Pentecost 4 Galatians 3:23-4:7 Released by Christ

Isaiah 65: 1-9 Galatians 3:23-4:7 Luke 8:26-39

A lamb and his mother passed a pigpen each morning on the way to the pasture. Watching the pigs wallow in the mud seemed like fun to the young lamb. On one unusually hot day the lamb asked his mother, “May I jump the fence and wallow in the cool mud?” No,” She replied. “And the lamb asked, “Why not?” The mother just replied, “Sheep do not wallow.”

This did not satisfy the lamb. He felt his mother had no reason to refuse. So as soon as she was out of sight, the lamb ran to the pigpen and jumped the fence. He felt the cool mud on his feet, then on his legs, and finally he lay down and wallowed and wondered why his mom had kept him away for so long. After a while however, he decided to go back to his mother, but he could not—he was stuck! His thick wool was weighed down with heavy, sticky mud. The mud that felt so cool had become his prison. He was a hostage of the mud. He cried out and the kind farmer, his owner, rescued him. When he was cleansed and returned to the fold, his mother said, “Remember: sheep do not wallow!” [1]

My friends you are no longer pigs, trapped behind the fence of iniquity. You have been released from captivity through faith given to you as a gift. Paul says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV)

Ironically, the reason you find sin so attractive is that you were born as sinners and so you still have a desire to behave like pigs. Paul says, in Colossians (21, 22), ^“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”

 And Peter tells you, “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1 Peter 2:10-12)

Psalm 100 says, You have become His people and the sheep of His pasture.  Through the spilling of His precious blood on the cross Jesus has paid for your sins and made you His own. Paul tells you, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:27) You have been made sons and daughters of God through faith in the work Christ Jesus. Your spiritual clothing is the garment of the righteousness woven by Christ in his life, death, and resurrection. It  was placed upon you by the Holy Spirit.   

You have “put on Christ” at your baptism and have died and risen with Christ (Gal 2:19–20). You have been incorporated into Christ’s body, and have been clothed in Christ’s own righteousness. Thus you have taken on characteristics and virtues of Jesus Christ. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world has made you a garment of skin to cover your nakedness. You now wear the soft and warm woolen garment of salvation as one of His sheep. Unlike sinners who feel no shame over the nakedness of their sins nor remorse over Christ’s death on the cross, your sins are covered by His love and you suffer the pangs of guilt for Christ’s sake whenever you sin.

Therefore God’s Law speaks to your heart and says to you, “Sheep do not wallow in sin.”

The Law is like a mother sheep to us and her role is simple. The Law’s role is that of a custodian who is put in charge of the master’s children. The custodian’s duty is to oversee the children’s conduct, to see that they travel safely to and from school, do their chores and learn how to grow up into adults that are prepared to face the challenges that the world presents. The law teaches us to avoid those things which would trap us, and mire us down in the sin and evil that is so prevalent in this world.

Sin continues to look inviting and so cool that like that young lamb, we find it easy to jump over such a low fence. But it is not so easy to escape from sin once we have cleared that fence. It may feel good for a short while but we are soon trapped by our sins; weighed down and held captive. Sinful pleasure becomes our prison. Sin causes us to be hostages stuck in the mud! The Law shows us our need for assistance. It reprimands us and points out our weaknesses, our inability to follow what it demands of us. It shows us our sins, our weaknesses and our failures. It causes us to cry out for help.

And who do we cry out to? The Law cannot free us from the mud and muck of sin. It can only point out what we should and should not do. The law however, prepares us to realize our need for a Savior, who alone has the power to set us free. That Savior is found in the Gospel; the spoken word of God. Through the Gospel message, we have the means to call out to Jesus Christ who washes us clean and sets us free from sin, death and the devil to be people of God.

 Being a child of God is a privilege and honor. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15) Since He has set us free, we serve our Lord gladly, not by intimidation, or in fear, but in love of Christ and in the freedom of the Gospel. Listen to what God does for you, His sheep:  

       “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:1-6 (ESV) 

Such is the love that God has for you His sheep. So always remember, sheep do not wallow; sheep follow.

In Jesus name, Amen.