“If I allow fear to
take me over, I won’t be able to make the
moves that I need to… to keep going.”
Fear is one of the
most powerful forces there is. Fear can paralyze and fear can isolate.
Fear is used every day to control and contain us. As subtle as an Old Spice
commercial that said, “You don’t want to be old and single, do you?”,
or as loud as physical dominance.
When Jesus rose from the dead – that changed everything, including the
opportunity for us to live with absolute freedom. Freedom is the antonym of
fear. God said, your shortcomings, your mess ups, your failures–none will
be counted against you. Who you are will never be affected by what you do. But
we don’t trust Him. We still fear that, somehow, our mess-ups affect how God
sees us and affect our value in some way. So we tread warily through life.
It’s as if God promised He’s removed all the prickles from the grass and yet,
we tip toe around, in case He missed some. Life is not meant to be tip toed
through. Life is meant to be run with freedom. No chains, no shackles, no tip
toeing.
Galatians 5:1 | Freedom in Christ
So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free,
and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
As we begin to trust God more and more, to step out from behind fear and run,
we’ll begin to see life in a way we never have before, the way God designed it.
This summer we have been working through a message series called “Pack YourBags.” We have taken three major steps
in the journey asking ourselves some important questions like:
First, in this season
of heat which is Summer – are we a Thermometer or a Thermostat? Do we just talk
about the heat around us, (the stuff that makes us uncomfortable) like a thermometer
would in telling the temperature, or do we seek to lives a life which – like a thermostat would – seeks to change
the temperature as we seek to live in the comfort of Christ.
Then we moved forward
a bit, and checked out our heart by asking - do we live in humility? Seeking above all to live in humility with
God. See we don’t set the temperature, we seek to let Christ do that, but we
have to have a humble heart to let that happen.
That message then led
us toward asking the question – how is our heart? What influences are taking us
into unhealthy patterns in our life – are we prepared to make the changes we
need in our lifestyle to have a healthy spiritual heart. Make sure to check out these messages.
So we have arrived at
this juncture, now almost halfway into the summer. If we are willing to take note of the temperature of our life,
make the changes we need, reflect humbly of heart as we do, and live with a
healthy spiritual heart – then it’s time to look at the topic of freedom and
some ways to shed the fear that holds us back. This pursuit is a lot like
going to the mailbox and finding the envelope with the letter we have been
waiting for, or been worried about.
Over our lifetime, we
all have received letters. Some letters are great, we find ourselves
saving them and reading them over and over again. Some letters are more
challenging, they hit a chord with us that feels challenging or
convicting. Those letters we want to toss away, even though in the back
of our minds what the person said was probably right.
God’s
word is a letter which has arrived for us this Lord’s Day and in essence it
asks – what is holding you back from dropping the fear and walking in faith? Sometimes its our past, or we are apprehensive about the future, or we are unimpressed with our present path. Each of us must
remember the past with gratitude, live the present with passion, and embrace
the future with hope. A grateful memory of the past: not archaeology. We don't go digging for our regrets. Rather we embrace a passion
for maintaining ever alive and young our first love, Who is Jesus. This then leads us to live in Hope, with the
knowledge that Jesus is with us and guides our steps – that is at essence the
core of freedom and friendship with Christ.
Today the word “friend” has become a
bit overused. In our daily lives, we run into various people whom we call
“friends”, but that is just a word we say. Within virtual communications,
“friend” is one of the most frequently found words. Yet we know that
superficial knowledge has little to do with that experience of encounter or
closeness evoked by the word “friend”.
When Jesus speaks of His “friends”, He
points to a hard truth: true friendship involves an encounter that draws me so
near to the other person that I give something of my very self. Jesus says to
His disciples: “No longer do I call you servants… but I have called you
friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (Jn
15:15). He thus establishes a new relationship between man and God, one that
transcends the law and is grounded in trust and love. At the same time, Jesus
frees friendship from sentimentalism and presents it to us as a responsibility
that embraces our entire life: “Greater love has no man than this - that a man
lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13).
We become friends, then, only if our
encounter is more than something outward or formal, and becomes instead a way
of sharing in the life of another person, an experience of compassion, a
relationship that involves giving ourselves for others.
It is good for us to
reflect on what friends do. They stand at our side, gently and tenderly, along
our journey; they listen to us closely, and can see beyond mere words; they are
merciful when faced with our faults; they are non-judgemental. They are able to walk
with us, helping us to feel joy in knowing that we are not alone. They do not
always indulge us but, precisely because they love us, they honestly tell us
when they disagree. They are there to pick us up whenever we fall.
So the key to freedom - to not living in fear but rather grabbing hold of faith - is friendship with Christ. As you continue your summer journey and “packing
your bags” – how is your friendship with Jesus? Can I suggest three methods to
answer that questions honourably and honestly
- First, do you speak
daily with Him?
- Do you visit Him weekly on His day at Mass?
- Do you desire to
grow in knowing Him regularly?
No friendship can grow in isolation (isolation is the
breading ground of fear). Daily conversation with Christ is needed –
remember that appointment with God. No friendship can grow without communication (not
talking a tool of fear). No friendship can become all it is meant to be without
“meeting up”, so on the Lord’s Day do you visit Jesus at His Home and share in
the Eucharistic Meal which is the Mass. This connection with Jesus on the
Lord’s see should not be solely seen as an obligation, but an opportunity for
friendship with Christ which leads to trying to expand and grow in knowing Him,
loving Him and serving Him (staying still is the motion of fear).
As we keep moving forward –
would you be willing to ask those questions and "take the temperature" on your friendship with Jesus? Make sure you can state whether "I filled with fear or freedom" as I move forward. So keep packing your
bags – for we are all on the journey to a great destination together.
Recently I have
been reading about Archbishop Oscar Romero whose cause for beatification as a
saint is before the church. He was Archbishop in El Salvador at a time of great
persecution and suffering for Christians and time of inequality between rich
and poor. When he became the
Archbishop there was one change he made – which caused a storm of challenges in
his life. He opened the Cathedral, and his own home to the poor and those who
were suffering, and gave them a place to sit – even among the rich - where in before the poor had to wait outside, and be invited in if there was room. His reason was
simple “no matter what you carry in the heavy bags of life your place is with
the church – she is your rock.”
