I Want to Break Free (Trinity Sunday)

As we sit, let's bow our heads and pray together.

Our gracious Father, we pray now that you would open our eyes and open our ears and open our hearts.

That we might receive your truth and your truth would set us truly free.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Amen. So, if you've been around churches any length of time, you'll have heard preachers say,

God has a plan. And in this world which seems so broken at the moment,

you might be wondering to yourselves what that plan actually is.

But God does have a plan. In fact, God has more than one plan.

First thing he has is a plan for your life.

And the problem with that is you'll only discover that plan the more you submit to him

and to his will for your life. The more likely you are to know what his plan is for you.

When I look through the annals of church history about the men and women

who have done great things for God, the first thing I note about them is

they're not plaster saints as we say, but they are people who are surrendered

to what God wants for them.

You might like to think about that in your own life.

But God has a bigger plan.

And the bigger plan is he wants to restore his kingdom here on earth.

And you need to put away, out of your minds, the idea that God's kingdom is a place.

You can't go on chewy and get there.

God's rule, sorry, God's kingdom is where God's sovereign rule exists in the hearts of human beings.

God's plan B, if you like, is the church.

And I have no idea why God would choose us to be his plan B.

Except that he is a God of grace and a God of mercy.

And a God who wants the very best for you.

And in the mind of God, the very best for you

is when you bring your life under his control.

As the old street preachers put it,

when you take self off the throne

and put Jesus on the throne.

You might well ask yourself,

what's going wrong with the world at the moment?

And the answer is,

I was having lunch with some church leaders just last week,

and one of them asked me very bluntly,

do I think that what's going on in the world at the moment

is the end of the world emerging?

I said, well, there have been several people throughout history

who thought that that was happening,

but what I can say is this,

it does look as though some of the signs that the Bible refers to

are coming about in our generation.

No one can say for sure whether it's the Lord's plan to return,

but if we're called to read the signs of the times,

then looking at those signs,

it does seem that Jesus' return might be imminent.

Someone say amen.

Don't sound too keen on it.

So the church is God's plan B,

and God's plan is this,

that the church, you and me,

have to model an alternative way of living.

Something to use Graham Tomlin's memorable verse

that makes the church provocative,

simply by the way we live together and individually,

will provoke others to ask some deeper questions,

rather than just get through life superficially,

like one of those water boatmen running across a pond.

Have we got to where we are?

Well, I'm going to give you a very simple explanation.

It's not my explanation, as a matter of fact.

It's the explanation of St. Paul.

And St. Paul thought very clearly,

the reason why the world is the way it is,

and Paul lived in very godless times,

the Roman Empire,

which occupied the ancient Near East,

was a very profligate society.

Just about every sin,

terrible sin,

that you could think of,

existed there.

Sexual immorality,

lying, cheating, murder,

child prostitution,

it was there.

And Paul has a very simple explanation of this.

He says,

it's the result of human sin.

The result of human sin.

It's why,

not only have I played a part implicitly

in the way the world is,

but at the same time,

I can play a part

in making it different.

Paul says in Romans chapter 3

Romans 3 · chapter mention

and verse 23,

all have sinned.

You get that?

That's everybody in church today.

That's everybody who's existed

throughout the whole of human history.

All have sinned,

says St. Paul,

and fall short of the glory of God.

And if you were to read from Romans chapter 1,

Romans 1 · chapter mention

you would read there

Paul's explanation

of the way the world is.

Just let me give you,

if I may for a moment,

a flavor of that.

If you have a Bible to handle,

you've got it on your phone,

you could turn to it right now.

Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

Here's what the great apostle writes

about the way the world is.

He says this,

That's interesting.

That when we sin,

what we're effectively doing

is repressing the truth about God.

Paul goes on,

See, one of the things

that's going wrong in this world

at the moment is

that it's being governed

by some extremely wrong-headed ideas.

A little bit more about that

in just a moment.

And then,

this terrible verse,

verse 24.

In the light of the sinfulness

of human beings,

Paul writes this,

Therefore,

God gave them over

in the sinful desires of their hearts

to the sexual impurity

for the degrading of their bodies

with one another.

I don't think Paul was obsessed with sex.

But it's not a bad litmus test

of the culture of a society

to see what it thinks about sex.

Call me old-fashioned.

Call me fuddy-duddy.

Call me a man of my generation.

But what I see in our culture

is sexual profligacy.

I read recently

about a website.

I've never looked at it

and I'm not going to give you

the website address

because I don't think

it'd be good for you.

But it's called,

the website is Ashley Madison

and its strap line is this,

Life is short,

have an affair.

