Independence Day

This weekend many people will be celebrating Independence Day in a variety of ways. Some people travel to see loved ones, and others just stay home with the family. There is a lot of BBQ going on all across the country. There are fireworks, parades and all kinds of celebrations which have become tradition in the US.

We celebrate this holiday because of what happened in 1776.

We celebrate the actions of people we only know about because of books. We celebrate the actions of people that lived without electricity, without regular mail service, without Super Wal-Mart. What a stark existence to be willing to fight for.

We celebrate that these people had the gumption, or gall or courage to break the existing hold of Europe on this wilderness colonies.

What did they want to become independent from? If you read through the document you find oppression, abuse, removal of rights, false justice and punishment. You find a precisely stated set of charges against the king and their justification for independence.

Their declaration was to break free of the strangling hold of a tyrant.

Interestingly we celebrate the day of declaration not the day it was actually achieved. I guess if they had lost their struggle we would not be celebrating at all on Monday. We celebrate the ideal of the prize that was worth so much time energy and lives.

So what is the Christian comparison?

Our Key text this morning is from the book of Galations

Galatians 5:13–18 ESV

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Freedom For the Children of God

The scripture we heard this morning is talking about freedom. This passage is about Mosaic law. The law is described else ware as being something that helped to identify sin, and how to live a life honorable to God. However, too many people, religious leaders, used the Law as a tool of control. They used it for power and position and separation.

Paul declares freedom from the law. He tells the churches in Galatia that they are called by God through Jesus to be free.

The people of Paul’s day suffered persecution and hardship which increases as they became Christians. The community made it tough to live a new faith. It had to be hard to celebrate the freedom that Paul encourages.

They had already broken from their old traditions. They were trying to figure out the ins and outs of this new faith.

They had lots of questions and pressures to give into and it appears in scripture that one of the most logical was becoming a Jew to become a Christian. The pressure was to live under the law as a first concern. Paul insist that it is not true.

Pal thought that the Law was being retired as the means to cover sin, they still had the problem of Sin to deal with as we still do today.

Hind sight is so good. Today we can look at United States history and find the investment made by people so long ago was worth it. It is great to be free. It is fantastic that I can pretty much do what I want and say what I want.

The first sentence in the Declaration of Independence is a whopper.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

The second sentence of the Declaration of Independence says continues

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

229 years later we still enjoy the freedom that the Declaration of Independence created for us: life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

This is my kind of place. I am so happy that God placed me here. I mean the US, Georgia and especially as your pastor. There are a lot of less comfortable places in this world where there is little or no freedom. Places where life liberty and pursuit of happiness are a pipe dream. For some on this planet the biggest goal is to have life and there is little hope for much else.

However, there are still a few problems even here, I am not complaining mind you. But, we have a lot rules in this country. Traffic laws, home mortgages, traffic lights, speed limits, Income taxes, building codes, lines at the grocery store even the need for money. I could go on and on.

It seems to me that with freedom comes a lot of other things which steel away our freedom.

The freedom we receive is cooperative. It is a union of people to protect God given rights at a cost that is shared by the group. The freedom we enjoy was not obtainable by one or two. In the revolutionary war they fought to make something new.

The freedom we receive has limits that keep us from expressing our freedom at the expense of another.

But let’s look at this from a Christian perspective. We live in the greatest country in the world, the richest, the finest, and the seemingly blessed.

What is our Freedom to be used for?

Galatians 5:13–18 ESV

In our scripture today, Paul tells the churches in Galatia that they were meant to be free. Free from slavery to sin – free from the obligation to keep the law which is impossible to keep. However, even Paul explains that with freedom there are still rules and limits.

He states rule 1 like this:

Galatians 5:13 ESV

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

“But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.”

We can not use our freedom to become immoral people!

We can not use our freedom to abuse or use other people!

We can not use our freedom to avoid obligations within the church.

We can’t use our freedom to sit around and do nothing!

Our Freedom is not a license to sin in any way.

He also adds, We are to serve one another (within the Church) in Love.

Sounds like a limited version of freedom, sort of restrictive. But, it is not too expensive. After all, the people at church are family by birth or holy adoption.

We all do things we don’t necessarily like for family, at least occasionally.

Now we get to the second rule,

Galatians 5:14 ESV

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

“The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself.”

There is that Love your neighbor thing.

Leviticus 19:18 ESV

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Matthew 22:34–40 ESV

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Romans 13:8–10 ESV

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

It starts in Leviticus, then Jesus is quoted in Matthew, Mark and Luke, then Paul and James both remind us.

Sort of a pain isn’t it. To be reminded about loving your neighbor.

Perhaps, we need to take the reminders as extra significance or importance.

Here Paul reminds us that this one rule replaces the entire law.

-This one rule if followed will set your life on an even footing in the right direction. -This one rule will set you free of al the little nuances and petty restrictions of the Law.

Loving your neighbor as self, What does that really mean?

How do we demonstrate our love for ourselves?

When we are hungry, thirsty or sick we do something about it. When I decide to go someplace I use my car, something I bought to meet my needs. I guess there are a lot of things I do for myself, some are needs some are comforts or fun. But I am worth all of it, right?

According to Paul, our neighbors are worth something as well. With freedom come obligations to our family, community, neighbors and even individuals along our path. Folks that don’t value you or me at all, should still be important to us because of our freedom.

Paul is writing to people that are in the middle of a battle over salvation. They do not have the advantage of hind sight. They are fighting their way toward the path of righteousness and are uncertain of the proper steps. Some of their issues are raised within the church itself. There must be spirited conversations and accusations between fellow believers, as they struggle with the freedom that Paul reminds them of.

The main struggle is to try to live under the oppression of the law in hopes that it would get better or to choose the freedom that God offered.

Our fore fathers in this nation recognized their lives were on the edge of slavery to the king. No rights or self-government and more and more loss of control over lives led them to declare their freedom against the all powerful King of England.

They did not declare ware on the king. They just severed their servitude to a life as servants to an unjust king. They changed their direction choosing the harder path of independence. A path of struggle and pain that would end in freedom like few in he colonies had ever known.

Paul tells his readers that for Christians that path is directed by the spirit. The battle he describes is between the sinful nature of every person and the guidance offered by the Holy Spirit. He explains that the struggle is in individual battle within each person. The choice is being bound and controlled by a sinful nature or following the spirit toward ultimate freedom.

The struggle for independence is still going on today. In our nation the battle over religious freedom is growing and I would suggest that if we don’t join the battle, we will continue to see our rights and freedoms trimmed and removed. Our nation’s founders obviously were much more open to the leading of God that many of our politicians and judges today.

The battle over our spiritual freedom continues as well. We all struggle over right and wrong everyday. We decide over loving ourselves and loving our neighbor and we probably don’t win as many battles as we could.

God offers us the help we need, it is not always as easy to find as we want. It takes real effort and control to listen to the spirit. It tales even more to follow it’s direction.

All Glory be to God!

Communion

This weekend we are celebrating the declaration of Independence. And today we are celebrating our declaration of dependence. As we approach the Lord’s table we need to recognize that we are completely dependant o him and his promises, his protection, his righteousness and HIS love.

We come to the table celebrating our dependence on the actions of Jesus Christ claiming freedom for the creation of God.

1 Corinthians 11:23–25 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

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