On those rare occasions when my mom and my brothers and I would leave town for a vacation with friends, my dad would find himself free. Free from the obligations of being a spouse for a weekend, free from a “honey-do” list, free from someone else having to tell him what to fix for dinner – or at least free from having to negotiate with a the tastes and preferences of a house full of people. So when he found himself alone in the house, my father would fix one of his favorite things to eat: liver and onions. Now, truth be told, I have never tasted liver and onions, and more than that, I have never even smelled them being cooked – because according to my mom, even the smell of this dish being cooked was so nauseating, that my father was not permitted to even think of cooking it even for himself when the rest of the family was around. So I honestly couldn’t tell you what they smell like – because my dad never cooked it with the family at home. But in those rare moments of freedom, he would do a little dance, fire up the stove and fix himself some forbidden fruit, his beloved liver and onions.
It is good to be free, isn’t it? Often, when we think about freedom, we think about freedom from something – freedom from having to worry, freedom from want, freedom from responsibility for the weekend, freedom from tyranny from distant kings – something appropriate to reflect on as we mark Independence Day today in the United States. As a person who cherishes time relaxing on a couch, I appreciate a sense of freedom from having to be doing something at a particular time. But Paul teaches us something about the deeper nature of freedom – freedom is not just about freedom from this or that; freedom instead comes from Christ, who sets us free for a purpose. “For freedom, Christ has set us free,” Paul writes in his letter to the church in Galatia, “stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” You see, in Galatia, like in other places, the church had a growing problem, one that Paul was trying to help correct. Paul understood that because Jesus Christ had come among us, lived, taught, suffered, died, and rose again, that the old way, the way of the law of Moses, had changed. The good news of Jesus Christ, of his life, his death, and his resurrection was good news for everybody, not just for the Jews, and people of every nation and tribe of the earth began to embrace faith in Christ. There were some in the church that said that to be Christian, believers had to be Jewish first – that every person of faith needed to follow the law of Moses to a “t” and then follow Jesus on top of that. They wanted Gentile Christians to be circumcised as a symbol of their dedication to the law. Now Paul understood that Jesus Christ was the Way, the Truth, the Life, and that everything had changed, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit gave people a new resource, a new strength, a new power to live a new life in a new way – and the old ways, and the strict adherence to the old laws were no longer needed. Christ was alive! The Holy Spirit was moving in people! God was doing a new thing! And Paul wanted people in every church to know that Christ had set every person free to be in true relationship to God, Christ had bled and died once and for all, so animal sacrifices were no longer necessary, and we were all now free to live life as free people, as God had intended. The law, with its guidelines as to what people could eat, what they could wear, who they could associate with, the 613 laws found between Exodus and Deuteronomy – was not needed in the same way anymore, because the Holy Spirit now dwelled in the hearts of the faithful, and guided and taught them how they should behave. Christians were free in Christ! Free from the law, free from all of the old rigid rules, free from the old customs – which, as it turns out, no one was able to follow perfectly, anyway.
But – and this is a big but - some folks were taking their new found freedom in Christ way too far. They heard that they were free, but then forgot about the being led by the Spirit part and went a little crazy. The used their freedom as an excuse for self-indulgence and some even went so far as to turn the sacrament of Holy Communion into a kind of drinking contest, turning a holy meal into an opportunity to get drunk. Others heard “love your neighbor” and took it a little too literally, if you get my drift, carousing and hooking up in risky ways. Others heard the word “freedom” and took it to mean that they were their own boss, and that no one was going to tell them what to do, so they got in fights over petty things and stayed mad at their new “enemies.” The list goes on and on – people heard that they were free and understood that to mean that they were free from the law, free from any ties or connections to other people, free from any rules whatsoever.
That might sound a little familiar to us here in this country. We are blessed to live in a country that is founded upon the ideals of freedom – we have freedom embedded into our national DNA through the Bill of Rights – freedom to say what we want to say, freedom to write what we want to write, freedom to gather when we want to gather, freedom to worship how we want to worship. But sometimes we hear the word “freedom” and we take it to mean that we can do anything we want all the time without any consequences. We hear “freedom” and feel like we don’t have to be connected to anything – not to our neighbor, maybe not even to God. We take our freedom – a hard earned and blessed thing – and we squander it in self-centeredness. We would rather watch tv than chat with a neighbor; we would rather sleep in than get up to help a person in need or attend church; some of us would rather take instead of give. We are free – but we take our freedom and throw it away by chaining ourselves to things that feel good or to our pride or to our vanity or to dangerous things like alcohol or drugs. We are free from the law of Moses, but then we submit again to a yoke of slavery to our own sinful selves – we bind ourselves up with the fruits of our own broken self-centeredness.
And Paul reminds us: “For freedom Christ has set us free!” In Christ we are freed from the law of Moses, yes, but also set free from our sinful selfish desires – we are free to love. This is what real freedom looks like, says Paul – not that you get to do anything you want – but that you are free to love your neighbor as yourself. Now at first glance, this may not seem to make much sense. We are used to freedom meaning freedom from something. But freedom is really about being connected to God, and connected in love to other people. Who is more truly free: the confirmed bachelor who stays out late in the bars looking for a love du jour, or the husband and father who discovers the depth of love and emotion and rewards of his family relationships? Who is more truly free: the person who is easily angered over any small thing, or the person who listens and responds with peace and calm? Who is more free, the person who is very careful about appearances and who she speaks to in WalMart, or the person who is not afraid to love anyone and everyone they meet? This is true freedom – not that you are blown around by your own desires, or that you assert your power over other people, or that you get to do whatever you want – true freedom is living a fully human life for God! You are free to be led by the Holy Spirit of Christ, free to reach out to a broken world with compassion and mercy, free to be connected to every kind of person, to eat and drink with them at a holy table. You are free to be you – exactly who God made you to be. You are free to live life in deep relationship with God – because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!
And when we live a life filled with the Presence of the Holy Spirit of God, when we grow and flower into our true human freedom with God, you wouldn’t believe the fruit that appears. Love, joy, peace; patience, kindness, generosity; faithfulness, gentleness, self-control – all blessings of the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus. I love the way The Message version of the Bible puts these verses: “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.” When we turn away from the self-centered desires and self-indulgent habits of our old broken life, and embrace the true freedom we have in loving God and loving our neighbor, see what wonderful fruit emerges. And because we have been set free by Christ, we are free to pursue these fruit, these kingdom fruit, these fruits of freedom.
On this day when we celebrate the freedom we have in this country, take a moment and reflect on your life, how you live out your freedom. Now none of us are perfect – we are all in a process of growth and learning – but do you see any signs of the fruits of freedom in your life? Maybe they aren’t fully ripe yet, but you see the beginnings of a little more love in your life because of God, maybe you can just see the start of real generosity because of Christ working on your heart, maybe you are recognizing just a little more self-control that you used to have because of the Spirit. Maybe you are realizing that your life is still filled with anger or restlessness or impatience or hate. It becomes time to ask yourself – am I bearing the fruit of freedom? Or the fruit of a broken, self-centered life? This day of freedom is a great opportunity to begin anew a practice of true, real, deep freedom. Love God. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Invite the Holy Spirit to lead you and to guide you. Ask the presence of Jesus Christ to sustain you and connect you to other believers in the sacrament of Holy Communion. Ask God to show you what real freedom looks like. And I guarantee you that he will – because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And look at what beautiful fruit true freedom brings. Amen.
