I recently read an old story, often attributed to the famous Boston preacher A. J. Gordon.
One day, Gordon met a young boy in front of his church, carrying a rusty cage with several birds fluttering nervously inside.
Gordon asked the boy, “Where did you get those birds?”
“I trapped them out in the field,” the boy replied.
“Well, what are you going to do with them?”
“I’m going to play with them and then probably feed them to my cat.”
When Gordon offered to buy the birds from him, the boy told him, “Mister, you don’t want them. They’re just old, wild birds. They’re worthless.”
But Gordon insisted. “I’ll give you $2 for the cage and the birds.”
“Okay, it’s a deal,” the boy replied. “But, mister, you’re making a bad bargain.”
Money exchanged hands, and the boy went merrily on his way. Gordon immediately walked around the back of the church, opened the door of the cage, and set the frightened birds free.
The following Sunday, Gordon took the empty cage into the pulpit to teach his people about redemption.
We are all caged birds, trapped by sin, death, and the devil. We are born captive to sin. We listen to the devil’s lies and deserve an eternal cage in hell.
But Jesus redeemed us.
In the Bible, to redeem means to pay the price to set free. Jesus paid the price, unlatched the door, and set us free.
But he didn’t pay $2. Our freedom cost him everything. “It was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed,” Peter tells us, “but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18,19).
Jesus himself said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Jesus’ life was the ransom that set us free.
But that means you are free – free from sin’s curse, free from death’s sting, and free from hell’s cage. Because of Jesus and through faith in him, your soul will one day fly free to heaven.
According to the story, Gordon ended by saying, “That boy told me the birds were not songsters, but when I released them and they winged their way heavenward, it seemed to me they were singing as sweetly as any bird ever has!”
They were singing the song of freedom.
So can we.
Pastor Andrew Schroer has been a pastor for over 25 years and is currently serving at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Edna, Texas. You can find his latest books, “364 Days of Thanksgiving” and “364 Days of Devotion,” on Amazon.com.
