing. When we really examine our so called “riches,” we soon see that such “destitution” explains perfectly the spiritual condition of every one of us. The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that “There is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Eccl. 7:20). The prophet Isaiah compounds that by telling us that “All our righteousness is as filthy rags” (Is. 64:6). Spiritually, we are beggars cringing in a corner with our hands out begging for God’s mercy. Our poverty is not just an act of false piety or false humility. It is real. And our captivity even to our own riches is a sign of our own spiritual destitution as well. Only Jesus has freedom for people like this.

In fact, to fail to see your need, your destitution without Jesus, all too often results in rejecting the real freedom that Jesus alone can give.

And, the Good News of Jesus is not that we will win the lottery this side of heaven, or in some way we are going to be made materially wealthy because of faith in Him. Rather, in spite of who we are, realizing that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves, He has placed in our beggar’s cup the full price for our salvation. His suffering and death on the cross, as a beggar in our place before the Father, paid the price for our sins, and won for us all a victor’s share of eternal life.

In Him, we are free and nothing in this world can take that from God’s people. Nothing! The apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus claims to release the prisoners too. But the depth of that freedom goes beyond jail cell bars. The Bible declares a greater bondage, bondage to our sin, to the temptations of Satan, a bondage even to our own broken dreams and desires. I know you know this feeling along with me. The times when you know what you are supposed to do, but don’t. The times you know what you shouldn’t do, but you do it anyway. The brokenness, the fear, the anger that we create or receive because of the world we’ve built; it’s bondage and if you are honest with me, you know it. You feel it. You sense it.

The Apostle Paul describes it this way: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places” (Eph 6:11-12).

But Jesus claims freedom from that, in Him, with Him. That too is what the cross and the resurrection are all about.

Jesus wasn’t talking about a freedom that we could accomplish with a little help from God or a little help from our friends. He wasn’t talking about a freedom that would make this sinful world a little better (as necessary as that might be this time too). He was talking about a freedom that every human being needs, a bondage that every human being feels, and a victory that only He can provide, on His terms alone!

If that’s what you are hearing today, my friend, then Jesus’ offer to you is the same. Today is the day of God’s favor for you in Him. He’s coming for you with a hope that you can have even if all looks helpless. He’s coming for you even when this world says you aren’t worth it. He’s coming for you even if you seem to have everything, but you know you have nothing. He’s coming for you when all you have is poverty, bondage, blindness, and oppression in this world, in your heart, in your life.

I once read about a lady, who was placed in an institution in 1929 because of a nervous breakdown. She had left her native country and come to America with hopes and dreams. Unfortunately, nobody could speak her language. She was there until 1977— forty-eight years. Still, in all that time, no one was able to understand her. It appears that they had given up on her. For all practical purposes she had lost all hope of her original dream. To those in the institution she was a hopeless case. To them, she just simply existed in her own little world. Then one day, there was a breakthrough. In 1972, a multi-lingual case worker by the name of John Kurz began to talk with her. Kurz was a case worker from the Bureau of the Aging. Not only did he understand her language, but he also found out her name Mary Peischl. Kurz also found out that she had left what was the former Austro-Hungarian Empire when Franz Joseph I was in power. Kurz even helped her to get reunited with her five children. And miracle of miracles, this woman suddenly came alive, became human again, was freed from her prison of hopelessness.

Wait a minute, Pastor Seltz. I thought you said this message wasn’t about that kind of freedom, freedom from temporal poverty, temporal captivity, blindness, and oppression? Why tell me this story right now? Well, hear me clearly so that you can hear Christ even more clearly….I never said “either/or” and neither did Jesus. There are times when we can bring a glimpse of that freedom that comes in Jesus alone; a glimpse into our world, into our communities; but the real freedom of Jesus is deeper, stronger, eternal, and nothing in this world can match it, or corral it, or mimic it completely. Jesus doesn’t want you to settle for mere temporary, worldly relief, as good as that might feel at a moment in time.

And if you can imagine for just a moment, the feelings of that woman who actually was given her life back from one who sought to know her name, to know her dreams, to know what life she could yet live. If that encourages you, excites you, and empowers you, then the message of the cross and resurrection of Jesus being reunited to God as a gift, with forgiveness, life, and salvation as your destiny; that should overwhelm you with joy today!

The people got mad at Jesus that day. They sometimes get mad at me too. (Thankfully, that didn’t happen at Guardian Lutheran in Dearborn.) But there’s a big difference between Jesus’ teaching that day and my work as a pastor. You see, Jesus was claiming to be the Solution for all these issues on His terms alone. His cross is the sign of our true destitution; His cross is the place where our true freedom was won. Jesus claimed the authority to speak that truth to you. I’m one who needs it as badly as you and when I speak, I’m one who shares Him, His victory for me and for all who believe. When I went home to Dearborn, people knew I was coming to share this Jesus and they knew our poverty in ourselves and our true riches in Him; and I want you to know that today too.

