Quote from Forum Archives on September 29, 2003, 12:31 pm

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

STEWARDSHIP #3/3
STEWARDSHIP OF FREEDOM
September 28, 2003

Text: Acts 24:1-21

Throughout this brief series on stewardship, I have taught that the
Biblical application on steward and stewardship involves more than just
money and tithing. Tithing, giving ten percent of our income to the work
of the Lord through the local church, is an important facet of
stewardship, but it is just a facet - a part. Stewardship, in its
entirety and in the context of the New Testament, refers to the
management of a master’s household. As it applies specifically to
Christian believers, then, it refers to the management of God’s
household. So stewardship is not only handling our money in ways that
please God, it is also handling our time, our work, our play, our
lifestyles, our philosophies, and everything else about us in ways
pleasing to God and in accordance with His Word. In short, everything
that we have or do or believe becomes part of our Christian stewardship.

Consequently, I believe it is proper to speak about the resources we
share as citizens of this nation in the context of Christian stewardship.
So this morning, I address the stewardship of freedom, and I address it
on the national level from the perspective of our responsibilities as
American citizens who are also citizens of God’s kingdom. As Christians
in America, we are the heirs of an incredibly rich spiritual heritage
that our founders and other early leaders cherished, and for the defense
of which they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred
honor. Part of this heritage is our right to worship God and share the
Gospel freely. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people
he chose for his inheritance” (Psalms 33:12).

Here are some examples of our godly heritage:
— “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is
wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” — President John
Adams, 1798
— “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it
is the duty of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for
their rulers.” — John Jay, first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court,
1816
— “This is a religious people. This is historically true. From the
discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice
making this affirmation. . . . We find everywhere a clear recognition of
the same truth. . . . These, and many other matters which might be
noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic
utterances that this is a Christian nation.” — Supreme Court Justice
David Brewer, writing in the case of the Church of the Holy Trinity v.
the United States, 1892
— “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties from heaven; we
have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have
grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown.
But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which
preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us;
and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all
these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our
own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too
self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace,
too proud to pray to the God that made us. It behooves us, then, to
humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins,
and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.” — President Abraham Lincoln,
1863

Among our nation’s founders, the Pilgrims stated in the Mayflower Compact
the purpose for which they were coming to the new world: “Haveing
undertaken, for ye glorie of God, and advancemente of ye Christian faith
and honour of our king & countrie, a voyage to plante ye first colonie in
ye Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents & mutually in ye
presence of God, and one of another, covenant, & combine ourselves
together into a Civill body politick; for our better ordering, &
preservation & furtherance of ye ends aforesaid.”

We have convincing proof that our nation’s founders and greatest leaders
clearly recognized the biblical foundations of government and built
America upon these principles. But all across America today, God’s people
are systematically being denied constitutional rights to exercise their
faith and preach the Gospel. For example:

· In Wisconsin, an eight-year-old girl was denied her right to share
Valentines with the message, “Jesus Loves You.”
· In Florida, a church was denied its equal access right to use
elementary school facilities on weekends for worship services.
· In Colorado, a swim coach was denied access to city recreation
facilities because he mentioned Christ to some of his students.

What would you do if the government tried to restrict or deny your right,
or the right of our church, to share the Gospel? How would you respond if
those in power demanded that you remain silent about your faith? We live
in a time and a society that is significantly different than any time
included in Biblical history. I am not suggesting that God has changed or
that we come to God in any other way than through the blood of the Lamb,
Jesus Christ. What I do point out is that we live in a nation that not
only allows its citizens to exercise more freedom than those nations in
the Bible, but that we live in a nation that demands that its citizens
participate in their freedom in order to maintain it. I believe that we
are called upon to be stewards of freedom.

