Sermon Illustrations on Liberty — page 2

The Day of the Rabbit

John 10:10

Gypsy was a furry, wheat-colored collie, who lived and played on a ranch – several hundred acres of hills and woods, full of good things like rabbit trails and streams. She loved it there. At the ranch house she was given a comfortable bed and good meals. Her Master, who owned the ranch, made no unreasonable demands on her. She knew that her job was to love her Master and to be faithful to him and to obey other commands – to follow, to come, to lie down. And she also knew that she wasn’t supposed to chase the chickens and the rabbits. Actually these were easy for Gypsy, because it was in her nature to obey and to love her master.

But one day when Gypsy was prowling on a hill far away past the spring house and pasture, two things happened at once: the Master called her and a rabbit dashed across the hill. Gypsy turned and raced towards the Master, as she had always done. Then she stopped. It entered her mind that she didn’t have to obey. Perhaps the Master didn’t understand about that rabbit. Anyway, these were her hills. The rabbit was hers, too. Very likely it was all lies – that story of everything, including herself, belonging to the Master. How did she know that the food in her dish came from him? Probably there was some natural explanation. She was a free dog and that was the end of it. These thoughts went through her mind swiftly while she stood irresolute. Again came the Master’s command; the rabbit crossed the hilltop. Gypsy whirled and raced after the rabbit. She had made a choice. She was free to choose.

Hours later she came home. She saw the Master waiting for her, but she did not rush gladly to him, leaping and frisking as she had always done. Something new came into her demeanor: guilt. She crept up to him like a snake on her belly. Undoubtedly she was penitent at the moment. But she had a new knowledge – the knowledge of the possibility of sin – and it was a thrill in her heart and a salt taste in her mouth. Nevertheless she was very obedient the next day and the day after that. Eventually, though, there was another rabbit, and she didn’t even hesitate.

The Master still loved her, but he trusted her no longer. He put Gypsy in a pen and took her for walks with a rope around her neck. All her real freedom was gone. But the Master gave her from time to time, new chances to obey of her own free will. Had she chosen to obey, she would have once again had perfect freedom to roam her hundreds of acres. But she did not. She always chose, if she were out of reach, to run away. The Master, knowing that hunger would eventually bring her back, let her run. He could have stopped her. A rifle shot would have ended her rebellion once and for all. But she was allowed to live. Perhaps she would someday choose the way of obedience and true freedom.

One day, during a journey by car, Gypsy and her young daughter Flurry were taken to the edge of the woods. Always before, Gypsy had limited her disobedience to the ranch. But now, coming back to the car, she suddenly felt the old thrill. She turned and ran away. The Master called with a note of sharp urgency. Flurry, in her innocence, came at once. But Gypsy, her ears dulled to the voice of the Master, continued her rush into the dark forest. After hours of searching and calling, the Master sadly abandoned the lost dog and with Flurry beside him, went home.

Flurry continued to live in freedom, always being obedient to the Master who loved her and took good care of her. She was happy to be in his service and she loved the look on his face when she did something that pleased him. She obeyed gladly of her own free choice.

But lost Gypsy, as long as she still lived, wandered the woods and roads as an outcast. She had lost her way home. She became dirty and matted with foxtails and thorns. Stones were often thrown at her and she was always hungry. She had more puppies who, like her, were lost and inclined to disobedience – as were their puppies for generations to come. The kind and benevolent hand of the Master was unknown to them, except as a tale.

But this is the way Gypsy chose on the Day of the Rabbit, and continued to choose, until finally there was no more choosing left to do.

Where to take it from here…

God created Adam and Eve with complete freedom – freedom not only to enjoy all that God had given them, but freedom to choose to obey or to disobey. We all know how they chose.

Adam and Eve, filled with guilt over their disobedience, covered themselves and hid from God. Their innocence was gone, and they could no longer be trusted. God had to place them and their offspring under tighter restrictions called the Law. But still they disobeyed, and all of their offspring – that’s us – have inherited their tendency to disobey. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

That’s why Jesus came. If the Master in this story could have actually become a dog and chased Gypsy through the woods to bring her back, that would approximate what God did when he sent Jesus.

God continues to call us back, and we still have the freedom to choose the way of obedience over the way of sin and death. The Bible says, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15). We can use our free will to choose the way of obedience. And when we do, God gives us even more freedom to enjoy life to its fullest. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). The way of sin and disobedience robs you of your freedom. Don’t be a slave to sin. Choose Jesus Christ and you will have more freedom than you ever knew was possible.

