Freedom
Sermon given on October 3, 2010 by The Rev. Jon Roberts
Good Shepherd Episcopal, Venice, Florida
Title
THE LIGHT
BLACK & WHITE XP Ministries
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Since 2012
Set Them Free
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
The Rev. Jon Roberts
30 March
2025
Calvary Episcopal Church
Indian Rocks Beach, FL
1Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.’ And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to make merry.
“Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1669
The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
If you love somebody if you love someone set them free..
Free, free, set them free.[1]
The words "If you love somebody, set them free" have echoed through music, poetry, and philosophy for generations. First sung by Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, better known as Sting, in his 1985 song, these words remind us that true love does not seek to control, but to release, trusting that what is meant to return will do so.
This idea is not new. The Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran wrote, "If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don’t, they never were." Love is not about possession, but about trust. It is about knowing that some things, when held too tightly, can be suffocated rather than cherished. We struggle with this truth because letting go is hard. When we part from someone we love, we fear they may never return. We long for assurance, for certainty, for a promise that what we have treasured will not be lost forever. This struggle is not only personal; it is spiritual.
Consider an artist at work, someone like Pablo Picasso. A critic once told him that his famous portrait of Gertrude Stein looked nothing like her. Picasso responded, “She will.” A camera captures a moment, a mirror reflects the present, but a painting, an artist’s impression, carries a vision of what is to come. In the same way, God is the ultimate artist. He sees in us what we cannot yet see in ourselves. He knows the beauty in us, even with our flaws, and He loves us enough to set us free.
But what does it mean for God to set us free? Does He sit in heaven, wondering whether we will return to Him? Does He wait like an anxious parent, hoping His beloved creation will come home? The answer lies in our Scripture readings today. Perhaps the most powerful story of love and release is the parable of the Prodigal Son. Painted by several artists, Rembrandt, Batoni, Tissot, the picture of a father, filled with love, lets his son go, even knowing the dangers of the world. The son squanders his inheritance, loses everything, and reaches a place of deep desperation. Yet, in his brokenness, he remembers home. He returns, expecting judgment, but instead finds grace, a father running to embrace him, celebrating his return.[2]
This is not just a story about a reckless son. It is the story of us. Each of us, at some point, has wandered. We have turned from God, choosing our own way. But our Heavenly Father, like the father in the parable, does not force us to stay. He sets us free, because love is not love without choice. And when we return, He does not meet us with condemnation, but with open arms.
Theologians have described this as the great exchange, what goes out from God and what returns to Him. The Latin term for this movement is exitus et reditus, meaning that all things come from God and, in the end, all things return to Him. This is seen most clearly in Jesus Christ. The Son of God was sent into the world, not to remain in heavenly perfection, but to walk among us, to enter our brokenness, to give Himself in love. And in that ultimate act of sacrifice, through His death and resurrection, He returns to the Father, bringing us with Him.
"If you love someone, set them free." God loves us so much that He set us free, even to the point of sending His Son to be crucified, to die, and to rise again. Through Jesus, we are no longer bound by sin. We are set free.
So what does this mean for us today? It means that our faith is not about control, but trust. It means we must be willing to release what we love, whether it is a person, a plan, or our own sense of certainty. It means we must trust that when we let go in faith, God’s love will bring us home. May we live in this freedom. May we trust in this love. We were lost by choice, but found by grace. Our Heavenly Father waits for our return. How do we know this? Because He said if you really love someone, you set them free. Free, free, He set them free.
[1 ] “If you love somebody, set them free”, Sting, 1985
[2] Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32