Remember Those Who Brought Freedom – Isaiah 61:1-7
Pastor Tan Thai · May 1, 2017
This Memorial Day sermon explores the profound meaning of freedom — from political and social liberty to the spiritual freedom that Christ brings. The pastor urges the congregation not to forget the high price others paid for our freedom, including the price the Son of God paid to liberate us from sin.
The sermon opens with the context of Memorial Day, mentioning families with loved ones serving in Afghanistan. The pastor draws parallels to Vietnamese history — over a thousand years of resistance against foreign domination, the 1954 exodus to the South, twenty years of civil war, and the post-1975 wave of boat refugees — all driven by the longing for freedom. This demonstrates that freedom is a universal human desire, but one that always comes at a great cost.
The pastor recounts the story of Israel's more than four hundred years of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 1:14), their deliverance through Moses, and their quick ingratitude upon gaining freedom — complaining and even wishing to return to slavery when hardship arose (Exodus 14:11-12; 16:3; 17:2-3). Drawing on this historical lesson and the command in Deuteronomy 24:17-22, the pastor emphasizes that remembering one's own bondage should produce compassion toward the needy, and that freedom must never be taken for granted or abused.
The theological heart of the sermon addresses spiritual freedom. Scripture teaches that before salvation, people are enslaved to false gods — beauty, education, status, wealth (Galatians 4:8-9) — and to sin itself (John 8:34; Romans 6:17). Jesus came to proclaim freedom for the captives, fulfilling Isaiah 61 as He read it in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:18-19). The letter to Philemon is cited as a concrete illustration of freedom in Christ transcending social boundaries.
The sermon concludes with the final letters of two young American soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. These letters testify to purposeful sacrifice and love for family — paralleling the sacrifice of the Son of God to bring spiritual freedom to all people. The congregation is called to remember those who paid the price of freedom, to cherish the freedom they enjoy, and to live worthily of that price — both in civic life and in their walk with God.