Socialists Give Evangelicals Some Relief

Persecution

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Christianity Today, September 3, 2001

Socialists Give Evangelicals Some Relief

Greek Orthodox Church fights plan to remove religion designation on identity cards.

By Peter P. Moschovis in Athens | posted 9/6/01

When Mimis Lignos began grammar school in a suburb of Athens, he quickly realized that his family was different. "Because Greeks identify Orthodoxy with national identity, I felt isolated as a child because I was evangelical, stigmatized by the neighborhood and school," says Mimis, now an elder at the Free Evangelical Church of Aigaleo.

Unfortunately, Mimis's experience was and is not unique. In the last few months, school officials have threatened to expel the fourth-grade son of a Free Evangelical family in Limnos because of his "heretical" religious beliefs.

These families have another thing in common: an entry on their identity cards that marks them as Protestant. But that practice may soon be history: Last year the ruling Socialist government decided to remove religious affiliation from the national identity card. The action drew loud protests from the state Orthodox church. Insisting that Greeks must retain the right to identify themselves as Orthodox, Archbishop Christodoulos Paraskevaides called the issue a "matter of national and confessional identity."

Legal Troubles

Christodoulos, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, led a campaign against the government's measure, collecting 3.5 million signatures (in a nation of 10.6 million people) and calling for a national referendum. However, the Council of State's June decision that identifying one's religion on a public document is unconstitutional appears to have halted the campaign.

Combined with other recent developments, the ruling may signal the lifting of social sanctions against evangelicals.

In a land brimming with New Testament history, 20,000 Greek evangelicals make up only 0.19 percent of the country's population. The Orthodox Church claims 95 percent. Historically, relations between the two groups have been strained.

At the center of the dispute are two laws enacted during the dictatorship of John Metaxas (1936-41). One prohibits attempts to convert Greek Orthodox to other religions. The other requires all non-Orthodox churches to obtain licenses from local Orthodox bishops.

In 1986 authorities filed charges under the proselytism law against evangelical leader Costas Macris, but he was eventually exonerated on appeal. In 1997 a European Union court found the Greek government guilty of violating the religious rights of three Pentecostals when it sharply restricted their evangelistic outreach.

Last December, Thessaloniki police charged 11 evangelical congregations with operating without permits from Orthodox authorities, but a district court ruled in their favor.

Still, not all is well. Last spring, both Protestant radio stations in Athens were shut down by the Ministry of Press and Media. Government authorities insisted that the evangelical stations were not singled out, pointing out that many other commercial stations were shut down as well. But human-rights observers have documented discriminatory government interference with one of the evangelical stations in the past.

Johan Candelin, director of the World Evangelical Fellowship's Religious Liberty Commission, calls the station closings "disturbing" and a reason for vigilance. "More than ever, now is the time for evangelicals to be proactive," he told CT.

Still, Greek evangelicals have witnessed small signs that Greek Orthodox leaders are becoming more tolerant of other Christian traditions. John Paul II's well-publicized May visit to Athens may lead to a lessening of religious tensions between the Orthodox East and the Catholic and Protestant West. The pontiff and Archbishop Christodoulos both stated their desire to reclaim "the Christian roots of Europe and its Christian soul." Some additional Protestant-Orthodox discussion occurs through the World Council of Churches (WCC). Both the Greek Orthodox Church and the Greek Evangelical (Presbyterian) Church are WCC members, although they are not in dialogue.

Operation Rose

Fotis Romeos, general secretary of the Greek Evangelical Alliance, told CT that evangelicals share a desire to combat secular humanism and neopaganism in Greece. "Our greatest problem is that Greek society is totally secular, hedonistic, and apathetic toward all things Christian," Romeos says.

Mimis Lignos's church tries to share God's love with its Orthodox neighbors. Set in the middle of the working-class neighborhood of Lignos's childhood, the church last year launched Operation Rose, delivering a rose to each Orthodox family in the area.

And while the majority of Greek society continues to fear the recent wave of Middle Eastern refugees that have settled in Athens, the Aigaleo church has embraced this marginalized minority. It has begun an Arabic congregation and sponsors meals for the church.

Romeos says the evangelical church's linkage of worship and evangelism can deepen the spiritual life of Greece. "Part of the very essence of our worship is to witness to God's glory," Romeos says. "[Evangelism is] not focused on proselytizing other people, or fighting the Orthodox Church, but on communicating God's attributes."

Copyright c 2001 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc./Christianity Today magazine.

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September 3, 2001, Vol. 45, No. 11, Page 36