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What Is Christian Freedom? Rev. Dawn M. Haeger, Church of the Cross, Hoffman Estates, IL, July 1, 2007 What do you think of when you hear the word freedom? There are common sayings like, “This is a free country,” and “You’re free to do whatever you like,” and “There’s no such things as a free lunch.” Music speaks to the idea of freedom. The Star Spangled Banner affirms that we live in the “sweet land of liberty,” while Janis Joplin sang, “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” What does it mean to be free? Wednesday is July 4th or Independence Day, the occasion we celebrate the American Colonies bid for freedom from England. We Americans take our freedom very seriously, and we should. Countless men and women have sacrificed and are continuing to do so, to protect our way of living. But have you ever thought about what freedom is exactly and why it is such an important part of our individual and shared identity as a nation? Who or what are we seeking to be free from today? Is freedom an end unto itself? If not, what is the purpose of being a free populace? Throughout the centuries, people have expressed their thoughts regarding the construct of freedom, what it is, what benefits it provides. Some have been more eloquent than others. Greek philosopher, Cicero, thought that, “freedom is participation in power.” While at the other end of the political spectrum, political revolutionary Lenin asserted, “While the State exists, there can be no freedom. When there is freedom there will be no State.” Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin believed, “Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security, will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl wrote in Man’s Search for Meaning, “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. And finally, Martin Luther in his 1520 treatise to Pope Leo entitled, Freedom of a Christian, proclaimed to a culture steeped in hierarchy, “A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none, a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.” While taking nothing away from Miss Joplin’s singing ability, I believe Victor Frankl’s and Martin Luther’s perceptions regarding freedom are truer reflections of Paul’s assertions in his letter to the Galatians. “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit to the yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1). Just as we American Christians today live in a world where the people we interact with are of many different races, faith traditions and cultures, the believers in Galatia resided in a pluralistic society. When Paul came to their community preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, the people he encountered were pagans, who were used to living life in a manner very different than the one Paul was calling them to. Added to this already difficult situation, was the appearance of Jewish Christians in their midst who were urging the Galatians to undergo circumcision and to participate in other elements of Jewish law and ritual. Biblical scholar Richard Hays, describes how in Paul’s response to the challenge of the Jewish Christians, he twice declares their activities to be a threat to the “truth of the gospel” (2:5, 14) and how Paul explains to the Galatians and to us why the Jewish law and rituals are not necessary. Just an aside here, it is really popular in some circles to propose that Paul, following his Damascus conversion experience, became someone who, at best, saw no use for the law, and at worst, detested the Law. We must not forget that Paul is a Jew. He doesn’t believe that the law was a bad thing. It served God’s purposes until the Messiah, Jesus Christ, arrived. With Jesus’ death and resurrection, a new age has dawned, a time, not for the law, but for the gospel. Faith in Jesus Christ makes us new creations, Paul argues. It makes no sense for new creatures to go back to old ways of living. Indeed, it is no longer possible, as God has entered into and changed the course of history as God has done so in the past. Just as you and I, because of real historical events, are citizens of the United States of America and not Great Britain, therefore, we obey the laws and customs of the U.S. and not England, the Galatian believers are a part of God’s new kingdom created through Jesus Christ and are not bound by the earlier covenants of Abraham and Moses. Paul is making a claim about identity. He wants the Galatians to understand who they are and what their purpose or mission in life is. If you have ever traveled outside of this country and talked with people, chances are they knew you were an American very quickly. Once they knew that, they started making assumptions (right or wrong) about your world view and how you live. We do the same whenever we meet people from a different culture. The Galatians, Paul is contending, were forgetting who they had become and how they were supposed to behave with one another. “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters;” he writes beginning in verse 13, “only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Gal 5:13-14). “Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence…” We don’t know for sure what Paul was referring to when he wrote this line. Actually, leaving the statement this broad allows us to include ourselves in his admonition. If he had been more specific, we could say, “Well, I don’t do