Galatians 5:1
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Yesterday was a very interesting Independence Day, given the wider context in our country right now. After the SCOTUS ruling on marriage equality LGBTQs and their straight allies definitely have a new freedom to celebrate while those who claim a religious dispensation to discriminate against anyone they don’t like wailed and moaned and cried “governmental tyranny” at the tops of their lungs and worked to paint themselves as victims, and African-Americans pointed to black churches burning across the South and reminded us they are no more free today than they were last month – and while all this was going on about half the population of the east coast, it seems, having thrown their hats into the ring of our next presidential election, are running around pontificating and vying to say the most outrageous thing in order to get their faces on the 24-hour news cycle.
In the light of all this it was almost surprising to see the number of cities and small towns all over the country where ordinary folks just went about the BBQ’s and parades and clambakes and picnics and all the things that ordinary people do to celebrate the 4th of July and enjoy their freedom to gather with family and friends.
The major news sources may scream, “danger, danger, be afraid - ISIS is coming to kill us all!” but we go on beach picnics with our families. Ultra-conservative religionists cry that the world is ending and threaten to set themselves on fire if gays are allowed to marry (and then do some really fancy back-pedaling to explain they didn’t really mean that in the first place), but most of us just give thanks for our blessings and manage to co-exist pretty well with our Catholic neighbors and our Baptist neighbors, and even those folks who don’t believe in a god of any kind.
The one line from Paul’s letter to the Galatians that I chose as our scripture for today has always intrigued me. I’m sure Paul had a definite agenda in writing it but as a stand-alone verse it is delightfully ambiguous and can be applied in so many ways. We are “set free for freedom” ..... what does that even mean? I prefer to take it as face value. As God’s people we are free – free from doubt and free from fear and free from despair and hopelessness and free to just live in this beautiful world – free from the responsibility to be the whole world’s moral police, free from judging each other, free from forcing everyone to see it "my way" – free to live in kindness and love. BUT – (there’s always a but...) – as with all God’s gifts to us, freedom isn’t isn’t given us just for our own advantage. All the gifts God gives us are to be used by us for the betterment of the entire world – to help others who are still struggling to find their freedom.
When read in faith it also carries a list of things we are not free to do: oppress others, judge others, think ourselves in any way superior to others, sit back lazily on our backsides and let others drift in suffering rather than challenge our own comfort zone.
We are free to be the children of God that we are created to be.
Do we all agree with each other? Absolutely not. If fact, most of us disagree with someone somewhere on practically everything - and yet here we are - most of us -- still living and working side by side – because most of us understand that we can disagree without hating. And those of us who have chosen to declare our lives in service to God’s plan - as best we can figure that out - those of us who call ourselves Christians – understand something more. We understand that we are to rejoice in every victory that comes along – and give thanks for every blessing that appears here among us all – while at the same time we are to see and name every injustice we see still around us and we are to stand up and say “this must change” – and then we are to do whatever comes within our reach and our ability to change it.
We are not called to scream and shout. We are not called to vilify each other. We are not called to stamp our feet and throw rocks and make threats and demand that everybody has to be “just like me”. We are called to see everyone - even those with whom we disagree – especially those with whom we disagree -- through the eyes of God’s love. Plain and simple.
We are to build the reign of God together and live in peace - together. We are to seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. And in a world that stridently demands that everything is “my way or the highway,” in a world that sometimes wants to fight about absolutely everything – that may be the hardest task of all.
Luckily, we are not alone in this. We are never alone. Thank God.
In the light of all this it was almost surprising to see the number of cities and small towns all over the country where ordinary folks just went about the BBQ’s and parades and clambakes and picnics and all the things that ordinary people do to celebrate the 4th of July and enjoy their freedom to gather with family and friends.
The major news sources may scream, “danger, danger, be afraid - ISIS is coming to kill us all!” but we go on beach picnics with our families. Ultra-conservative religionists cry that the world is ending and threaten to set themselves on fire if gays are allowed to marry (and then do some really fancy back-pedaling to explain they didn’t really mean that in the first place), but most of us just give thanks for our blessings and manage to co-exist pretty well with our Catholic neighbors and our Baptist neighbors, and even those folks who don’t believe in a god of any kind.
The one line from Paul’s letter to the Galatians that I chose as our scripture for today has always intrigued me. I’m sure Paul had a definite agenda in writing it but as a stand-alone verse it is delightfully ambiguous and can be applied in so many ways. We are “set free for freedom” ..... what does that even mean? I prefer to take it as face value. As God’s people we are free – free from doubt and free from fear and free from despair and hopelessness and free to just live in this beautiful world – free from the responsibility to be the whole world’s moral police, free from judging each other, free from forcing everyone to see it "my way" – free to live in kindness and love. BUT – (there’s always a but...) – as with all God’s gifts to us, freedom isn’t isn’t given us just for our own advantage. All the gifts God gives us are to be used by us for the betterment of the entire world – to help others who are still struggling to find their freedom.
When read in faith it also carries a list of things we are not free to do: oppress others, judge others, think ourselves in any way superior to others, sit back lazily on our backsides and let others drift in suffering rather than challenge our own comfort zone.
We are free to be the children of God that we are created to be.
Do we all agree with each other? Absolutely not. If fact, most of us disagree with someone somewhere on practically everything - and yet here we are - most of us -- still living and working side by side – because most of us understand that we can disagree without hating. And those of us who have chosen to declare our lives in service to God’s plan - as best we can figure that out - those of us who call ourselves Christians – understand something more. We understand that we are to rejoice in every victory that comes along – and give thanks for every blessing that appears here among us all – while at the same time we are to see and name every injustice we see still around us and we are to stand up and say “this must change” – and then we are to do whatever comes within our reach and our ability to change it.
We are not called to scream and shout. We are not called to vilify each other. We are not called to stamp our feet and throw rocks and make threats and demand that everybody has to be “just like me”. We are called to see everyone - even those with whom we disagree – especially those with whom we disagree -- through the eyes of God’s love. Plain and simple.
We are to build the reign of God together and live in peace - together. We are to seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. And in a world that stridently demands that everything is “my way or the highway,” in a world that sometimes wants to fight about absolutely everything – that may be the hardest task of all.
Luckily, we are not alone in this. We are never alone. Thank God.
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