But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin,
you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now
claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become
slaves to righteousness. Romans 8: 16 – 17
A few years ago God gave me a picture of a wooden slave ship
– the sort where the slaves were chained in the bowels of the ship rowing.
There they sat in row upon row, unable to go anywhere and unable to do anything
except row the huge oars. Indeed they had no say in where they were rowing,
where they were going or why. All they could do is sit there and row and if
they stopped they would be beaten.
This is
an awful picture of sin. We are chained to it, unable to free ourselves from
its bonds. As Paul says: For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it
out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I
do not want to do – this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not
want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does
it. Romans 7: 18 – 20
Sin is a
cruel slave master, chaining us into a life that we do not want.
However in my picture, I saw Jesus
come in a shining light into the bowels of this hell-hole of a ship, walk up to
one of the slaves and hold out his hand. As the slave took Jesus hand, the
chains fell off and startled beyond imagination he walked out with Jesus from
his prison. What a wonderful picture of salvation. … through
Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8: 2.
However as
I looked I saw Jesus take the slave, blinking out into the sun and onto a busy
London pavement outside Buckingham Palace. He took his old filthy rags and gave
him new ‘robes of righteousness’. With a word he was cleansed so his body was
clean and groomed. The slave was transformed - clean in every way – inside and out.
Then
something wonderful happened. Jesus led the ‘new creation’ across the road to
Buckingham Palace and took him inside. The ex-slave was almost struck
speechless. The palace was beautiful beyond anything he had ever seen or could imagine. It was
amazing in every way – beautiful rooms, furnishings, grounds and wonderful staff
to meet his every need. This however was
not a life of privilege to indulge himself but a life of privilege from which a
new life of service and devotion to the King would flow.
The great thing about being British is that we understand royalty.
We grow up with it and have it modelled to us all our lives. Our Royal family
is indeed privileged. There is little they cannot have in terms of material
items or being served but they model to our nation and the world that this life of
privilege is also one of duty and service. They work extraordinarily hard to
serve and bless others through patronage of military organisations,
professional bodies and a multitude of charities. Having a member of the Royal
Family as a patron or president to your organisation or charity adds publicity,
visibility and credibility to the work and is greatly sought after.
As Christians we are members of THE Royal Family. We have
not only been released from the slavery to sin, cleansed and clothed in robes
of righteousness but we have been taken into the palace to serve the King and
the Kingdom. We have every resource available to do this and many have faithfully used their lives and talents to bless the world.
The Church does an enormous
amount of good work, not just through charities like Tearfund, Hope for
Justice, Christians against Poverty but by assisting local communities through toddler
and parent groups, holiday clubs, food banks, old peoples’ clubs and other services
let alone ministering to the wider world through missions work. And
that’s how it should be.
We have not been saved to indulge ourselves in the blessings
and privileges of life in the Kingdom but to reach out to the needy world so
that people know when the Church gets involved they are going to get the best
and it will come with grace, love and kindness.