We must realize that our God-given heritage of freedom to worship and the
right to preach the Gospel is under serious, sustained attack today. Paul
recognized the obvious in his day as well: “As I have often told you
before and now say again . . . many live as enemies of the cross”
(Philippians 3:18). Those who want to dismantle America’s Christian
heritage and deny us our constitutional rights are eroding the
foundations of religious freedom upon which our country was built. Thomas
Jefferson observed in 1781, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought
secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the
minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?” How does
that differ from the Psalmist who asked, “When the foundations are being
destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalms 11:3).

God Himself answers this question through the prophet Ezekiel: “I looked
for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in
the gap on behalf of the land” (Ezekiel 22:30). “The eyes of the Lord
range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully
committed to him’ ” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

The time is right to stop this assault and preserve our freedoms before
the forces opposed to the Gospel gain any more ground. There are some who
use their training and talents to contest in the courts those who try to
diminish God’s presence in our nation. There are Christians who have
entered, or attempt to enter, public service as politicians in order to
debate and influence public policy. Not all of us can stand up against
the forces who oppose God this way. But we do need to be in prayerful
support of those who do. And we must be faithful with the freedoms we
have been given. We must be the people of faith and commitment who will
“stand in the gap” on behalf of our nation and preserve the right to
share the Gospel freely by reaching out to boys, girls, youth, and young
adults to provide them with the worldview of Christ that stands opposed
to the contemporary secular worldview that results in sin and death. Only
Christians bound by love to our Savior, bound by love to one another, and
bound by love to a lost and dying world will have the strength to endure
the challenges and hardships we face from those seeking to eliminate the
effectiveness of Christian witness in this nation.

Christians are to seek justice as followers of the God whose very nature
is just and righteous. He commanded in His law, “Do not pervert justice”
(Leviticus 19:15). Justice is God’s revealed will for all of His
creation. The theme of the Old Testament prophets is not hidden. They
denounced injustice wherever they witnessed it and cried out for justice
to be done. “The Lord loves righteousness and justice” (Psalms 33:5).
“Justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth
has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. . . . The Lord looked
and was displeased that there was no justice” (Isaiah 59:14, 15). “The
law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the
righteous, so that justice is perverted” (Habakkuk 1:4).

The prophets also clearly spelled out our responsibility to seek and to
practice justice as one mark of a life that pleases God. “‘These are the
things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and
sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbor,
and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,’ declares the Lord”
(Zechariah 8:16-17). “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what
does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk
humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). And the prophet Amos declared, “Hate
evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts” (Amos 5:15).

Justice is also prevalent in the New Testament. Not only did Jesus and
his followers speak out for the downtrodden, they were also not afraid to
defend themselves. Jesus stood up to the Pharisees many times. Events of
the lives of the apostles teach us that it is not unbiblical or
un-Christian to defend our rights, even if that means entering into the
legal system. They consistently claimed their right to preach the Gospel
against wrongful attempts by the Jewish courts and Roman authorities to
restrict and silence them. “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in
God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking
about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20, note v. 18). “We must
obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29).

The apostle Paul had a keen sense of justice and his rights as a Roman
citizen, and he consistently demanded that the ruling authorities treat
him in accordance with those rights — especially when the issue at stake
was the spread of the Gospel and his right to evangelize. He was always
ready to defend the message of Christ, whether against religious or legal
opponents. Examples include Acts 16:35-40, Acts 22:23–29, and Acts 24-25.
I want to focus on the text read earlier from Acts 24.

In Caesarea, Paul defended himself before Felix, saying, “I know that for
a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly
make my defense.” Paul was not the least bit shy about pointing to his
own truthfulness and accusing his accusers. He knew he faced a tough
audience. The Roman Empire was officially polytheistic and accommodated
many religious practices. But Roman officials did not take lightly
anything that created disturbances, especially those disturbances that
could pose a threat to the Empire. Yet, Paul knew the truth of his
message and his actions, and he sought a just hearing. He sought the
freedom to proclaim the loving truth of God’s revelation in Jesus. He
openly challenged his accusers to come forward and present any evidence
they had proving he had done anything wrong: “My accusers did not find me
arguing with anyone in the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the
synagogues or anywhere else in the city. And they cannot prove to you the
charges they are now making against me” (Acts 24:12-13). Similarly,
Christians today simply request that the laws of our land concerning the
freedom to worship and practice one’s religion be applied fairly and
equally. It is sad that Christians today have to defend the right to
practice our faith in a land with a foundation built upon Christian
morals and principles of behavior.