You know,

hands up if it makes you,

I mean, not literally,

but if that makes you feel sick.

You know,

David Watson

always used to say publicly

that one of the Satan's

wily tricks

to undermine Christians

was to encourage Satanists

to pray against Christian marriage.

We have used our freedom

to become slaves to sin.

And so,

John writes

in the passage

we had read to us,

if the Son sets you free,

you will be free indeed.

He also said this,

if you hold to my teaching,

you are really my disciples,

then you will know the truth

and the truth

will set you free.

I have

little,

I understand easily

why the world is

the way it is.

And that is,

when a society

turns to godlessness,

let me remind you

that according to

the last sentence done,

there are more people

now who have

no belief in God

than people who believe in him,

whatever that belief

might look like.

I have no doubt

it is the godlessness

of our society

which creates

the wrack and ruin

and brokenness

of the world.

And God

has a better plan

for the world.

And that is,

it should be governed

by his sovereign rule

in our hearts.

If the son sets you free,

you shall be free indeed.

God sees what's wrong

but the amazing thing is

God has a rescue plan.

If sin is the heart

of the human problem,

then Jesus

is the cure.

And when you trust Christ,

and if you haven't done that,

you can do that today.

If you've not trusted Christ

and his finished work

upon the cross of Calvary,

you can make a move

to God

this very day.

But there are three

immediate benefits

that accrue to you

the very moment

you give your life

to Christ.

One is,

you are saved

from your sin.

Romans chapter 5

Romans 5 · chapter mention

and verse 6,

Paul writes this,

it was when we were

still sinful

that God sent his son

to die for us.

How long do you think

God would have to wait

till you became sinless?

Don't shout out.

A long time,

right?

The second benefit

that accrues to those

who trust Christ

is this,

you are saved

from the coming wrath.

1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 1:9

chapter 1

verses 9 and 10.

Paul tells the

Christians

in Thessalonica

that they're saved

from the wrath of God

which is about to fall

on society.

And the third thing is,

and this is not

about pie in the sky

when you die,

but the third benefit

that accrues to you

the moment you trust Christ

is that you will not

have to face

a Christless eternity.

The wages of sin

is death,

wrote Paul,

but the free gift

of God

is eternal life

in union

with Christ Jesus.

Here is God's plan.

The rescue act

and then,

amazingly,

God doesn't leave us

on our own

to kind of struggle

with all this,

to work out

how we can live

our lives,

how we can live

obediently to Christ

and find the freedom

that he talks about.

How do we allow

the Holy Spirit

to change us

from the inside out?

When I was a young fellow,

we used to sing

an old schism chorus.

It was called

No, Never Alone.

Some of you

look old enough

to remember it.

It goes like this,

The world's fierce winds

are blowing,

temptation sharp and keen.

I have a peace

in knowing

my Saviour

stands between.

He stands

to shield me

from danger

when all my friends

are gone.

He promised

never to leave me,

never to leave me alone.

The chorus is

No, Never Alone.

No, Never Alone.

He promised

never to leave me.

No, Never Alone.

If you're trying

to live your

Christian life

without the assistance

of the Holy Spirit,

who will illuminate

your conscience,

who will teach you

what Jesus

has taught us,

if you're trying

to do it

without the Holy Spirit,

it's going to be

a real uphill struggle.

And maybe

some of you

are honest enough

to recognize that

in your life today.

God's plan B

is the church,

you and me.

A people

who would believe

in Jesus,

a people

whose earnest desire

would be

to become

more like Jesus.

and a people

whose primary aim

would be

to do

his will.

Matthew chapter 7

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

and verse 21,

Jesus says,

Not everyone

who calls me

Lord,

Lord,

will enter

the kingdom of heaven,

but only those,

only,

who do the will

of my Father,

who is in heaven.

I don't know

what your assessment

would be.

And,

in a way,

I don't need to know.

But I wonder

if you think

about the church

and the call

to be distinctive

because we're invited

to live as Jesus

wants us to live.

I don't know

what you think.

What do you think

when people look

at the church?

Just suppose

a Martian

arrived on planet Earth

and looked at

the Church of England

just now.

What conclusions

do you think

he might draw?

Do you think

he would see

a distinctive

community

fired up

to live

as Jesus

wants us to live,

to offer the world

a different way

of living?

Or do you think

he would see

a group

of well-meaning

people

who do some

good things

occasionally

but actually

whose aspirations

about life

seem exactly

the same

as everybody

else's?

Do we look

different?

God calls

his church

to account

in times

of godlessness.

