Can I No Longer Live?

THEME: The life support of the Holy Spirit

As we celebrated our nation’s Independence Day this past weekend, the word freedom took center stage in our hearts and minds. Freedom is the most cherished element of our culture, and yet, do any of us possess it or know what it is?

In his letter to the Roman church, Paul wrote, “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.” (Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬). ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Paul, how can I be free to do all I want if I spend my life pleasing others and building them up? That is a full-time job? As Paul continued, “For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”

‭‭(Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬)‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Think beyond Paul's one truth in verse 3 to Jesus' life. Did Jesus ever have the freedom to explore His meaning in life? Did He ever get to say, “I will get to that later, but I want to do this for a year or so?” Did Jesus ever have freedom? The answer is no, and it is also a resounding yes, and those two answers depend on the definition of freedom.

Each of us, including Jesus, is and was the creation of our Father. None of us got to this planet in the form we are in on our own. Humankind's problem is that we all forget how we arrived here and our destiny, except for one. As we turn all truth inside out, the truth of our freedom becomes convoluted and the opposite of reality. We learn to believe that freedom is about what we do or how we act. We see freedom as wearing the latest, universally accepted style or haircut. Or freedom means that I can drink this hip drink or try out this newest drug. Freedom means watching what I say to keep my freedom and be accepted by others. I have the freedom to think like the crowd and to choose one of two or three political parties, and, once I do, to not stray from that ideology. We have the freedom to buy into the “groupthink” concerning skin color or ethnicity being more critically important than it is, or that one can dabble in sex outside of marriage without getting burned. We are free to believe we are free without the one who showed us how to live free and broke our shackles. Anyone who has lived long enough to experience this freedom has learned that it becomes a bondage like no other, a self-imposed prison sentence.

Now, let us examine the freedom Jesus experiences, teaches, and empowers us to live through the Holy Spirit. Knowing this deep in our souls is important because it becomes a way of life and not a command from Paul to us that must be forced.

Paul wrote, “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.” (Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV). And Jesus told us, ‬‬“Come to me, all you 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬-‭30‬ ‭NIV‬).‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

But how do we transition from false freedom to true freedom, as our Creator designed us? Instead of me telling you, let us look at the map God shows us.

Jesus told us, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬). And Paul wrote about himself, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians‬ ‭2‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬). ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

How great is the freedom we experience if we no longer live, but are alive only in the miraculous union with Christ, who happens to be in union with the Father, who happened to create us? No more proving ourselves. No more walking on eggshells. No more having to don the mask every morning. If we choose, we can die to ourselves, our needs, our goals, our hopes, our sadness, anger, and pride. We can throw off the shackles, the one-hundred-pound backpack, and the weighted shoes, unburdened from the desire to please ourselves.

Then what?

Then, we bury ourselves, plug into the source of our lives, and allow the living “owner’s manual,” the Holy Spirit, to direct our steps.

Next, as Pastor Dan taught, we take the endurance we receive from being plugged into the life-support of the Holy Spirit and the encouragement we receive from God’s very words to us and pass this truth we are living on to others. After all, if we hold onto it and hoard it, we are trying to resuscitate our lives again, are we not? As dead people, what can we hold on to? The answer is only what God gives us to pass on.

After all, “Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.” (Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV)‬‬‬‬‬‬

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SCRIPTURE: ‬‬‬‬ Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭13‬ ‭(NIV)

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

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PRAYER:

Lord, you tell us repeatedly that the way to live a victorious life is to die. Why is this so hard to grasp and even to write? We take such pride in who we are, what we have learned, even bragging about how many verses we may have memorized, and what positions we may hold. We love to compare and long to be held in esteem, when, in reality, no one really cares. I pray today that you do whatever it takes to strip me of all I hold on to, so that I may truly die, deny myself, pick up my cross, and truly follow you wherever you lead. I confess that I long for your freedom, but fear what it may involve. Make me free, Lord. Amen.