Community & Discipleship

Freedom Sunday

2011.03.13Dr. David Batstone

You are not for sale, so ask honestly who owns you. Freedom comes as we fast, reflect, and give generously, so that we can stand with the millions still enslaved today.

Ask honestly who owns you

Ask yourself honestly: who owns me? We may have no chains on our arms, but we have willingly handed over our destinies to promises of satisfaction through the iPods we own, the cars we drive, and the homes we live in. We were wired for community, for spiritual connection, and for transcendence, yet we sell our souls for a pot of porridge to the cheapest bidder. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and runs to Easter, when we are freed from the tomb and from everything that binds us.

Thirty million people are still enslaved

Around the world more than 30 million people live in slavery, and their God-given right to a full life has been stolen. Kru Nam in northern Thailand told of three girls from China, aged 14 or 15, who were promised restaurant jobs, smuggled across the Mekong River under baskets, and then told they must sell their bodies. They escaped through a window, and a kind neighbor and a police officer brought them to safety. Twelve other girls are still with their trafficker. South Korea is the second largest source of young people trafficked into the United States for the commercial sex industry.

Examine your words and your calendar

Freedom shows itself in our daily words and choices. This week, keep a small notebook, and at the time you would have eaten, write down everything you said that day. Then ask what your speech reveals about your values and your heart, because the tongue rules the body. Next, write down what you did and check whether it matches your mission. Business leaders often find they spend only 10 percent of their time on their mission, so aim to move from 10 to 15 percent, and celebrate every step toward freedom.

Generosity makes us communities of grace

Personal righteousness leads to justice, and generosity is the practical sign of both. A pastor in California aims to give away 90 percent of his income, and he asked his congregation to give to Not For Sale rather than to his own church. We must become communities of grace that equip people with tools to be free. Smart activists must address root causes, such as how girls are recruited and trapped, and welcome survivors who return home carrying shame. In Japan, one non-profit reported that only one of twenty trafficking victims would go to the police.

Fast for freedom and say, Here am I

Isaiah describes the fast that loosens chains, shares food with the hungry, shelters the poor, and clothes the naked, and the church must answer, Here am I. Mahatma Gandhi warned of seven social sins, including pleasure without conscience, commerce without ethics, and wealth without work. We need a generation that is not for sale and that is willing to change the world. To traffickers we say the global church is waking up. To victims we say you are not alone, and you are free.

Apply to Life

  • Let us ask honestly today who owns us and what has captured our hearts.
  • Let us keep a simple notebook of our words and actions this week and examine what they reveal about our hearts.
  • Let us fast for freedom, using the time we would have spent eating to pray for those still in bondage.
  • Let us give generously so that others may move toward freedom.
  • Let us stand with survivors of trafficking and welcome them into a community of grace rather than shame.

This summary was made automatically from the sermon's captions and may differ from the sermon.

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