Put your faith in Jesus. Be empowered by His Word. Put your trust in Him because today is the day of God’s favor for you. Amen.

LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for January 24, 2016
Topic: How Do We Rejoice in Sufferings?

ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Gregory Seltz responds to questions. I’m Mark Eischer. Today a listener says, “What does the Apostle Paul mean in Romans 5 that we should ‘rejoice in suffering'”? I know people who have gone through a lot of suffering and they find it difficult to rejoice in the midst of it.

SELTZ: Wow, Mark, that’s not only a great question, but a challenging one and I am sure that this is a question for which a lot of our listeners would like an answer. Suffering, whether it is physical, mental, or emotional, it makes it very difficult for the human being to keep a pleasant attitude or smile, let alone rejoice and be thankful for what they are going through.

ANNOUNCER: The fact is we live in a sinful, imperfect world. We have imperfect bodies and because of sin, ours and sin in general, we are going to be faced with difficulties, with sickness, and with suffering.

SELTZ: And the only way this will be changed, ultimately, is when we receive our perfect bodies, like the Bible says, on the Last Day.

ANNOUNCER: So would you say our task here on earth is to strive to turn those difficulties somehow into victories? How do you do that?

SELTZ: No, it isn’t easy and on our own, it is actually impossible. But the key to all of this is the power and blessing of God in Christ; that we have through all of this, not just through some of it. The amazing thing is that as we meet these challenges, we are assured that we are not alone. Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4 “We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the all-surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”

ANNOUNCER: So, we are never alone and Jesus reminds us to cast our burdens on Him because He cares about us.

SELTZ: Exactly. Knowing how important we are to Him, how loved we are by Him, our task, then, is to walk through life with this confidence, not just for ourselves, but for others too.

ANNOUNCER: Again, much easier said than done, especially when we are going through very difficult times.

SELTZ: It is, but Paul does remind us that suffering is not all bad. Some things are worth fighting for. And suffering does help to build our Christian character. Those strengths that God has given us in prayer and faith become more evident as we use them and apply them to the challenges we face.

ANNOUNCER: As this happens to us over and over again, we learn to face those challenges.
SELTZ: Right, very much like an athlete, a public speaker, a physician, a musician, and others who have discovered and developed their skills through the difficulties and challenges that they have met.

ANNOUNCER: I suppose greatness doesn’t come without learning how to face and meet those challenges.

SELTZ: It is no different with our faith. As we go through these sufferings and difficulties and we learn to place them in the Lord’s hands, we become more and more confident of His love and His care for us.

ANNOUNCER: What, then, is God’s purpose in allowing us to go through the sufferings we encounter?

SELTZ: I would imagine that our children might ask the same thing when we discipline them, for instance. In Hebrews 12:6-7 it says “…for the Lord disciplines those He loves, and chastises every child whom He accepts. Endure trials for the sake of that discipline. God is treating you as children (as loved children).” Such discipline prepares us to live life to its fullest! It also gives us a different perspective on life with all of its challenges and struggles.

ANNOUNCER: Suffering is a part of creation because of sin. What separates the Christian from the non-Christian, though, is how we view it and how we deal with it.

SELTZ: That’s a good point; and look no further than how Jesus received suffering. He became fully human, even to the point of experiencing agonizing suffering and pain. Not only did He experience the lashing of the whips, the piercing of the crown and nails, the slapping, spitting, and scorn of the soldiers, the thirst and agony of dying on a cross, but think of this, in the midst of it all He carried the eternal suffering for your sins, my sins, the sins of the whole world.

ANNOUNCER: He suffered all that in order to save all people.

SELTZ: The Bible then says, “That was the joy set before Him!”

ANNOUNCER: When we look at it that way, I think that puts a whole different perspective on how we understand and deal with suffering; it shows us the depth of Jesus’ love and I suppose it can help us grow in faith, and teach us that some things are worth the suffering!

SELTZ: I think the Apostle Paul sums it up right. He says: “…I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” In Romans 12:12 says it even better. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, and persevere in prayer.”

ANNOUNCER: And that hope and strength are in Christ.

SELTZ: Exactly.

ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Seltz. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.

Action in Ministry for January 24, 2016
Guest: Eric Gates and Katia Sahyouni

ANNOUNCER: This is The Lutheran Hour and this is Action in Ministry. It’s a call to action, really, in response to all that God has done for us in Jesus Christ.