Near the end of his life, Paul wrote to Timothy, “At my first defense, no
one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held
against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that
through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles
might hear it” (2 Timothy 4:16–17). Notice that Christians should have
been ready to rally around Paul as he defended the Gospel. This was
important from Paul’s standpoint not just because he was personally on
trial and needed support. At stake was the spread of the Gospel into all
the world in accord with Jesus’ command. If God loves justice, and
injustice is being practiced in an attempt to shut down our witness and
stifle the Gospel, how can we as God’s people stand by silently and
tolerate injustice?

As citizens of this nation and of God’s Kingdom, we have clear duties,
obligations, and privileges. As citizens of this nation, we have a sacred
duty and obligation to speak out against injustice and insist that our
constitutional rights of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the
right of dissent, and the right to petition the government for the
correction of injustices be honored and preserved. These rights are
protected by law and cannot be arbitrarily denied by those who oppose the
Gospel and seek to intimidate and silence Christ’s witnesses. As citizens
of God’s Kingdom, we are called to go into our culture and make a lasting
difference for the sake of Christ and the Gospel. “Who is going to harm
you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what
is right, you are blessed. ‘Do not fear what they fear; do not be
frightened.’ But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be
prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason
for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:13–15).

We must be ready to respond to the growing threat to our religious
freedoms and our right to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. We must be
informed of the threats to religious freedom in America. One reason
churches are invited to participate in national Faith & Freedom Sunday is
to alert the Body of Christ to the dangers we face if we fail to address
these threats and allow the opponents of the Gospel to win the day by
default.

We must be aware of our rights as an American citizen. Take a few moments
to look up the Constitution in an encyclopedia or on the Internet and
read what the First Amendment says about the free exercise of religion
and our right to appeal to the government for relief from unfair
treatment.

The First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a
redress of grievances.” These are such basic freedoms that we can forget
they were hard-won and that the majority of the world’s people do not
enjoy such protections. We witness even today the terrible results of
anti-Christian persecution in countries like China, Sudan, and North
Korea where believers cannot find justice in the courts and have no other
means to protect and defend themselves. It could happen here in America
if we fail to act as God’s people to defend the rights that are our
precious, God-given heritage.

We are to be involved in the worthy cause of defending our right to
practice your Christian faith and proclaim the Gospel. There are a number
of good Christian legal groups, such as the Alliance Defense Fund and
others, dedicated to keeping the Gospel unfettered in this country. These
organizations are made up of highly committed Christian attorneys who
love God and have a passion to see justice and righteousness prevail in
America. These skilled men and women volunteer their time and expertise
in the defense of the Gospel, but they need our prayers and financial
support to carry out their vital work.

Even though we may never stand in a courtroom ourselves with an issue of
freedom of religion or freedom of speech at stake, we can always remember
that the quiet practice of our Christian faith goes a long way toward
proving the falsehoods of those opposed to the Gospel. Bearing the fruit
of the Spirit, caring for the mistreated, loving brothers and sisters in
Christ, and proclaiming the Good News of Christ all work toward
displaying the testimony set before us by our Lord, Jesus Christ. May we
proclaim as boldly as Paul, in the circumstances of our own day, that “I
admit that I worship the God of our fathers, as a follower of the Way,
which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and
that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these
men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the
wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and
man” (Acts 24:14-16). What could give any greater evidence that we are
stewards of freedom?

(adapted from Faith and Freedom Sunday sermon outline, Alliance Defense
Fund, 2003)

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN

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