Which freedoms are you willing to give up?

If one day your government came to you and said, “We are repealing these amendments to the Constitution and rewriting the Bill of Rights for the good of the Republic,” how would you react to that?

You’d probably protest a little bit and maybe not be so willing to sacrifice those freedoms, because as citizens of the United States of America, that would be a difficult thing to do. We would say, “Well, we have these freedoms, and these are our rights. They’re written down. This is what the founding fathers of our country fought for and what we continue to fight for.”

Which freedoms are you willing to sacrifice for the sake not of the Republic, but for someone else’s soul? That’s what the apostle Paul wants us to consider when we look at our reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 9. I encourage you to read the whole chapter. Paul says that he’s willing to give up something that in his eyes—and actually in our eyes—he rightly deserved. In fact, it was scriptural that the worker deserves his wages.

So for those who devote their full time to gospel ministry, to sharing the good news of Jesus and administering the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, God says they should be paid and supported by doing that.

But the apostle Paul said, “I’m willing to sacrifice that right and that freedom as a Christian if it means that I can win more people over for the gospel.” What the apostle Paul did was work a side hustle to support himself in addition to doing all the things that were required of an apostle and a pastor and a congregation.

He said, “I’m willing to be a slave to these people, to step in their sandals, to understand them better, so as not to put an obstacle in the way of them hearing the good news of Jesus.” Because people were walking through towns, proclaiming to be preachers or pastors, only to become wealthy from it. Paul said, “I don’t want to be that. I want to set this aside, even though I have the freedom to do it, so I can win more for the gospel.”

That’s a difficult thing to do—for us to set aside the freedoms and the rights that we have as Christians in order to walk in someone else’s shoes. And sometimes that means to get into the messiness of their lives just so we can show them the freedom and the hope that they have in Jesus.

So how was the apostle Paul able to do that? To say, “I am free, but I’m going to make myself a slave for all these people”?

It’s for the same reason that we will follow the apostle Paul’s example. You hear this from Jesus in Mark chapter 10: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (verse 45). And the prophet Isaiah said this over 700 years before Jesus was even born: “He poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).

Jesus put himself in my shoes—actually in my flesh and bones—into my sin and my hell and my death. Into yours. Into our selfishness. For all the times we were unwilling to sacrifice for others, Jesus put himself in our shoes—not just so he could understand us better, but so he might set us free from our selfishness. To set us free from our sin and our death and our hell so we might be set free to be servants to all people.

Because Christ did this for me, I want to do this for other people. And I know that you do too. To do that, to better understand other people, that sometimes means being willing to meet them where they’re at. And sometimes that can be messy.

So my challenge to you this week is this. Take out a piece of paper and a pen or take out your phone and write this down in your notes. Think about all the people that you interact with on a daily basis—this is your community. Write down the names or the places where you interact with people during the week. After you do that, stop and think, How can I be present in their life? Which means maybe scheduling this time. That when you go to the gym, maybe you’re going to schedule an extra 15 minutes before and an extra 15 minutes after so you can be present in the lives of the people there that you interact with. Or when you walk your dog, maybe you schedule extra time to do that to be with those people and be persistent in those interactions.

Just ask them, “How are things going?” Just be prepared because the answer could be a little bit messy. But that’s okay. Be persistent in those messy conversations and in their messy lives and say, “Hey, I hear you. When can we get together for coffee? When can we have you over for dinner so I can hear more and we can be a support for you?”

This is what it might look like in your life—to be all things to all people, to selflessly sacrifice for them, to win as many as possible, so they might come to believe and trust in the One who sacrificed absolutely everything for them. So they might be free from their sin and their guilt just as we are. And so they might have all things just as we do in Christ Jesus. That’s selfless sacrifice.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, keep your household, the church, in continual godliness and set us free from all adversities, so that under your protection we may serve you with true devotion and holy deeds. Lord Jesus, several spouses have requested prayers for their service members who are deployed overseas. They ask that you de-escalate the situation in those regions of the world where we have U.S. troops deployed. Send your holy angels to protect our service members around the world. Reassure their spouses, their children, their parents, their family members and friends that you are present with them here in the States, present through your Word and sacrament to comfort and strengthen and to bring peace. We ask this in your name and that all be done according to your will. Amen.