The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1942-09-08
MEN WON FREEDOM THE HARD WAY
Struggle Must Continue
To Overcome Forces That
Would Set the World Back
l TACOMA SUNDAY SERMON

the once feared religious dictators
and sutocrsts lost their power;
mere authority which could en-
force religious com pllanee no
longer frightened.
Tho brave souls Of that quest
for freedom did their work well.
and today we have rich heritage
Of religious freedom.
Politically. too. there il for us
a great deal Of freedom. which is
not true Of some places IN the
world today. Brave souls were
inspired To challenge the rights
of political tyranny and they
waged the struggle until political
freedom became a fact and not
only hope.
Test of War
True. that In being threatened,
but eternal vigilance 10 the price
that free men must pay for their
heritage.
Economic and Industrial free
dom In here In a large, II not
complete measure. And the ter
rible war now being waeed is to
determine whether we can main
tain these gains. Are we worthy
Of the freedoms which are ours7
This question leads me To the
other phase of the matter Of
freedom. II we are ever to main
tain the free doms mentioned
above. and which have been in
corporated in the Atlantic Charter,
II becomes Imperative that at
least one freedom which ! have
not mentioned must become the
foundation of all the others. /
cannot believe that il is possible TO
maintain the others II we fail in
this. This is soul freedom.
Tyranny Of Sin
An old-fashioned word recently
held In disrepute is finding its way
back even into the vocabulary OF
the so-called enlightened. That
word is "sin." But to be under
stood II must be identified more
specifically. For II is sin that
holds the souls of men in a cruel
bondage and keeps them from liv-
ing their best. II is from this
bondage that Christ came to de-
liver men, from the bondage and
power of sin. "1f the Son there
fore shall make you free. We shall
be free indeed" Christ states that
II Ii possible to be freed.
How lives are tyrannized and |
made impotent by the power of
sin. There is no joy, spontaniety
or victory in such lives. OF course
there are the fragrant and obvious
ins--drunkenness. murder, theft.
adultery and the like-and great
many people do not commit these.
There are more subtle. but not
sins, which also form
letters of Observation-Disclosures. ILL
will. hatred. exploitation of the
weak. misrepresentation, political
corruption. These take their toll
not only on the offender. but bring |
hardship to the innocent. II is
freedom from these, too, that |
Christ promises. Ye shall be free,
II you will he free. The final de-
cision is for the individual to
make.
A job for Free Men
The practical implications of this
freedom for the individual are oh
vious. Good men can change the
world. and this certainly was in the
mind of the Master. As more and
more men are freed from the power
and effects of sin, their lives begin
TO count in society round about
them. Men who refuse to live in
the social order as free men cannot
contribute greatly to the ameliora-
ton of the sins of society. This
is the hope then, that as men ex-
perience the forgiveness that pro-
duees this freedom. they can walk
in the world as lights and exam
Piles. patterning their own lives
after that of Christ. Such citizens
will maintain the freedom which