UNBOUND!: November 4, 2018 Last weekend [1 Wedding] I presided at a wedding Of two of our members I think it s ok If I say their names It was Meagan Schuster And Jonathan Weikle. And it was a great day. One of the things that made it so great Is that about 80% of the people Had traveled from Minnesota And the wedding was in Bailey So there was a mountain In the background. It was beautiful. However I have to admit I was a little anxious About the wedding. Not because I didn t think Those two love birds Should join their lives together. Not that I thought the people would be mean They were Minnesota Nice After all Nothing like that. I was worried Because I had gone to the doctor A couple days before And the doctor said I had to wear this stupid brace All the time And the only shoes That fit over the brace Are my tennis shoes Same ones I m wearing today. So imagine this If you will
I wore a suit And tennis shoes To a wedding. I have never ever worn Tennis shoes to a wedding Never. Ever. Before. Argh. And I know It was only a problem In my own head. But I didn t want anyone to think I was being disrespectful. Or that I was trying to be funky You know the pastor who deifies social conventions And wears tennis shoes to a wedding. Because he is so hip and cool. I am not hip or cool. Or any other nonsense. I just wanted people to see me As normal pastor guy. I told Janet I felt like a college professor that I had. Who every single day Wore a suit With a bowtie And tennis shoes. He was a nerd. Truly honestly a nerd professor. Which worked for him But not for me I felt dorky. So. When it came time for the dinner prayer I said I m so surprised that no one Has said anything about my shoes today. In case you didn t notice I m wearing tennis shoes But I m not going to tell you why You ll just have to guess. And then I said prayer. That was it. Only one guy took a guess He was close But not right.
I still didn t tell him. Now listen A couple times During the day And into the evening Out of kindness my wife Tried to set me free From my anxiety About looking odd. You know She said things like Don t worry about it. You look fine Etc and so on. I m not sure I really heard her. And that s too bad. I wonder how many times You have heard the story From John 11 [2 John 11] About how Jesus Was supposed to go To Bethany To see his sick friend Lazarus. But intentionally took his time. So that the glory of God Would be revealed Through him. Through a miracle. Through the pain and the heartbreak And all the baggage That come to us When someone dies. And so Jesus came late. And the sisters of Lazarus Martha first Then Mary Confronted him. Lord if you had been here My brother would not have died.
Jesus said Your brother will live again. Yeah I know. But that s later. At the end of time Lazarus is dead NOW. Jesus said [3 Resurrection and Life] I am the resurrection and the life And all who believe in me Will live. Do you believe this? Yes Lord. I believe. - And you know the rest. He went to the tomb. And stood there. And saw all the people grieving. He saw all the pain they were feeling And he felt it himself. Even though he knew What he was going to do He felt the sting of death In his own heart. Jesus wept. Then He said Roll the stone away. Martha said No! he s been dead For four days Lord There will be a stench. Jesus said Did I not tell you If you believe in me You will see the glory of God? Roll the stone away. Lazarus come out. The man lived. But. There was a problem. He was alive. But. Not free. He was walking.
But. He was bound. Jesus told the people UNBIND HIM AND LET HIM GO! So it s interesting to me That Jesus [4 Voice of God] The Son of God The One the only One Who can command Life out of death Whose voice echoes back To the Dawn of Creation Who commanded Light and life When it all began. And again The voice that echoes forward To the Very End of Time A Voice from the throne that declares See I told you God s home is with God s people And God will wipe every tear from their eye Death will be no more. Mourning and crying and pain Will be no more. I am The Alpha and the Omega The beginning and the end. Now it s interesting to me [5 Lazarus] That same Jesus Told the people standing around Unbind him. Let him go. Couldn t he have done that? Couldn t that have been Just part of the package? You know raise him from the dead Loose the clothes that bind him Seems easy enough.
Unless he wanted us involved somehow Unless he wanted us involved In the process of setting Lazarus free. I mean think about it. Jesus just raised him from the dead. He was free except he wasn t. He was bound. Even though he was alive! So they needed to unbind him. They needed to let him go. They needed to set him free. Or else he could not live again. - Not only Did they need to unbind him And let him go In the sense Of ripping off the strips of cloth So that he could walk And talk And live They had to unbind him From their ideas. From the idea that he was dead. People had to have been scared It s not every day Someone comes back to life. They had to unbind him From the idea That he was not part of their life anymore Because there he was Right in front of them. They had to unbind him From the idea That he was a freak. A zombie. A monster. They had to unbind him From everything They had been so certain about Just a few minutes before Before Jesus. Remember. They were at his funeral. He was dead.
When it came to their brother Their friend Their brother In Christ. Lazarus. They had to unbind him So that he could be free. Oh hey. Sorry forgot about you. Thank you Lindsey For your help I appreciate it You can go sit down out there again. Go on. Lindsey. Hmpf. Sometimes I just don t know about that girl. She s like one taco short Of a combination plate. You know a little goofy. I mean she s like Blah blah blah Over here And over there Spaz. You know what I mean. She s so young. Oh my goodness I have underwear older than her. And she came to our church With no experience As a youth director What does she know? UNBIND ME. And you may have noticed Her hair. What color is it today? Purple? Pink? Blue? I mean sister pick a color and go with it! Am I right? UNBIND ME. And every single day She opens the door Between our offices
And is constantly Asking me questions What the heck? Get a grip! If you don t know an answer Just make it up! And get on with your life Quit bugging me. UNBIND ME! See that s the thing. We are always trying to bind people To the ideas we think are true To preconceived notions That are locked away in our brains. We want people to fall into convenient categories To make our life easier They are too young. They are too old. They are too relaxed. They are too intense. They are too liberal. They are too conservative. They are too fundamentalist. They are too progressive. We label them and tie them down So we know Who s a part of our group And who is not a part of our group. - So instead of doing what Jesus HIMSELF Has called us to do Instead of loving And celebrating And empowering And strengthening And learning About who Lindsey is We have ideas That we think are true Regardless of whether they are true or not. And we hold onto them. And with our ideas We bind her.
We define her. We limit her. And we act as though We know who she is. - Well I do know. Lindsey is a child of God. Not a child of this world. Not a child of mine. Not even really a child of Kevin and Jacki. She is a child of none other than The God of Heaven and Earth. And through the blood of Christ Through the love of Christ Through the unlimited grace of Christ She deserves to be free. So UNBIND HER. - Sometimes I think we forget [6 The Keys] As the Saints of God The church militant Alive and breathing And working. God s people in the world We forget That we have been given the power To unbind people. It s called the office of the keys. It belongs to the church And we all Christians Are the church It s not the building. It s not the organization. It s the people of God. In this place at this time. We are the church. And Jesus said to Peter Who was the first representative of the church I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth Will be bound in heaven And whatever you loose on earth Will be loosed in heaven
Do you understand The tremendous power We have been given. It s really the power To speak for Christ. To do his work. To set people free In his most holy name. - The world is crying [7 Unbound] UNBIND ME. And here we are We have the power We have the authority We have the ability To let them know Whoever they have been in the past. Whatever unforgivable sin They have committed Whatever internal image Is crushing the life Out of them Whatever label Other people have slapped on them Whatever evil Has been whispered in their ear. We know the Truth. And the Truth is If the Son Sets you free You are free indeed. That s the power of Christ. - The world is crying UNBIND ME. So what O Christian are you going to do about it? Thanks be to God. Amen!