Call to Be Liberative

Welcome to the fourth Sunday of Lent. We have journeyed through the calls to be Compassionate, to Shoulder Burdens, and to be Inclusive. Today, we reach the culmination of these themes: The Call to be Liberative.

The Gospel is not merely a set of private beliefs, but a power that breaks chains. To be “liberative” is to participate in God’s ongoing work of setting captives free - whether from the bondage of sin, the weight of physical infirmity, or the structures of social injustice.

The Jubilee Principle: Restoring the Lost (Leviticus 25:8-13)

The biblical concept of liberation is explicitly echoed in the “Year of Jubilee.” Every fifty years, Israel was commanded to sound the trumpet and “proclaim liberty throughout all the land.” Debts were canceled, slaves were freed, and ancestral lands were restored.

The Jubilee was a “type” (a prophetic shadow) of the Gospel. It taught that God is the ultimate owner of all things, and His desire is for the restoration of the broken. As the Jubilee restored families to their inheritance, so the Gospel restores sinners to the inheritance of God’s favor. As liberative believers, we are called to embody this spirit; that is we ought to advocate for the “fresh start” and work to restore those who have lost their way or their livelihood.

The Sabbath of the Soul: Breaking the Bonds (Luke 13:10-17)

In the New Testament, Jesus demonstrates that liberation is a priority that supersedes religious ritual. When He encounters a woman bent over and could not straighten up for eighteen years, He heals her on the Sabbath. When critics complain, Jesus rebukes them: “Should not this woman... whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”(Luke 13:16) 

The bound woman is a picture of a soul weighed down by affliction and spiritual bondage. Jesus did not just pity her; He set her free. Thus, true Sabbath-keeping involves the “loosing of bonds.” To be liberative means actively seeking the wellness of those whom society has overlooked or whom “Satan has bound” with despair, addiction, or physical suffering.

Justice Over Ritual: The Required Fruit (Isaiah 1:12-17)

Liberation is also a matter of social justice. In Isaiah 1, God expresses His disgust with religious ceremonies that are unaccompanied by justice. He commands: 

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. (Isaiah 1:16,17)

God does not accept the theatrical if the practical is missing. Additionally, doing good is the best evidence of repentance. A liberative faith is one that corrects oppression. It is not enough to be personally pious; we must be socially active in defending those who have no voice. Lent calls us to “unstop our ears” to the cry of the oppressed.

The Dignity of the Worker: Stewardship of Power (Ephesians 6:5-9)

Liberation must also penetrate our daily work environments. In Ephesians 6, Paul addresses the relationship between masters and servants. While he writes within a first-century context, his instructions provide a liberative framework for all authority. He reminds masters to “stop threatening” and remember that their own Master is in heaven.

The greatest of men are servants to the great God. A liberative approach to authority recognizes the inherent dignity of the worker. It seeks to remove the bondage of unfair treatment, harsh environments, and the threatening spirit. Whether in the boardroom or the household, we are called to treat others in a way that acknowledges their freedom in Christ.

The God of All Comfort: Liberation Through Suffering (2 Corinthians 1:3-11)

Sometimes, liberation is an internal process of being freed from the crushing weight of trouble. Paul writes of being “burdened beyond our strength,” yet he finds God to be the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort.”

Occasionally, it seems like God allows us to reach the “sentence of death” in ourselves so that we might “not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.” This is the liberation of the heart; being freed from the bondage of self-reliance. When we are delivered from “so great a death,” we are then equipped to comfort others. Our past trials become the tools we use to help liberate others from their own darkness.

Justice and Mercy (Psalm 9)

Psalm 9 serves as a song of praise to the God who sits on the throne, judging righteously. David declares that God is a “stronghold for the oppressed.”

God is known by the judgment which he executes. He is the God who forgets not the cry of the humble. As we conclude our “Call to” series, we must realize that our God is a Great Liberator. If we are His children, we must share His concern for the oppressed and the needy.

The Empty Tomb as the Ultimate Liberation

Remember that Christ’s journey to the Cross was the ultimate liberative act. He took the “sentence of death” upon Himself to lose us from the bonds of sin and the grave.

Divine grace is a liberating thing. It doesn’t just forgive us; it frees us. As we reflect on these four calls: Compassion, Burden-bearing, Inclusion, and Liberation, let us move forward with a renewed commitment to be people who sound the Jubilee trumpet in a broken world.

This week, let’s challenge ourselves:

• Identify a “Bondage”: Is there an injustice in your community or a person “bowed down” in your circle?
• Seek Justice: Move beyond prayer into a “corrective” action; speak up for someone who cannot speak for themselves.
• Practice Jubilee: Forgive a debt (literal or relational) and offer a “fresh start” to someone this week.

Thank you for joining us for this “Call to …” series. May the God of all comfort lead you into the glorious liberty of the children of God.