Setting Prisoners Free

Matt wandered into Church early with his bulging backpack, sat in the back row, with his usual cup of coffee. He always had too many layers on, that would extenuate the pungent whiffs of cigarettes, marijuana, and his musty clothes. It was an adventure sitting next to Matt, as he lived in a tent down the street, and therefore, struggled to stay awake throughout the service. Matt was someone who didn't know how to talk quietly, so when he was awake, he would whisper to me with his loud foggy voice, followed by his impulsive croaky laugh. He would cause heads to turn and faces to frown as he'd tell me of his need to smoke a blunt, how he was going to get retribution on some fellas that "did him wrong", while always asking me about my family. Whereas Matt struggled to control his impulses, he did his best to be respectful. I don't know how much he heard, but the one thing I do know is he loved Jesus, he knew he needed Jesus, so as an act of faith, he faithfully came

  ...despite being embraced, despite being forgiven, despite being welcomed home, despite being given freedom, we often refuse to accept freedom, we struggle to live with the scars, we are tormented by our guilt, we don't accept the grace we've been gifted...  When the younger son humbly crawled back home, he expected rejection or to be relegated to a slave, yet the father ran to him, hugged him, and gave him full status as his heir. He expected nothing but received everything. The older brother wanted to see his rebellious sibling suffer, but instead, he watched as his little bro was given a loving embrace and a party. Despite whatever negativity he was telling himself and the spiteful vibes he was getting from his bitter brother, he was free to live in the liberating grace he'd just been gifted.  Jesus was crucified and rose again so we could be liberated by grace, but it can be difficult to live in that grace, because of the lies we tell ourselves and the messages we hea