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Location: Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost 7/4/10 Text: Galatians 5:1; 13-25

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
7/04/10
Text: Galatians 5:1; 13-25
Title: Freedom!
Since today is the Fourth of July, the day we, as Americans, celebrate our Independence from England in 1776, I want to speak to you about freedom, its meaning and responsibility. Freedom is defined by Merriam Webster’s Dictionary 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.” But freedom is never free and with freedom comes responsibilities: things like voting, paying taxes, contributing to charities, serving on juries, and such. Freedom, even in the best sense, is not completely free, for if it were, there would be anarchy with everyone doing their own thing without regard to other citizens of the country.
As Christians, we don’t just live in the United States. We live in the Kingdom of God where we also have freedom which brings along responsibilities. In God’s Holy Word, particularly in the New Testament, God speaks of the freedom we have living in his Kingdom. Because of time restraints, I am going to only look at one set of passages that speak of our freedom as it is given to us in Christ. It is Galatians 5:1; 13-25, which happens to be last week’s Epistle reading.
Paul is writing to the Christians at Galatia. These Christians, at least most of them, were Jews who had become Christians and in doing so they had turned their lives over to the Lord, accepting Jesus as their Savior, the promised Messiah. They had been faithfully taught by Paul the freedom that comes with being saved. Unfortunately, they were being influenced by some in their Christian community who believed that to be truly saved you had to do more than accept Jesus as your Savior. You had to follow certain rites and ways of worship, and live your life in a certain way.
Saint Paul was perplexed by what the Galatian Christians were doing because he personally had taught them about the freedom received through the Gospel. Paul, as a well educated former Jew, knew better than anyone the danger of their thinking that they had to follow the Old Testament ceremonial laws, for to say that one must follow even one of those laws destroys the Gospel message of Christ.
Paul writes, “Now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you once were?” In other words, “How can you who have been saved from the condemnation of the Law turn around and willingly go back under those laws that condemned you then and condemn you now?”
We agree with Paul. How can someone who knows of God’s free forgiveness go back to the Law? It makes no sense. But we don’t have to look very far to see that we do the same thing. Too many well-meaning Christians say, “For a person to be a true Christian, they must do this or that.” For some, it is the dunking in Baptism. For others, it is worshiping in a certain way or using a certain Bible. For others, it is that you must attend Church or give a certain amount of money toward the work of the church. There are many more that I could list, but you get the idea.
You see, most of us, in fact I would say all of us, have our opinions on what we consider the right way to worship God and live Christian lives. We are no different than the people of Galatia. That is why we, too, have to listen to the words of Paul, “For freedom Christ has set you free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” We just naturally want, as weird as it might sound, to be enslaved by the law. It is just who we are.
This is a good time for me to make sure you have a correct understanding of the law I am speaking of, for the Bible refers to the law in many ways. I am not speaking of being free of the law we know of as the Ten Commandments. We are still under that law which is summed up in “Love God above all things and your neighbor as yourself.” The law that we are free of, but so many people want to rush to be enslaved to, is what is usually called the ceremonial law. That law encompasses anything that says we must do this or that or we are not truly Christians. To say that one has to do anything to be saved or to make God happy is to add our work to the work of Christ, and in doing so, nullifies the gift of salvation. To live in that manner would be, as Martin Luther once said, “Crucifying Christ over and over again.”
Now there are some that say that since Christ fulfilled perfectly the Ten Commandments on our behalf, we are now free of even those laws. But to say that, is to say that we are free to sin. Anything goes: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, division, envy, drunkenness, drug abuse, orgies, and such.
God clearly tell us that we are not free to do those things just because we have freedom, for they are harmful to us, to our body and soul. To think that you can live your life that way, doing any of those things without repenting of them, is just not Christian, for as Christians we are to do all things out of love, love for God and all others.
As those who are redeemed, who are living in freedom from slavery to sin, we are to serve each other. The actual Greek word translated as “serve” actually means to “slave for each other”. It is a strong word to which I would dare say most Christians would say if they were asked to live their lives that way, “No way. I am a slave to no one. I am a free person beholding to no one. I am free.”

And in a sense that is correct, for we are indeed not, or we should not be slaves to sin or anyone else, for in our freedom we are slaves of Christ. In his redeeming act, he has purchased us. He owns us. We are to follow his will, his direction. We have no choice in the matter, if we are truly his. And in doing his will, we do God’s love, and that, my dear brothers and sisters, is Christian freedom, for when we love as Christ loves, it is only then that we are truly free, free to give of ourselves and our stuff as Christ wants us to do.

Do not be a slave to the law, any law that says you must do this or that to find favor with God, whether it is Old Testament ceremonial law or a more modern law, for any law or rule takes away the wonderful grace of God toward you. Remember, the law condemns, even as we use it to guide us in our daily living. It cannot save, for we are incapable of keeping any of them. Just try, if you haven’t, and it won’t be long before you are having to make exceptions to the law to ease the burden of your conscience or you are in despair. Put your trust in anything other than the cross of Christ and you will become a slave to the law.

It used to be the practice in the church that during Lent you were to give up something that you really enjoyed. It was supposed to help you focus on Christ and his suffering and death. It was to be an enactment of Christ’s words that we are to deny ourselves and follow him, as if giving up chocolates, or beer, or snacks, or even a meal once a week was what he was talking about. Anyway, the church I belonged to practiced this self-denial during Lent. One year I gave up hot dogs. Now I love hot dogs. I can eat three at a sitting several times a week and look for more. I just love hot dogs with all the fixings. Anyway, I gave up hot dogs that Lent. In fact, I think I am getting a craving for hot dogs even as I am speaking.

I had the most miserable Lent that year, for I craved hot dogs more than I ever did in my life and in that craving for hot dogs, I lost the whole purpose of the season of Lent; that is, preparing for the remembrance of his death. That is the way it is when you say that you must do this or that to be true Christian or at least a good Christian. It takes away from the joy of living in Christ’s freedom. It takes the focus off of Christ and his saving work.

That particular Lent I became painfully aware of how the law takes away from the freedom we have in Christ. And so, how are we to live our lives in this freedom? Paul tells us in Galatians 25:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit, (and you are led by the Spirit when you know the freedom you have received through Christ) is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

You see, there is no law against those things nor is there even a law saying to do those things, for they cannot be commanded. They can only come from knowing that even though you deserve God’s wrath, you will not get it, now or on that day we leave this earthly life and stand before him. Jesus did it all. There is nothing left to do, so go live your life in freedom. Amen.