The Fruit of Freedom

It is our most prized possession. Our shining attribute. We treasure it. We enjoy it. We debate it. We fight over it. We have even given our life for it. Freedom. The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Independence.

Tomorrow our entire nation will be celebrating this. We will sing of what it means to be an American. We will cover everything in red, white, and blue. We will ring in the day with grilled meat and watermelon while watching fireworks. Tomorrow we have another birthday of our nation, a free country.

So what does freedom really mean to you? Does it mean that you get to choose? Does it mean that you have control? Does it declare your independence? Maybe it means you are in the summer time and you are “free” from schoolwork for a few more weeks. Does it mean that you have the same opportunity as everyone else...that you can read and learn and vote and drive and start a business and own property and get married? Perhaps you have served to protect it or have family who did. Perhaps you know others who are still fighting for it. Perhaps it is all you’ve known and hard to imagine a life without it. So what does freedom really mean? What is its purpose?

In our text today, Paul provides two designations to describe a person: slave or free. During this time in Galatia, chances are you were either one or the other. Paul had preached the news of freedom in Christ through faith, but there were some who were coming along and saying “hey, you want to follow Christ? Then you need to be circumcised. You need to eat the right foods. You need to observe the law.” Suddenly, freedom in Christ had gatekeepers. It had conditions.

When I was in college I remember attending mass with my roommate and her family. It happened to be Communion Sunday. Well, I didn’t realize I wasn’t welcome and so when it came time to go forward I stood up being the good Methodist that I was along with everyone else. Everyone’s eyes grew wide as I walked forward. I will never forget that feeling of being watched like I somehow had approached the throne of grace and skipped a step. Freedom, with conditions.

Recently in our nation we celebrated the anniversary of another freedom as well. On June 19th, we remember the emancipation of slaves in our country in 1865. This was the day that marked the freedom of slaves right? As we know, the sin of racism began to manifest itself in other ways with the invention of Jim Crow laws, “sundown towns,” lynchings, and multiple other off-the-record ways that upheld the idea that one is better, more qualified, more free- than another. Separate, but equal. Freedom, with conditions.

Similarly in our text today, the Gentiles of Galatia are basically being told that they have to become Jewish in order to follow Christ. They are free as long as they dress the right way, eat the right way, and have their flesh marked the same way as everyone else. This kind of conditional, conformist freedom is what Paul was speaking against here. Look at this letter compared to others. It isn’t quite as flowery and sweet. Paul is angry. He’s going on a rant. Others are causing those who have found freedom in Christ to stumble, to question it, to doubt the sufficiency of God’s grace.

I remember running into a member downtown once. She hadn’t been to church in a bit and without me even saying anything she said to me, “once I get some things in order I’ll be back.” Oh friends, church isn’t where you come once you get your life in order. Church, the body of believers, the fellowship of saints, the worship of the holy triune God, the expression of holy love, is what is meant to order our lives.

Our freedom in Christ has a purpose and direction. In Christ we are not only freed from but we are also freed for. Listen to Paul in 5:1 in which he says “For freedom Christ has set us free. Who has set us free? Christ. Why has he set us free? For freedom. The Message says “Christ has set us free to live a free life.”

Paul then says to stand firm in this freedom and to not return to the yoke of slavery. A yoke is that heavy wooden hook that hung upon the necks of animals and slaves in order to keep them in line. Paul is saying don’t go back to this. Don’t go back to all that has oppressed you, torn you down, worried you sick, and told you that you were worth nothing. Don’t go back to freedom, with conditions. You don’t have to become everyone else in order to become like Christ. For in Christ all these lines and boxes we draw to separate ourselves aren’t relevant. What is relevant? Faith working itself out in love as it says at the end of 5:6. Not in stereotypes. Not in agendas. Not in boasting of our differences or positions held. Not in our own merit. Not in power or having the right connection. But in love. Faith is only meant to work itself out in love. When we as a church try to work our faith out in any other way, we break apart. And this is not our calling.

5:13 says we are “called to freedom.” And this freedom that we are called to isn’t a license to just do whatever. We must be careful not to abuse our freedom but to see it instead as an opportunity to love one another. Our freedom in Christ should never block or imprison or oppress others but rather lift up and encourage and lead others to Christ. Our freedom should be contagious. Shane Claiborne in describing the early church said that “one by one, these disciples would infect the nations with grace. It wasn’t a call to take the sword or the throne and force the world to bow. Rather, they were to live the contagious love of God, to woo the nations into a new future.” Oh that we would woo the nations with our love, that we would tell the story of our freedom. Oh that we would tell of what we have been freed for.

A community that is called and freed for forgiveness, freed for justice, freed for deep compassion, freed for acts of mercy, freed for giving a voice to the voiceless, freed for feeding the hungry and clothing the naked and tending to the sick, freed for peace, freed for healing, freed for redemptive work, freed for coming together as one.

This is a freedom that gets choked up when we give in to the work of the flesh, or as I call them the weeds of the flesh. Notice what they do. Idolatry. Jealousy. Quarrels. Factions. Dissensions. The very stuff we are in the midst of. The works of the flesh will always work to separate. To distance. To isolate. To compete. The work of the flesh breaks apart. Life in the Spirit builds up and binds together.

In a few moments you will be invited to come to the table. One of the reasons I love being a United Methodist is because we celebrate an open table meaning that all are invited to come and receive of God’s grace. I don’t set the table, but you see, there have been times in my life I have tried to guard it. I tried to act like it was mine to govern. I’ve tried to say who is in or who is out. I’ve made snap judgments. I’ve made my share of assumptions. I haven’t invited everyone on the fringe. When our opinion and our need to be right becomes more important than the opportunity to love, grace gets left off the menu. The late Rachel Held Evans said “the gospel doesn’t need a coalition devoted to keeping the wrong people out. It needs a family of sinners, saved by grace, committed to tearing down the walls, throwing open the doors, and shouting “Welcome!” There’s bread and wine. Come eat with us and talk.” This isn’t a kingdom for the worthy; it’s a kingdom for the hungry.”

When we come and we share in this meal together, may we taste freedom. Here at this table, we don’t declare our independence, but our dependence upon the overwhelming grace of God. Here in that space, the fruit of freedom begins to bubble up in our lives. So what does freedom really mean? It means the yoke of heartache and loneliness being set free for love. It means the spirit of anxiety and worry being free for the peace of God. It means men and women who are bound in addiction being free to live meaningful sober lives and work and restored relationships. It means bitterness being set free for kindness. It means grudges and scarcity transforming into a life of generosity. It means justice for the wrongly accused and beaten down. It means shallow discipleship moving into the waters of deep faithfulness. It means gossip and mean-spiritedness being traded in for gentle words. It means the church of God unleashed to do the work of God.

Today and every day, may we come hungry to the table of our Lord. May we declare our dependence upon Him. May we find freedom here.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.