What is freedom?

A Sermon based on Luke 9, verses 51 — end and Galatians 5, verses 1, 13–25

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” Galatians 5, verse 1

What is freedom?

It is one of those concepts that mean different things to different people.
As I started writing this sermon, Charlotte was in theatre, having her knees drained of fluid and steroid injections put in. To her, freedom means freedom from pain and the freedom to move about and do everything as easily as her peers do. But that freedom comes at the price — general anaesthetic and a morning in hospital are not most 8 year old’s idea of fun…

To other people, freedom will mean something else. Freedom will mean one thing to a teenage looking to push boundaries and a totally different thing to their parents! It will mean one thing to a lonely, house-bound pensioner, and something different to a new mum, unsure of how she copes with a crying newborn. Freedom will mean something different again to economic migrants looking for a better life or to the refugee fleeing war, fear and persecution.

And freedom also meant something different to both sides of the EU debate. One side wanting ‘freedom’ from Europe, freedom from its rules and its constraints. The other side wanting the freedom that being in Europe allows us, including the free movement of people.

So when Paul says;
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5, verse 1)
It is important to know what sort of freedom he is talking about. Is Paul telling the Galatians that they are free to do just anything they like? And why would he be suggesting that they were planning to become slaves again, now that they were free.

Paul’s letter to the Galatians is written to a group of churches in what was probably South Turkey; churches in cities such as Lystra, Antioch and Iconim, which Paul has already visited and where he is likely to have planted churches. The Churches started off okay, but they had quickly got distracted and listened to others, with widely differing teachings from Paul.

These ‘other leaders’ have implied that the Gentiles are somehow ‘lesser’ Christians than the Jewish ones. And so the Galatians have begun to place themselves under Jewish law and started keeping traditional Jewish Holy days. It is in this passionate letter, that Paul address the question of whether these new gentile Christians should live under Jewish law and traditions. And in particular, whether they need to be circumcised. [and for good measure, he also addresses questions about his authority as a teacher and apostle].

Paul says that, by trying to follow Jewish law, the Galatians have basically been undoing everything that God has done for them; that the point of Christ’s death and resurrection was to free them from the law. For over a thousand years, fellowship with God has been through following the law. But that is not the way anymore; and by wanting to be circumcised the Gentile Christians of Galatia are looking back, not forward.

The dangers of looking back are also warned of in our reading from Luke; where Jesus says that;
“No-one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9, verse 62)
Now, I haven’t done any plough recently, but I have watched the girls in their school swimming gala. And watching all the children racing, it was very clear that the children who kept looking back were the ones whose path through the water was the wriggliest. I’m presuming the same goes for plough — too much looking back, stops us going forward clearly…

For Paul, a strict adherence to the law was looking back — to him, the two things that count are faith and love. And so, when Paul talks of freedom, he is calling on the Galatians to be free of restrictions of Jewish law and in particular, to be free of the need for circumcision.

But of course, freedom doesn’t actually give us a license to do just anything. And it is this that Paul begins to address in our reading today. Paul is making his point very clear — freedom is not that the Galatians can do what they like, but that they don’t need Jewish Law as a badge to show they belong to God’s family.

The Galatians could cast off the restrictions of Jewish law. But that gave them a new responsibility. Because now they could not just rely on the law to tell them how to live well. Instead they had to find out how to live well as a Christian by living by the Spirit — by letting Christ show them the right path for each of them as individuals. Paul gives some good pointers for what a life lived by the spirit does and does not look like; listing acts of the flesh and fruits of the spirit. However, I suspect that living by the spirit is something that doesn’t look the same for everyone. In a world where there is freedom from a strict adherence to the law means, I imagine that we might each have our own path to lead and that a ‘good’ Christian can have many different faces. It makes me wonder if sometimes we find it easiest to see ‘good’ Christians, as those who are following a similar path to our own…

Because then, just as now, there were clear struggles and disagreements amongst the early churches, about what good Christian practise was — Paul warns them that if they keep biting and devouring each other, they will be destroyed by each other. I wonder if he would write similar words if he was writing to the church of England today.

What is clear from Paul’s letter is that serving your neighbour in love is central to Christian life. In fact, there is one ‘law’ that Paul makes it very clear that the Galatians are not ‘free’ from — that of loving your neighbour as yourself.

It is a sentiment echoed by Nelson Mandela, who once said;
“For 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”
Christian freedom is neither legalistically following the law, nor a licence to live by the flesh and do whatever you like. It is a path of faith, following Christ and living with a responsibility to not just preserve, but to enhance the freedoms of others.

And so we come to Friday morning and the result of the EU referendum. At times during the campaigning, it has often felt that each side’s desire for truth, that their zeal to be right, has led to acts of the flesh such as anger, malice, discord and selfish ambition. And the result will not have lessened those feelings.

And ever since then, social media has been awash with the sadness and anger of those who had voted to remain in the EU. But it is clear that there is also sadness and anger on the side of those who wanted to leave the EU — sadness and anger that they felt powerless, ignored, disenfranchised and dismissed by the political system. And one vote isn’t going to change that underlying feeling.

And so the vital thing now, is that both sides stop ‘biting and devouring each other’, or we will indeed be destroyed by it. In a period where our nation will now be looking at how we become ‘free’ of Europe, our country’s responsibility to love our neighbours as ourselves becomes even greater!
On the day of the results, a university friend (who was born in the country and lived here his whole life) was called ‘you immigrant doctor’. In schools and parent & toddler groups, friends have been reassuring children from other EU nations that they are still welcome here. Other friends of mine have questioned whether there is a place for them here anymore.

In a new world, where our ‘out’ vote means our welcome of people is less obvious than it was before, we must open our arms even wider to be generous and hospitable. In their joint statement, issued on Friday, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York wrote;

“The vote to withdraw from the European Union means that now we must all reimagine both what it means to be the United Kingdom in an interdependent world and what values and virtues should shape and guide our relationships with others.

As citizens of the United Kingdom, whatever our views during the referendum campaign, we must now unite in a common task to build a generous and forward looking country, contributing to human flourishing around the world. We must remain hospitable and compassionate, builders of bridges and not barriers. Many of those living among us and alongside us as neighbours, friends and work colleagues come from overseas and some will feel a deep sense of insecurity. We must respond by offering reassurance, by cherishing our wonderfully diverse society, and by affirming the unique contribution of each and every one.”

Following the Archbishops words and recommitting ourselves to all they suggest will not be easy. I have friends working in other countries, who speak of their confusion and embarrassment. Somehow, they have to go on representing a Britain they are not sure they know anymore. And for the 48% of the country who voted to remain, there is a similar feeling and a deep need to grieve at the result. But the fact is; we all, need to grieve, we need to grieve at the deep divide that it feels has opened up across the country and might continue to spread in the weeks and months to follow.

We need to grieve, but not for too long. Because the responsibility of every one of us to love our neighbour as ourselves is stronger and more important than a need to be angry, to point the finger and to grieve. And the need to look forward and build bridges is more important than the need to look back at what has gone before.

Jesus reminds us;
 “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (Luke 9, verse 60)
This week, have time to grieve if you need it, have time to rejoice if you want to, but then recommit yourself to loving your neighbour and proclaiming the kingdom of God.

NB
At Waterbeach we sung Jesus Good Above All Other, the words of which I also picked up on when I preached there;
“Lord, in all our doings guide us;
pride and hate shall never divide us;
we’ll go on with thee beside us,
and with joy we’ll persevere!”