What would God

say to you,

my friend,

about the quality

of your Christian

life today?

In John chapter 8,

John 8 · chapter mention

we're told

that Jesus

was specifically

talking to Jews

who had believed

in him.

In other words,

the starting point

for all this stuff

is belief

in him.

Today

might be the day

that the Holy Spirit

whispers in your ear.

and what you see

in this passage

is two

fundamentally

challenging

things

that Jesus

has to say

to the world

and the way

it is.

The first thing

is about freedom.

I think today

our view

of freedom

has been fashioned

by an idea

that was initially

applied to the world

of economics.

it's called

libertarianism.

It's what leads

to free market

economies.

But that now

has been applied

to ethics.

We don't want

any restraint.

We don't want

any moral baggage

loaded upon us

by anybody

in today's world.

In the book

of Proverbs

you've probably

heard that verse

that says

where there is

no vision

what does it say?

The people perish.

Did you know

that the Hebrew

in that verse

more accurately

means

where people

have no

revelation

they cast

off restraint?

Do you see

a society

that's

happy to work

under restraint

to live

life

with some

moral values?

Or do you

see a society

that's making

it up

as it goes

along?

When there

is no

revelation

the people

cast off

restraint.

See not

only is the

answer

Jesus

but Jesus

is concerned

as well

to set

your life

on a new

track.

Do you

see what's

going on

in this

passage?

Jesus

has a

completely

different

idea

of freedom

than the

way the

world will

teach you.

So

this is

it.

The world

says

you can

do what

you like

as long

as it

doesn't harm

other people.

What a

fatuous

way of

thinking

that is.

How can

you ever

know

whether your

example

affects

another

person

or not?

How can

you know

if you

think you

are secretly

having an

affair with

another

person?

How can

you know

that when

your spouse

eventually

finds out

is it

going to

affect

them?

Of course

it's

going to

affect

them.

No.

Jesus

has a

different

plan and

the plan

is this

that we

will find

freedom

when we

live as

he wants

us to

live.

The

primary

healthy

desire

of a

disciple

of Jesus

Christ

would be

to live

as Jesus

wants us

to live.

please

please

please

don't

buy into

the idea

that freedom

is I can

do what

the heck

I like

as long

as it

doesn't

hurt

other

people.

Those of

you who

know your

philosophy

know this

stems from

a guy

called

John

Stuart

Mill.

And

John

Stuart

Mill was

very

very clear.

He said

this,

this is what

he wrote,

the only

purpose for

which power

can be

rightly

exercised

over any

member of

a civilised

community

against his

or her

will is

to prevent

harm to

others.

Look

around you.

Has that

view of

freedom led

to a

civilised

society?

You tell

me.

The second

thing is

Jesus has

a completely

different view

of truth.

Truth in

Jesus'

mind is

entirely

applied to

the word

of God.

His

words

and the

word of

God as

revealed in

the whole

of Holy

Scripture.

You don't

think the

Old Testament

is important?

I beg to

differ from

you.

I've just

been asked

to go to

a church

in this

deanery and

explain why

the Old

Testament is

important.

I mean,

not least

because the

early apostles

only had the

Old Testament

to preach

the gospel

from.

But this

view of

truth is

very

basically

that if

human beings

are to live

in a civilised

way, we

need to agree

on some

truths that

are absolute,

not truths

that are

slippery,

that are

difficult to

get your

hand on.

In the

50s and

60s in

the world

of universities,

an idea

came to

bear.

It was

meant to

be largely

for literary

criticism,

but it

stretched its

way into

ethical

thinking as

well.

It was

called

deconstructionism.

You don't

need to

know about

that, but

what it

did do

was it

bred in

the hearts

and minds

of men

cynicism.

Any

statement of

truth is

immediately

suspect,

and the

only truth

that I

can believe

in is

the one

that I

feel might

be the

right one.

Thus,

Meghan

Markle,

in that

unfortunate

interview with

Piers Morgan,

where Piers

Morgan,

improperly in

a way,

just called

her an

outright liar

to her

face.

What was

Meghan

Markle's

response?

Very

modern

response.

truth.

She's

being

accused

of being

a liar.

Do you

know what

she said

to him?

That's

my

truth.

Truth

now is

no longer

seen as

something

objective,

something

I'm

absolutely,

it's

subjective.

And it

depends on

what I

feel.

Jesus

has a

different

idea.

No

wonder our

society is

going

haywire with

these

cockeyed

ideas at

the heart

of it.

And I

wonder when

we will

understand

this.

