07-04-10 Freedom to Love!

Freedom to Love

Galatians 5:1, 13-18

July 4, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

Freedom! On this day that marks the 234^th birthday of our country, which our national anthem rightly calls "the land of the free and the home of the brave," we have freedom on our minds. But like most words in our language freedom means different things to different people at different times and in different contexts. The Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary defines freedom as:

· the quality or state of being free

· the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action

· liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another

While Answers.com points to some of the many nuances of freedom, listing several different ways to use the word freedom:

1. freedom of assembly or freedom of speech
2. freedom from want.
3. We have the freedom to do as we please all afternoon.
4. loose sports clothing, giving the wearer freedom.
5. she was given the freedom of their research facilities.
6. he was given the freedom of the city.

Freedom!

o  According to Abraham Lincoln "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."

o  While Robert J. McCracken believes "We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls."

o  Moshe Dayan asserts that "Freedom is the oxygen of the soul."

o  Benjamin Franklin warns us that, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

o  Nelson Mandela cautions that, "to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

Freedom! But as we gather in the midst of our reflections on freedom if we listen carefully we will catch the echo of an even deeper freedom from the Apostle Paul: ^"It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. ... Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom."

To understand Paul's wisdom for our lives, we need to look at the situation that evoked his words. For Paul Christ came to proclaim God's unconditional love and set us free from trying to assure our own salvation by slavishly following the whole of the Jewish law. Bondage to the law, according to Paul, created a climate of anxious self-protectiveness where good deeds -if they were done at all- where self-centered and self-serving; done to assure one's own place in God's coming realm. This was how Paul lived until his encounter with the risen Christ on the Damascus Road, where he found the freedom and joy he had never experienced living under the law. Embraced and empowered by God's love, Paul was moved from the inside out to do what, living under the law, he had not been able to do -that is to truly love and serve others.

But some had a very different idea about the law. They believed that all the practices of the Jewish law were binding on everyone who sought to follow Jesus. By their impassioned speeches these troublemakers, called the Judaizers, stirred up fear in the hearts of the believers. Were they really saved? Or would their failure to follow the whole Jewish law keep them from experiencing God's grace? Where there had been peace and love, now there was doubt and fear. Where there had been trust and growth, now there was uncertainty and stagnation. Where there had been community and cooperation, now there was alienation and competition. It was to these troubled and anxious believers that Paul wrote.

Paul had grasped the truth that in Christ we are given freedom from fear. It is freedom from trying to secure our own way and make our own future. But even more than that, he understood that in Christ we were given freedom to live in love. And in fact, living in love is part and parcel of what keeps us free. When we live in fear our world is limited, for fear contracts, it causes us to pull in, to build barriers, erect fortresses, sharpen our defenses, seeking only to provide for our own safety, our own security, our own life. But when we live in love our world knows no limits, no borders, no boundaries; love expands our view, opens our hearts, awakens our creativity and moves us to reach out in ever-widening circles.

When talking about our freedom as a nation we often point with gratitude to the sacrifices made by those who have fought to defend our freedom. We know that freedom isn't free. We know that freedom depends on our willingness to sacrifice ourselves for the good of others. But all too often we believe that such sacrifice is what the men and women who serve in the various branches of the military do. Or if we are really thoughtful, we know that the families of these brave citizens also make sacrifices. But we fail, I think, to understand that to truly be free, we must all be willing to "use our freedom to serve one another in love," even when it means sacrificing some of our comfort, our wealth, our ease.

As I was thinking about this I thought of the Great Law of the Iroquois Nation- which says "In every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the seventh generation; that is whether the decisions we make today would benefit our children seven generations into the future."  It is, of course impossible to know that for sure. But to live with such "other-directed" thinking causes us to at least consider whether our actions benefit others. For example, I can't simply think of what is best for me and my family -in any sphere of life- without taking into account what is best for all my sisters and brothers.

But this is not just one more law to follow. It comes about naturally, Paul says, when we are "animated and motivated by God's Spirit." [Galatians 5:16]  It happens when we allow God's love to set the agenda. In the section following our reading for today Paul describes what life looks like when we live in the freedom of love and what it looks like when we give in to our anxious self-serving fear. Listen to what Paul writes:

 ^19-21It 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.

 ^22-23But 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.

²⁵Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.

So my friends breathe deeply, ... feel God's love flow into every fiber of your being ... let all you do and say be "animated and motivated by God's Spirit" and claim God's freedom!  Amen.