Shane and Shane is one of my favorite groups, and this is one of my favorite songs by them,"Liberty". I think one of the best moments in the song comes in the bridge with these lyrics,
"The storm rolled in, it was dark in the land
As the Son of Man was crucified
You don't take His life, He laid it down
And He paid the price, and shed His blood
It is done, the veil is torn
He has won and I am free"
As followers of Christ our freedom and liberty comes differently, We cannot be set free by our actions, we cannot win on our own. We fully depend on Christ. We offer him our lives and will and faith and depend on his goodness to set us free from our sin and redeem us into right relationship with God. By Christ's great mercy, and for our freedom, Christ's work on the cross has set us free from the burden of the law. Now our job is to re-member what he has done for us, and gather all of creation into his love by our love. The love demonstrated in his life as the love of God for all creation. Paul says in Galatians 5:14 Jesus summed up the whole law, everything we as his followers are supposed to do, with the words, "Love your neighbors as yourself."
He goes on to illustrate how we will know we are living as faithful disciples through the "fruit" those relationships bear, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
It is not an easy thing to bear these fruits all the time, people are hard, life is hard, and circumstances arise that we don't always understand which makes living a life of faith hard. However, when we try our best to fully depend on God for all that we have and all that we are, our faith can be tried, but it will not be shaken because we will see the fruit in our lives and the fruit in creation around us that reminds us God is alive and working. That we are living in the reign of Christ right now and we are no longer separated from the holy because the veil was torn and God busted loose into all things to make God's way the way of freedom.
So I wonder how we might celebrate dependence? We will celebrate tomorrow with fireworks and cookouts, ice cream and baseball, the liberation of our nation from another, but in what ways do we celebrate a liberation that looks so much different. This freedom in Christ means dependence on him for all, it means we listen to the Spirit for each step we take, it means we put our trust in a God we cannot see with our eyes.
For me, worship is the way I celebrate. It is the way I tell the way of the world it will not be my guide. It is the way I show God my love and passion and appreciation. It is the way I am filled to overflowing for ministry to my neighbors. As a Pastor, I am usually working while the congregation is attending worship, so I have to find ways to worship throughout the week. Listening to music or sermons, engaging in bible study, reading and talking with friends and family about where God is working in our midst becomes the worship that fills me. I pray, that each of you also find a way to celebrate your dependence on Christ. Tell us how you celebrate in the comments below or on my facebook page - @JATlifelessons.
