1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Luke 9:51-62
Right now we think about freedom. All of us hope that the Iraqi people will be able to enjoy both freedom and security after June 30th. In another week our nation will be celebrating its freedom on Independence Day. When I conduct new member classes I mention how we in the United Church of Christ have freedom in the local church since the local church is the basic unit of our denomination.
In our lesson from Galatians this morning, Paul, the great church starter and letter writer, also celebrates FREEDOM.
You heard it in the first sentence:
"For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."
Ever since people like John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence and Paul of Tarsus signed the Letter to the Galatians, there have been questions about the meaning of this FREEDOM.
In our nation there has always been a tension
In our religion there has always been a tension
in deciding what this freedom in Christ means.about how much government is necessary and good.Today we might ask:
What is this freedom? Freedom from what? Freedom for what?
Our lesson from Galatians this morning suggests that freedom is a two-edged sword.
1. Freedom from fright. Freedom from fearfulness.
2. Freedom for fruit. Freedom for fruitfulness.
1. FREEDOM FROM FRIGHT
None of us wants to live in fear. Unfortunately the Iraqi people seem to be in this situation. Especially the Iraqi policemen. First the Iraqi people lived in fear of Saddam. Now they live in fear of the terrorists.
We here in the United States are proud of our freedoms. We like to believe that we are free from all the horrible things that the Saddam Hussein regime represented. We treasure our Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution. We fear those terrorists --- like the ones who crashed into the Twin Towers. We wonder why people like those terrorists attack our freedoms.
Perhaps it is because they see our freedom as a freedom of the flesh. A freedom of indulgence and excess. A libertine freedom. If they watch American TV or go to an American movie what will they see? Sex and violence. Right? For our writer Paul ---- both sex and violence come under the category of "flesh." In our sexually over stimulated culture we hear the term flesh and we think of sexual scandal. Flesh is much more than that.
Paul wrote about this kind of freedom of the flesh when he listed the so-called "works of the flesh" in Galatians 5:19: Fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing
Clarence Jordan translated these into more understandable terms:
Loose sex relations, filthiness, unbridled lust, worshipping gadgets, trickery, hostile feeling, division, jealousy, temper tantrums, bootlicking, snobbery, arguments, envy, tippling, horsing around
.This is freedom run-a mock. This is irresponsible freedom. This is the freedom that marauders in Sudan are practicing to exterminate people they dislike. This is the kind of freedom that exists between gangs on our city streets and between revenge seeking Palestinians and Israelis. This is the freedom of violence and hate and destruction.
You may have heard the limerick:
There once were two cats of Kilkenny
Each thought there was one cat too many;
So they fought and they fit,
they scratched and they bit;
Til, excepting their nails and the tips of their tails;
instead of two cats, there weren’t any!
Paul said the same thing in other words when he wrote to the Galatians:
"If...you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another." (Galatians 5:15)
What people needed then and what people need now is:
Freedom from Fear.
Freedom from Focus on the self.
Freedom from the Flesh
Paul would remind us that:
"Those who belong to Christ will oppose violence not by counter violence ---- that would be to succumb to the deception of the Flesh ---- but by manifesting the fruit of the Spirit even in the face of murderous opposition, keeping in step with the Spirit of Christ." (Richard B. Hays)
This means:
2. If there is fear from something, there is also freedom for something. This is really the kind of freedom Paul wants to emphasize: Freedom for Fruitfulness.
As followers of Christ, we have the wonderful privilege of living in the Sense of the Spirit, not by the Letter of the Law.
Paul listed these "Fruits of the Spirit":
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
This is a completely different kind of attitude. A positive attitude. A forward-looking attitude. Just think if our town and our world bore these fruits! Both would be much improved places!
How do we develop this kind of "fruitful" living? If we take Paul’s advice we don’t develop it simply by following the rules. We live fruitfully by living in Christ’s spirit. We live fruitfully by turning our lives over to Christ. We live fruitfully when at the core we are faith-filled. You’ve heard of the phrase "rotten to the core." What we want to be is "faithful to the core."
During our Lenten Wednesday series we looked at a series of people who could be called saints. Do you remember some of them?
Francis of Assissi
Clarence Jordan
Mother Teresa
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Martin Luther
Billy Graham
Each of these was a person who said: "God, I am going to walk in your Spirit. I am going to turn my life over to you and trust that your way is the way of life and truth."
Francis gave up his wealth and served the poor.
The fruit of his life was a whole movement called the Franciscans.
Clarence started an interracial farming community in the middle of segregation.
The fruit of his life can still be seen at Koinonia farms.
Teresa devoted herself to the dying.
The fruit of her life is evident in the hostels of Calcutta.
Dietrich stood up the Nazi tyranny.
The fruit of his life is the new Germany dedicated to peace and justice.
Martin turned himself over to the grace of God.
The fruit of his life has been our worldwide Protestant movement.
Billy devoted his life to winning souls for Christ.
The fruit of his life has been has been many lives who are richer and fuller and more faithful.
Each one of these people could have fallen for the freedom of the flesh ---- following their own selfish desires. Each one of these people could have fallen into a fearfulness and negativity. But they chose to center themselves on the Spirit.
This is what I invite you to do today as we remember, once again those words of Paul:
"For freedom Christ has set us free."
