The Bible says of freedom in Isaiah the prophet's writings: 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."
Jesus, in announcing his ministry in his hometown, read that very passage, so it has tremendous significance.
But what does it mean to those of us in the middle, neither particularly poor at the moment, nor completely brokenhearted, nor captive?
Or are we?
My brokenness is on record.
My captivity to sin is on record.
My spiritual poorness is on record.
I bleed all those things, daily, of a lifetime.
And I can't fix them.
So, what I need so desperately is someone to come along and proclaim good news to me. And He did.
I love it when Jesus reads this in the Nazareth synagogue, closes the scroll and says," Today this is fulfilled."
It is the equivalent of dropping the mike. The best performance in the history of humankind has happened. Jesus has said, I'm that guy. I want to be that guy, and I am.
And all that has come before is and was without fulfillment. Now? Now I've done it, he says.
He has set me free, and I am free indeed. Without question or doubt or worry or misery, I am free.
The complicating thing, as mentioned above, is that my very freedom threatens my peace. Only as I go back to the well over and over and over again do I remain free, do my spiritual wounds remain bound, does the good news that only Jesus can bring remain good news.
That's where we are this fine September morn. Free. Free to be who God has created us to be.
Are you up to it?
Am I?
Here's a story about that freedom...
Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the store in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries. She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work, they had seven children and they needed food.
John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store.
Visualizing the family needs, she said: "Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as soon as I can."
John told her he could not give her credit, as she did not have a charge account at his store.
Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the conversation between the two. The customer walked forward and told the grocer that he would stand good for whatever she needed for her family.
The grocer said in a very reluctant voice, "Do you have a grocery list?"
Louise replied, "Yes sir"
"O.K." he said, "put your grocery list on the scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you that amount in groceries."
Louise, hesitated a moment with a bowed head, then she reached into her purse and took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her head still bowed.
The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement when the scales went down and stayed down.
The grocer, staring at the scales, turned slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly, "I can't believe it."
The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the groceries on the other side of the scales. The scale did not balance so he continued to put more and more groceries on them until the scales would hold no more. The grocer stood there in utter disgust.
Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement. It was not a grocery list, it was a prayer which said:
"Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this in your hands."
The grocer gave her the groceries that he had gathered and stood in stunned silence. Louise thanked him and left the store. The customer handed a fifty-dollar bill to the grocer and said, "It was worth every penny of it."
It was some time later that the grocer discovered the scales were broken; therefore, only God knows how much a prayer weighs.
When the Savior frees you, friends, you are free indeed.
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