Freed

Freed

Good Morning Friends,

The true story of Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave, won the Movie Oscars this last weekend. It is a powerful movie…even the thought of it. I bring it to your attention on this Fat Tuesday because the movie is an appropriate study even on this day of Carnival, but I think also for Lent. It forces us to face the pride of what we once had. Friends, the human heart can become very dark in its spirit and flesh, but the story of our faith is about being Freed.

Scripture: The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day. While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the Passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho.
On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

Joshua 5:9-12 (NRSV)

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11 (NRSV)

Message: Originally it was slaves that carried the touches to light the parade of Mardi Gras.
Oh we do have a dark past. But as dark as the heart can be, there is something about the power and light of the gospel that can bring light to any darkness. In today’s scripture the children of Israel find themselves at the precipice of possessing the promise but they lack a leader.  Before they could take the land they had to go through the pain and discomfort of spiritual preparation. 400 years in slavery and 40 years eating manna. It is here we learn that God can circumcise our hearts and heal us spiritually if we are willing to face our sins. Here we find that meeting people’s needs with love is meant to be combined with sharing…proclaiming the good news. That is what Jesus did when he quoted today’s Isaiah passage linking his purpose to that of freeing the captives in his first sermon. It is here we learn that we are not to separate God from community. We cannot if we love. We are not to segregate church and people from human need. We cannot if we love. This is not an either or proposition. We need to be freed. Here each and every one of us are to minister to the spiritual and physical needs of others. Poverty and Justice cannot be effectively addressed only in the pews. The diversity and the plurality of our gifts need to be taken to the streets…to our families to our community. Then we will discover that Jesus is everywhere… everywhere we come in the spirit of Christ’s love, He is already there waiting. And so, we must get into our nature a way of living out redemption not just proclaiming it. It is in the doing that we gain the experience of God. It is in the doing that we learn how to love.

Friends, it was on slave ships that the tune to Amazing Grace was first sung. The words of repentance go like this: “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.” Its echo is the power of God’s grace in our lives. Here we discover that God’s justifying grace does not just open our eyes to the love and companionship of God, at that first moment of belief, it also extends into every experience of our lives where God pursues this grace in our empty and broken relationships with others. Here we discover that grace is about saying “yes” to God, saying “yes” to relationships. Here we discover that our conversion continues each time we find new ways of saying “yes” to God…each time we find new ways of accepting Jesus Christ as Lord. Here we discover love on this Fat Tuesday… a day of grace… before the repentance of Lent.

Pray we strive to work together and worship together in unity. Pray with thanks to God for those of faith who saw a better way. Pray that our hearts be circumcised…trimmed of pride… cut off from envy… removed from anger…saved from sloth… Pray that our greed is reduced to ashes…our gluttony is gone and our lust lost forever to the love of God. Pray that we enter the Promised Land and take possession of it. Pray that we celebrate the surrender… the healing….the sacrifice…the leadership in the hope of the Passover meal. Pray we accept Jesus as our warrior leader…as our Lord leading us out of slavery to the promise land. Pray that today we cross the river, stop and collectively celebrate life. Pray we become people of integrity that are consecrated to move in the power and the might of a victorious God. Pray we are prepared to give up manna for something better. Pray that we embrace the change that is required and find the reward of eating the fruit in the Promised Land. Pray as we begin the journey of Lent that we get in touch with the Holy Spirit. Pray we are anointed to draw closer to God this Fat Tuesday.

Blessings,

John Lawson