Thursday, June 8, 2006
John Parker had it made. After two attempts to escape being a slave to a Southern slave owner, he had finally gotten his freedom. He chose to live in Ripley, Ohio, right on the freedom side of the Ohio River. He got a house and a good job as a factory worker. Ultimately, he owned a foundry and he invented many processes that were used widely in the foundry industry. He was safe, secure and successful. But night after night, John Parker risked it all. Under cover of darkness, he rowed across the river to the Kentucky side - slave territory. If he was caught, he could lose his freedom. He could even lose his life. But in spite of the risks, John Parker went looking for runaway slaves. And he found them and rowed them across the river to freedom. It's believed that John Parker was responsible for at least 900 slaves going free.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Leaving a Legacy of Liberty."
A liberated slave, taking great risks, because he can't leave other slaves where he once was. That's a hero. That's the kind of hero Jesus is looking for among His followers today. It's the kind of hero who, humanly speaking, is the only hope for some folks that you're close to having a chance at heaven.
The Bible graphically describes the bondages we're all in until we're set free by Jesus and by His life-saving work on the cross. In John 8:34, He said that "whoever commits sin is a slave to sin." It's true. We can't stop being selfish, being hurtful, thinking dirty, talking trash, being negative, or prideful, or angry, or self-absorbed. We are addicted to our sin. The Bible also describes us as being "without hope and without God in the world." ( Ephesians 2:12) It also says that all our lives we have been "held in slavery to the fear of death." ( Hebrews 2:15) We're nervous about death because we know God's on the other side, and we're not ready to meet Him.
And ultimately, our family and friends and coworkers who haven't been to Jesus to have their sins forgiven, will in God's own words, "be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord." ( 2 Thessalonians 1:9) Thank God, someone came to you with the liberating news of what Jesus did on the cross for you, and you were set free by the Son of God! Now the question is, can you be content just to be free and forgiven yourself and let the sin-slaves all around you stay where they are? Whose responsibility is it to take the risks to rescue them? You're the liberated slave that Jesus has placed in their world. He's counting on you. They're counting on you.
Which brings us to our Lord's orders in our word for today from the Word of God in Jude, verse 23. Eight words that describe just why you are where you are, with the people you see all the time. "Snatch others from the fire and save them." You were rescued. Now you need to be the rescuer. If you'll evaluate the fears that keep you from "crossing the river" to bring them out, you'll notice those fears all have one thing in common. They're all about "me." They might reject me, I might mess it up. But rescue is all about them. A rescuer is still afraid of what might happen to him if he goes in for the rescue, but he is driven by a greater fear. What will happen if he doesn't go in for the rescue? Someone will die without a chance.
Jesus rescued you to be a rescuer. You're the liberated slave that He set free whose mission it is to liberate others. Jesus gave everything to snatch you from the fire. If you leave others where you were, you'll explain to Jesus why you did. You are their chance.