that, so my actions must be in the clear.” Self-indulgence, on the other hand, invites us to consider our own life choices. Are we living to serve our own needs, or do we actively seek ways to serve others as Jesus did? I’m going to let you in on a secret. When preparing for a worship service, pastors have several goals we wish to accomplish. Like the biblical writers, we hope to remind you of your identity as children of God, men, women, boys and girls who love and serve Jesus Christ, an identity that take precedence over national, ethnic and even familial ties. Paul reminds us that “in Christ Jesus [we] are all children of God through faith” (Gal. 3:26). Because of our baptisms, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). Our Christian identity eliminates any category that would divide us. Because we are one in Christ, we must see Jesus in every other person we meet. Another objective is to help you to see that this growth in understanding our Christian identities is a lifetime process, one that is not complete until our death. This growth process takes place on both an individual and communal level. You and I are not the same people we were last summer and neither is Church of the Cross. Who we are and what we understand our mission to be is growing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Recognizing that none of us enters the sanctuary as blank slates – we come in with our joys and concerns as well as our strengths and our weaknesses. My desire is to help you celebrate your joys and strengths and discern how your faith speaks to your challenges and weaknesses. Sometimes the answer is obvious – sometimes it is not. We are in that process now as a congregation. We have much to celebrate as a faith community. Church of the Cross has many vibrant ministries and many people who recognize their spiritual gifts and are willing to use them to benefit God’s realm. We also have challenges as we work to chart our path for the future. As we move in that direction, it is our faith that will guide our steps. Transformation and growth are not easy processes – either communally or individually. It is something we must commit ourselves to. The question is, of course, do we really want to experience and respond to God’s powerful presence? If not, we may return week after week, sit in our pews, sing some songs and bow our heads in prayer, but we experience little or no growth in our relationship with God and one another. However, if we truly want to lead transformed lives, we are open to hearing God’s Word where it intersects with our lives and we recognize that conversion from who we are to who we could be is going to require some on-going effort on our behalf. Sometimes we will be more successful at it than other times. But we believe that if we take but the smallest step toward God, God’s Spirit reaches out and offers life and hope where once fear and anxiety dwelled. We are reaching for the future. We believe and trust that God has great plans for Church of the Cross. We do not need to be fearful. God’s Spirit is here with us and will guide us as we seek ways to faithfully serve God and one another. This, in reality, is what Paul is doing in his letter to the churches in Galatia. He is reminding them of their identity, who they are as God’s children, seeking to love and serve the Lord. Just like we sometimes forget how we are called to live once we leave this sanctuary, the Galatians needed to be reminded and the balance of our reading for today does just that. Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. (Gal 5:16-25) When living in community, we have two options, Paul declares. As those who belong to Jesus Christ, both individually and corporately as the Body of Christ, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to make good and healthy choices that allow us to interact with one another and worship God in authentic and life-giving ways. We can choose to live lives that have joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and faithfulness. It’s not an easy choice. The flesh, our self-serving ego, is opposed to serving others first. That is why we have God’s Spirit residing within us and our faith community. It is God who enables us to defeat our own selfish instincts. The alternative is to satisfy the flesh and live for self. We could indulge our self-serving desires, put our own wants and needs first and have relationships with one another and our God filled with bitterness, enmity and strife. It really is that simple and that difficult. Our God has created us free to make a choice. Who will we live for? Living for God empowers one to live, love and serve others. Living for self destroys that possibility. We make a choice every day. Knowing the right option to choose is not the difficult part of the equation – we know what we should do, but putting that knowledge into action, that is the hard part. The good news is that if we choose to demonstrate kindness, gentleness and patience, it is impossible to be simultaneously filled with bitterness, enmity and strife. Choosing to live a generous life in the Spirit automatically leads us to deny an ego-driven and self-indulgent existence. This is what we were created for and the life we so desperately want. You are free to choose. What will it be, life in the flesh or life in the Spirit? To God alone be all glory and honor, this day and forever more. Amen.
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