WEREWOLF SLAVES

FREEDOM THROUGH CHRIST, Part 1

Matthew 11:28-30
Romans 7:15-25a

Do you ever have days when you feel like a werewolf?

Yes, I said werewolf – that creature of folk lore and popular books, movies, and even television programs.

A werewolf is usually an ordinary person who is under a curse or is bitten by another werewolf. This person, who may be a decent, law abiding citizen is changed into an evil, destructive beast during the three days of the full moon. The person may hate what he or she becomes and does, but the curse has enslaved them.

We all have had those experiences where we do something we really shouldn't do, but we loose our self-control and do them anyway.  It's like when those last two pieces of pizza in the 'fridge' call my name just as I'm heading up to bed. I know I shouldn't eat them, I know I'll regret it, but I go ahead and eat them anyway. Then, at around 2:00 in the morning, my protesting stomach wakes me up.

Or, Tom has said or done something that has gotten on my last nerve, and I'm not feeling well, or I'm tired, or my day has been just as bad as his. I know I should be gentle, understanding and loving, but it just seems more satisfying at the moment to let the fangs and claws take over.

I think that's what Paul is talking about.  This man gave up his life, all those things he thought were so important as a Jew, to follow Christ.  He was imprisoned, stoned, rejected and bad-mouthed for the sake of the Gospel. You would think that struggling with sin would be behind him.  Yet, in Romans 7, he described his own battle with the “beast within”, the human, sinful nature.

Paul delighted in the Law of God. He wanted to do the right thing, but he found himself doing the very thing he hated. He wrote, “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.”

We've all been there, haven't we?  Whether or not we may be aware of them or understand them, there are things that have control over the choices we make.

Fear may drive our choices: the fear of punishment; the fear of being hurt; the fear of being poor; the fear of losing approval or acceptance, and of being rejected; the fear of being alone.

The brokeness and wounds of our past control our behavior today. Maybe its those coping behaviors we learned as a child that helped us survive but no longer work for us as adults.  Perhaps it is the  poor self-image that was imposed on us by the world or by bullying, abusive people in our lives.

And then there is sin.  Sin is those unloving behaviors and attitudes that bring us self-gratification at the cost of others and even our own well-being.

These are some of the slave masters of sin and brokeness that degrade and sully the image of God we all carry.

Unlike creatures of myth and folk lore, like werewolves, slavery was a very real occurance in the Roman Empire at the time of Paul's ministry.  At one point twenty percent of the people living under Roman rule were slaves, and anyone, even citizens, could lose their liberty to slavery.

As slaves, human beings could be sold or rented out at the will of their masters. Their owners may permit them to marry and then could turn around and dissolve the marriage. Slave owners, without any good reason, could beat, torture and kill their slaves without fear of punishment. A slave could hate his or her life, but there was little they could do about it.

Roman law did give the slave owners the ability to free their slaves. They could free them outright or allow the slaves to buy their freedom.

God bought our freedom from sin and death. Christ paid our slave price with his own life. Unlike the Roman slave owners, God's grace does more than just free us. Paul writes in Romans 8:15 that it brings about our adoption as sons and daughters of God.  Our past of brokeness and sin need not have any power over us, unless we choose to allow it to.

Yet, our old slave master isn't going to give up without a fight. Every day, Sin and Evil is going to tempt us and try to wear us down so we'll give in and let the fangs and claws take over.

That's when Jesus says to us:

“Are you tired? Worn out? You know, you don't have to do this all on your own. Come to me, and we'll do this together. Walk with me and work with me, and I'll teach you, guide you and protect you. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. What you can't carry, I will. Keep company with me, and we'll get through this together, and you'll learn to live in life-restoring love, freedom and peace.”

Come to Christ. He is our liberator and has lifted the curse of sin from us.  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!