Merle Mees (former pastor here at Western Hills Church) told me the story of him using the famous scene in Braveheart that has these words. Mel Gibson’s character, William Wallace, is on horseback trying to rally his troops who are outmatched, outnumbered, and outclassed in a battle when he delivers the famous line…

They may take our life…but they will never take our FREEDOM!!

Merle told me that he loved that scene and clip for so many reasons, but after a particular July 4th service when he was here, he decided he would never use it again. I asked him if it was because of the irony of using a Scottish hero who would one day become part of the nation that we eventually revolted against. He said no.

It had to do with the irritating little thing that VCRs did back then. Side note: You may have many questions at this point like, “What is a VCR?” It’s a DVR with really big cassette tapes that recorded video off the television with static lines going across the screen.

The irritating little thing that the VCR did was rewind the tape 10 seconds after you hit stop. When you hit play the next time, it would pick up 10 seconds before where you stopped it. Normally, this is not a huge deal. Unless you are showing a clip in church where you don’t, under any circumstances, want the previous 10 seconds shown.

Which brings us back to Merl and his wonderful clip from Braveheart. Not. Good. The line involved a colorful reference to lightning bolts and a rear end. Merle said he just wanted God to send a lightning bolt directly to him at that moment.

But here’s the thing, Merle survived. So did Western Hills. And in so doing actually lived out the quote in a way.

Mistakes happen. Some of them are of our own creation and choosing. Some are the fault of others. Some mistakes are easily redeemed, others not so much. But for the Christ-follower, nothing is beyond the reach of His grace. And it’s His grace that gives TRUE FREEDOM.

Freedom in Christ is the freedom to see God take our mistakes and make it into something good. Freedom in Christ is the freedom to live unencumbered from sin. It’s the freedom to love deeply with no reserve. It’s the freedom to forgive without thought of retribution. It’s the freedom to accept and give mercy. It’s the freedom to live knowing that this time on earth is NOT the whole picture. It’s not the whole story. Freedom in Christ is the freedom to experience Him. Now. Tomorrow. Forever. No border, no obstacle will ever separate us from this freedom.

So… they may take everything else… but they can’t touch our true freedom.

Anchored in Christ. And a cross. And an empty tomb.

Be sure to celebrate that this week.

See ya’ Sunday.