A sermon preached by the Reverend Scott Dennis Nowack
at the Sunrise Service on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009, at
Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania. 
 

Freedom for All

Acts 10: 34-43
³⁴ Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, ³⁵but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. ³⁷That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: ³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. ³⁹We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; ⁴⁰but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, ⁴¹not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
’

Murmurs rippled through the congregation when Reverend George Thomas placed a rusty old bird cage on the pulpit. The church members weren’t used to their pastor using props in his sermons—especially not on Easter Sunday.

Sensing the congregation’s confusion, Reverend Thomas explained how he had obtained the cage.

It seems that the day before he had been walking through town when he noticed a young boy carelessly swinging the cage around. Thomas noticed that there were three obviously frightened little birds inside the cage.

The pastor stopped the youngster and asked, “What have you got there, son?”

“Just some old birds,” came the reply.

“And what are you going to do with them,” he asked.

“Take ‘em home and have some fun with ‘em,” the boy said. “I’m gonna poke ‘em and pull out their feathers and watch ‘em fight. I’m gonna have a real good time.”

“But those birds don’t belong to you,” said the pastor.

“They do now,” the boy responded. “I found ‘em and I can do anything I want with ‘em.”

“But you’ll get tired of playing with those birds, son. What will you do with them then?”

“Oh, I’ve got some cats,” grinned the boy. “They like birds. I’ll give ‘em to my cats.”

The pastor was silent for a moment. Then he asked, “How much do you want for those birds, son?”

“You don’t want these birds, mister,” said the boy. “They’re just plain old field birds. They don’t sing. They ain’t even pretty.”

“How much?”

The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said, “Ten bucks.”

The pastor reached into his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill and placed it in the boy’s hand. In a flash, the boy was gone. The pastor set the cage down, opened the door, and gently coaxed the birds out, setting them free.

The congregation listened quietly as the pastor told of his encounter with the boy. Then he told them another story.

One day Jesus and the devil were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, grinning and boasting. “I just caught me a bunch of people down there. Set me a trap! Used bait I knew they couldn’t resist! Got ‘em all!”

“What are you going to do with them?” Jesus asked.

“Oh, I’m gonna have fun with them. I’m gonna teach them how to hurt and abuse each other. I’ll teach them how to marry and divorce each other, lie to each other, and kill each other. Oh, I’m gonna really have a good time!”

“But those people don’t belong to you,” said Jesus.

“They do now! I can do anything I want with them.”

“And what will you do when you get through with them?” asked Jesus.

“I’ll kill them.”

“How much do you want for them?”

“Oh, you don’t want these people,” said the devil. “They’re no good. You may love them, sure, but they’ll just hate you back. They’ll spit on you, curse you, and kill you. You don’t want these people.”

“How much?” Jesus asked.

Satan sized up Jesus as if he were crazy and said, “Your life.”

Jesus paid the price. And on that first Easter Sunday morning, through his bodily resurrection, he picked up the cage, opened the door, and set us free. Do you want to accept this?

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). Do you want to believe this? For this is the Good News of Jesus Christ. Amen.