I

wonder when

we will

understand

that the

church,

I mean it's

about you

individually,

but it's

about us

together.

That together

we seek to

live a

life that

is distinctive.

I think

many of

you may

have the

idea that

to be

distinctive in

Christian terms

is to be

weird.

And I

was telling

my home

group the

other evening

that when

I worked

in Slough,

there was a

community

there of

lay people

who were

seeking to

live a

distinctive

life.

You know,

full credit

to them,

except they

just came

across as

weird.

They wore

brown

dressing

gowns,

and for

some reason,

tell me

where you

would find

this in

the Bible.

They had

a thing

against

soap.

You know,

don't get

downwind of

them is my

advice.

To be a

Christian is

the most

normal way

to live,

not abnormal

way to live.

Life of

faith is a

team sport.

God's

love.

It's not

just about

you.

It's about

us and

our witness

in this

town that

God has

called us

to serve

and to

play our

part in

its salvation.

It's about

collectively

showing to

the world

in which we

find ourselves

that there

is a

different way

to live.

You don't

have to be

mown down

by the

values of

thinking in

this world.

No,

there is a

different way.

And I

wonder,

when am I

going to

stop making

excuses?

I wonder,

when are you

going to

stop making

excuses?

The end

of the

book of

Judges,

the very

last verse

in that

book,

there is a

verse I've

come to

love.

It says

this,

in those

days,

and this

was during

a time

when Israel

had gone

through

terrible

military

and political

upheaval,

et cetera,

et cetera.

And just

so you

know,

when men

couldn't

hack

leadership

at the

season of

Judges,

God called

a woman

called

Deborah,

who,

it turns

out,

was quite

handy

with the

jawbone

of an

axe,

and took

it to

the

Philistines

and stuck

it on

them.

In

those days,

the last

verse says,

Israel had

no king.

everyone

did as

he saw

fit.

Can I

say something

that's going

to sound

very simplistic

to you,

and I

don't

apologize

for it.

If Jesus

is not

the king

of your

life,

if Jesus

is not

the king

of our

society,

then people

will do

just that.

They will

do what

they see

as fit.

I have,

if I can

find it on

my phone,

that wonderful

hymn by

Bishop

Walsham

Howe.

It was a

time when

bishops did

good stuff.

And he

wrote these

words in

that amazing

hymn,

It is a

thing most

wonderful.

He said,

I sometimes

think about

the cross

and shut

my eyes

and try

to see

the cruel

nails

and crown

of thorns

and Jesus

crucified

for me.

Even

could I

see him

die,

I could

but see

a little

part of

that great

love,

which like

a fire

is always

burning

in his

heart.

It is

most wonderful

to know

his love

for me

is so

free

and sure,

but it is

more wonderful

to see

my love

for him

so faint

and poor.

Is this

a moment?

Is this

a moment

when the

Holy Spirit

shakes your

soul and

wakes you

to the

spiritual

nonsense

that's

going on

in the

world

and we

might decide

together

to stand

up,

to pray

up,

to speak

up

and collectively

as well as

individually

make a

difference

in this

world.

Of course,

there are

green shoots

all through

the history

of the

church.

Wonderful

things

happen

and we've

heard about

TLG.

That is

wonderful.

But the

most wonderful

thing is

when human

eyes are

opened and

they see

Jesus,

not sitting

on a throne

with a

massive crown

on his

head and

loads of

people serving

him, but

on a cross,

which,

thank God,

is an

empty cross.

because Jesus

is alive

and he's

here now

and he

wants to

occupy your

soul,

that together

we might

show the

world there

is a

different way

to live.

Can we

pray?

Our

gracious

Lord,

we are

truly

sorry

that our

lives can

fall so

short of

what you

want from

us.

And Lord,

I cannot

speak for

anybody else

in this

church and

their sin,

but I can

certainly speak

for my own.

And Lord,

please fill

me,

fill us,

with that

Holy Spirit.

Lord,

that we

might truly

become people

that you

want us to

be.

That,

Father,

people would

look at the

church and

see a

genuine

alternative way

of living,

something that's

not weird,

but which is

so normal,

it would be

striking and

provocative.

And Father,

I pray now,

Lord,

as we

gather

together,

that you

would speak

to our

hearts

and give

us,

Lord,

conviction

that we

need to do

something.

So,

Lord,

I pray

that you

would speak

to us

today and

that you

would help

us individually

and collectively

to be that

different person,

that different

community,

whose lives

become meaning

makers in the

lives of

others.

And we

ask this in

the name of

the Lord

Jesus Christ

and those

who agreed

said together,

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.