Proclaiming Freedom

Isaiah 61:1

 ¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
   to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners

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With the coming of a tiny baby, wrapped up and bundled in an obscure corner of the world surrounded by animals in a dusty hay-filled stable, came the coming of hope for all mankind in the world. With Jesus, we have redemption, we have forgiveness, we have new beginnings. He truly is the good news that the world needs.

Have you been set free from that which holds you captive? That which bars you from experiencing abundant joy and peace in our Lord?  It is true that we are continually assailed with distractions vying for our attention, trying to pry our seeking eyes off of Jesus, taking our attention from truth and devotion, and casting our thoughts on things much less signficant...and frankly cheap, considering the richness there is in the Lord. Have you bought into the world's lies and settled for a cheaper imitation of Jesus and the life that can be found in him? Or do you live fully for the Lord, proclaiming the freedom you've found in God to friends, to family, openly living as a disciple of Christ?

It's not easy sometimes, especially in today's society, to express a genuine devotion towards God and a reverence towards His written Word to others in our lives. It seems like now, especially in our American culture, when one speaks up, proclaiming the Word as the truth and light of God, with that proclamation, quite a number of stereotypes rise up to define one, sometimes unfairly. And that limits the potential of really getting the true, genuine message of Christ across effectively.

Maybe though, to proclaim God's truth in our lives, we don't have to use words all the time. Maybe words can limit our message to people in how God has changed our lives. Maybe words themselves can be like walls, barriers, between us and our message and other people. Maybe just living our lives; changed, free from the yoke of this world and full of the peace of God, is enough to make people start reflecting, start questioning, start seeking. I'm not an evangelist. I don't think I ever will be. I'm just not good at that kind of thing. But In Isaiah, it says to "preach good news to the poor"...to "proclaim freedom for the captives"...and I do think that is important. (It's God's Word after all! )

How can we do that without using words, or "evangelizing" in the traditional sense? I'm putting out a thought here, I'm not saying I'm entirely right, and of course each circumstance warrants particular varying responses, but there are some before me that have had the same notion that are much more qualified than I am, so I think there is some merit in this idea.

I am coming to believe that one of the best ways of proclaiming the freedom that we have found in Christ to a fallen world is through acts of service and through living out our lives, free from bondage, glorifying God and thus, serving as a living testament to His mercy, grace and to the power of the Spirit.

St Francis of Assissi once said, " Preach the gospel always, if necessary use words."

Language is limiting, actions say so much more. Words just symbolize concepts, actions display and live them out. Let's live out God's Word! Let's live out a life rich in Christ. Let's not just talk about Jesus but let's take to heart what he came down and taught us. To go out and serve others, to not let socio economic statuses define us spiritually. To reach out to others, both rich and poor, and help them. Let's find ways to lift others up through our actions and through our Love, the love that God puts in our hearts, and let's show grace and love to those around us. That will say so much more about the God we love and serve than anything words can express.

Consider Mother Teresa. She is respected by so many, Christians and non-Christians alike. She is someone that lived out her life with reverence towards God, service to mankind and great love towards people that most of us find hard to love. The lepers, the poor, the dying. And through her actions of love, through displaying the character of Jesus in a dark world, she shined a light brighter than anything words could create. She lived out her faith and through her gentle spirit, others could see the spiritual freedom she had with God. And that makes one really think deeply about things. We can't "save" anyone...that's God's job, that's the workings of the Spirit. The Bible tells us it is the Spirit which "awakens faith" in believers. But we can introduce hope, love, and compassion and inspire others to question what they believe and to reach out to seek the same freedom we have found and are finding in Christ.

As we prepare our hearts during Advent and anticipate celebrating the coming of Christ in the world, let's reflect on ways we can express the life of Christ in our own lives, without words, but through living out the gospel. Let's also reflect in ways that the world still binds us to it and ask for God to release us from those chains so that we can be more effective servants and live more fully in Him. Let's be free in Christ and proclaim that freedom to others through living in the love and light and Spirit of God! :)

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for helping us find freedom in you. Thank you for breaking the chains of slavery that bind us to the world and for vanquishing the darkness that threatens our peace, inundating our spirits with your light and love. May you continually work in our hearts so that we can experience you in deeper ways and enlighten us in the areas of our lives that need you and that need our attention and prayer in breaking free from.

 May our lives be living testaments to the power of your Spirit which makes such freedom and peace possible. May we seek ways in which we can serve you and speak of your great love, your grace, the hope that is found only in you, through our actions and through our lives. May we be the bright lamps in the world, shining our lights, (not speaking of light but actively shining it!) being the beacons of hope, that you call us to be.

Thank you for your son, for without him, we would have no hope. We praise you and give you all glory and honor.

In Jesus' name,

Amen

Exploring Denominational Diversities

        A Prayer Attributed to St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair; hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

                                                        
                                                      


This prayer, to me, says it all. In a simple and direct way it puts the role of the Christian into perspective. To pray it, redirects one's heart to what matters most-God's will. It's God's will we sow seeds of peace, that we love and forgive others, that we be like burning lamps blazing brightly to cast light in the world's darkness, to give hope to those who haven't any. I love the second part of the prayer too because it puts the focus off ourselves and on others. The theme of love rings out in this prayer-love for God, love to do His will, and love for our fellow man.

It's kind of amusing but the first thing that I was compelled to write was a disclaimer that I wasn't catholic because the prayer is from a catholic saint. I guess that's the early evangelical blood running in my veins! When I was first born again I tried out a few churches, but having received the message of the gospel from the words and ministry of Chuck Swindoll, I was drawn to an evangelical, Bible-based church.  I loved that church but I did find out early on that not every denomination was as open and accepting towards every other denomination. Catholicism, with its predictable and ritualistic liturgical prayers and other customs and outlooks, was frowned upon.

It wasn't until I went to a Catholic college and met some very dedicated sisters in Christ that took their faith every bit as seriously as I took mine that I realized there wasn't as much of a difference between them and I as some would make it out to be. Though we had slightly varied patterns that defined us somewhat differently we were all cut from the same cloth. We were all part of the same family and body that is Christ.

It was also, later on, in fact pretty recently, that I discovered Thomas Merton, a catholic monk and writer who I have read and respect greatly as well as many other catholic voices that ring out with truth and light and life. So, I suppose the point of all of this is and my advice, for whatever it is worth, is to not be a "denominational snob", (which I naively started out as). Instead I would encourage you to open yourself up to new experiences and new points of view. For sure, if something seems to not ring true with the Bible, it should be avoided, but there are many different ways to worship, many different ways to pray. To explore the diversity which God has imprinted in the hearts of man to reach up to Him and seek His holy face, can be a changing event in one's life. And a renewing time in one's faith.

It is my view that it gives God no glory to continually point out the differences that we have with other brothers and sisters in Christ but that God wants us to simply see Christ in others and have others see Christ in us. All other differences are superficial. If one is misrepresenting Scripture and God, then that is one thing, but if one's way to worship, pray or commune with God differs from our own, it should be respected and even investigated as a potential path for us to explore and practice to enrich our own experiences and invigorate our own faith.

~ abundant blessings in Christ