SELTZ: Today we are with Eric Gates, our International Director to Africa and the Middle East. Eric, is that right?

GATES: That’s correct. Thank you.

SELTZ: That’s a big area. So, we’re glad to have you and we have a special guest. Could you introduce her as well?

GATES: Sure. I’m happy to. With us today is Miss Katia Sahyouni. Katia is our Audience Relations Director in Beirut, Lebanon.

SAHYOUNI: Thank you. I’m glad I’m here.

SELTZ: Could you tell us a little bit about your work, your outreach to the Syrian and Iraqi refugee children?

SAHYOUNI: Well, lately, we’ve had a lot of refugees in Lebanon especially from Iraq and Syria, due to war in Syria. Many of them are suffering because they use to live in big houses, used to be rich, have a good life. Now they are living in tents so during winter, they freeze because of snow. They are having a hard time to find jobs to live; so they are suffering in many ways.

SELTZ: How do you, then, come alongside of them and help? Tell us some ways that you are able to work with them.

SAHYOUNI: First I thank God through Jesus Christ for this opportunity He gave us to reach these people. We’ve been reaching them through relief packages and, of course, our goal and our aim from these relief packages is not only to help them in their living but also to reach out for them and tell them about Jesus and the salvation through Jesus Christ. The relief packages are opening the door for us to say what we want to say for them about Jesus. Jesus said, “We are the salt of the earth and we are the light of the world.” This is why we do what we do.

SELTZ: Eric, talk a little bit about how we, as Lutheran Hour, are there with her as well and she with us.

GATES: It’s just a really great privilege for me to be able to go out there and see people, firsthand, witnessing and sharing their faith in the midst of terrible hardships. We also are really grateful that our church, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, has approached us as well with some tremendous funding lately for this initiative…

SELTZ: Wonderful.

GATES: …so that’s really exciting. We’re grateful for that.

ANNOUNCER: What were your first impressions going to a refugee camp for the first time?

SAHYOUNI: For the first time I was surprised. The area was very smelly. You can feel viruses everywhere. So, the next time we went we brought with us dis-hygiene, anti-hygiene…

ANNOUNCER: Like sanitizer?

SAHYOUNI: Uh huh. Every now and then we wash our hands with it.

ANNOUNCER: Sure.

SELTZ: It’s always tough to be the hands and feet of Christ. It’s another challenge.

ANNOUNCER: That’s true.

GATES: When Katia mentioned earlier that the refugees are living in tents; that was one of the things that surprised me when I first visited. They’re not tents like we would imagine. Not military tents, nothing that nice. What they are is they have used scrap lumber from pallets, construction pallets, scrap 2x4s they’ve put together structures and they’ve covered those, stapled on top, whatever plastic tarps they can find. One of the really neat things about this story too, in our experiences lately, for over ten years we’ve worked with a Muslim camp of a tribe called the Bedouin. They are a traditional nomadic Muslim group. Year after year we’ve ministered to them, gone to their villages, and now that the refugees have come into Lebanon, thousands of refugees, Muslim refugees, have settled in areas that are dominated by these Bedouin tribes. Believe it or not, the Bedouins have become a bridge for us to go reach out to these new refugees. So, when we come into a Muslim area, we’re actually introduced by Bedouins that have known us for over ten years. We’re introduced as friends and we’re already trusted messengers.

ANNOUNCER: As we hear you tell your story, our listeners are thinking what can we do to help. And what would you tell them?

SAHYOUNI: First of all, I would tell them pray for us. Pray for the refugees that God open their heart to the message of God and to the message of salvation. Pray for us that God give us the wisdom, what to speak, how to deal with them.

SELTZ: Eric, how can they get to know more about what’s going on there?

GATES: I would say, right now, the best way to really connect with our staff, with Katia, with our Director Fadi, with all of our team in Lebanon, would be to take a look at our LHM Lebanon blog. That website is: www.lhmlebanon.wordpress.com and you’ll see full-color pictures there of Katia, the refugees, things you read about in the paper; I think it really…looking at that blog puts a really personal face on the work that’s going on out there.

ANNOUNCER: Very good. We’ve been talking with Katia Sahyouni of Middle East Lutheran Ministries. Katia, thank you so much for being with us.

SAHYOUNI: Thank you.

ANNOUNCER: To help you remember Katia and these ongoing relief efforts, we’d like to send you a Lebanon cedar wood cross. For your free Lebanon cross, call The Lutheran Hour toll free: 1-855-john316. That’s 1-855-564-6316. Our email address is info@lhm.org.

Music Selections for this program:

“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.