THE CALL TO FREEDOM

July 1, 2001

Galatians 5: 1, 13-25

For the 225^th time, our nation will celebrate this coming Wednesday, July 4, Independence Day, the day we remember the birth of our nation. We will wave our national flag and look upon Lady Liberty in New York Harbor as the symbols of what this country stands for: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; freedom of religion; freedom of speech, of the press and the right to assemble. We will be reminded of the millions of our ancestors who journeyed to this country in search of freedom. We will be reminded of the many who die trying to reach this country this very day for that which we stand for. We must also remember the Native Americans who were here before white Europeans came to this country. We will give thanks for the freedoms we enjoy while in the same breath we realize that it is not perfect. In striving for freedom we have taken freedom away from others.

We gather in this sanctuary today to worship God. We give thanks to God for this country; however, you will not find a flag in this sanctuary. When we enter this sanctuary we recognize our citizenship in the Reign of God, the Kingdom of God, which transcends political, geographical and ethnic boundaries. In my opinion, our citizenship in the Reign of God stands above any loyalty to any country or government on this earth. Our fellow citizens live in China, Russia, Mexico, South Africa, France, Korea, and nearly every other nation in the world. In this sanctuary we worship the God who is creator of the universe and who transcends boarders and barriers that are of human making. In our opening hymn, "This Is My Song" we recognized that people of all lands and nations love their country and their hopes and dreams are as high and true as ours.

In the Epistle reading for today, Galatians 5: 1, 13-25, Paul talks about freedom – freedom from the Law (Torah) in relation to our Christian citizenship and journey. That is what I am going to talk about, but if you listen closely, there will be hints about how this applies to our citizenship in this community and this nation.

Let me begin by telling you a story of Jesus. In Matthew 12: 43

we find these words:

"When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first."

If we have something in our lives that is negative and controls us and we get rid of it but do not put something positive in its place, we may end up worse off than before, our last state is worse than the first.

Freedom is a wonderful thing; but freedom by itself is a loose cannon. With freedom must come responsibility; freedom is a wonderful concept but we are never completely free. Because we live in community our freedoms are limited for the sake of others.

The Apostle Paul, in his emphasis on freedom in Galatians, was talking about freedom from the Torah, the Law. It was Paul’s belief that the Law as an exterior set of guidelines had become a negative factor which separated people from God. Jesus Christ has set us free from the bondage of the Law. "Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." But Paul goes on to add, "For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another."

Freedom in Christ, that is, freedom from the demands of the Torah (external laws), does not leave us without a moral compass. This passage I just quoted, Gal 5: 13, is the basis for Christian ethics. True freedom is found in being a slave to one another in love. Let me repeat that! True freedom is found in being a slave to one another in love. Our Christian ethic is not bound by laws which say, "Do not kill, do not steal, do not commit adultery…" Rather, Christian ethics is based on the principle that love of God and love of neighbor as one loves self is the expression of true freedom and the highest in morals and ethics. We are called to live in love under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, not under the Law. Jesus concluded the Law; he put in its place his one command, "Love one another as I have loved you."

In a simplistic way the fad that swept through the Christian youth culture in recent years, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do), is precisely on point. It is not that there are laws out there that beat us into obedience and fear, rather, it is a relationship of love and respect for others that guides our attitudes and actions. Jesus’ guideline in all his relationships was one of love. That didn’t mean he rolled over and let others take advantage of him, but it meant that he treated people with full respect, as children of God. He saw all people from God’s perspective.

Several centuries ago a Christian leader proclaimed, "Love God and do as you please." That sounds like a contradiction at first, but if one really analyzes it, if one truly loves God with one’s entire being, then what we please to do, choose to do, will be in keeping with God. If we put God first in our life, then what we choose to do with our money, our possessions, our time, our energy, will honor God. There will not be a conflict of values.

With freedom comes great responsibility. Paul was aware of the temptation to proclaim freedom and then have no sense of responsibility that would then lead to self-indulgence and immorality of all kinds. Paul warned that we should not allow freedom to become a base of operations for the hostile powers of sin and evil. That is why Paul proclaims that true freedom is found in being a slave to one another in love. A slave! That again sounds like a contradiction, (freedom – slave). Yet this slavery is freely chosen in love because we are in community together and we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Love cannot be selfish.

Paul contrasts the power of the flesh over against the power of the Spirit. By flesh, Paul means here the sinful power within us that opposes God. I am sure that most of us have heard on several occasions the Works of the Flesh and the Fruits of the Spirit that Paul lists here in Galatians 5. He gives lists as to what are expressions of both. In recent weeks I have come across a fairly new paraphrase of the New Testament by a Eugene Peterson, called The Message. Let me read some of Galatians 5 from his paraphrase. It gives a different feel in a way that I believe is helpful.

"It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.

But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard – things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely."

There is an old Negro Spiritual that goes, "Oh freedom; oh freedom, oh freedom over me. Before I’d be a slave, I’ll be buried in my grave, and go home to my Lord and be free." Martin Luther King, Jr., proclaimed in that famous speech, "Free at last; free at last; thank God Almighty we’re free at last." In the land of the free and the home of the brave, all people are equal. Yet, in this sanctuary where Christians gather, the highest form of freedom is found in being a slave to one another in love in Jesus Christ. And that transforms lives and community. You are called to freedom, sisters and brothers!