THE RESPONSIBILITY OF FREEDOM
Deuteronomy 10: 12-13, 17-21
Galatians 5: 13-26

           Tell me if this phrase sounds familiar, “it’s a free country”. I have heard, and uttered, that phrase on numerous occasions. Perhaps, as we celebrate the birth of our nation, it would be a good time to ask what exactly that phrase means. My guess is that it usually has one of two definitions. The first definition, when the phrase is used in a defiant way, is “you can’t tell me what to do!” The second definition, often when the phrase is said in a tone of resignation, is “even though what someone else does or says is aggravating, they have the freedom to do it or say” or “there is no way to hold them accountable”. Is this what freedom really means? Does freedom really mean that we can do whatever we want (obviously within certain limits) and, because of others’ freedom, one cannot hold another accountable. On both accounts, the answer is a resounding NO!

           As Christians, people of God, in the United States, we have the privilege, and responsibility, of looking at the concept of freedom from two different lenses, two different perspectives. We can look at freedom from the perspective of the American Revolution and the liberties we enjoy as Americans. In that perspective, freedom was, and is, the liberation from tyranny and the ability to rule ourselves, hold ourselves accountable, and determine for ourselves what is or is not in our best interests. Through the lens of God, we see freedom as the permission to live into God’s intentions for us and all of humanity. From both perspective, though, freedom is an enormous gift—a gift, though, that comes with enormous responsibility.

           The people of Israel were preparing to enter the Promised Land. They had been enslaved in Egypt 400 years and had spent 40 years wandering in the desert around Mt. Sinai. But now that they are getting ready to enter the land God had promised them, they need some encouragement from their leader. The book of Deuteronomy is essentially Moses’ sermon to Israel prior to their occupation of the land. It serves as a retelling of where Israel had been. Their covenant with God, and a guide for their future in the land. Now… I don’t have Deuteronomy memorized, but I’m pretty sure that nowhere to found is the idea of “do whatever you want”! Instead Israel was made responsible for ensuring the commandments of God were kept, that God alone was worshipped, and that every person served God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. In other words, the challenge was to remember God in the midst of their freedom!

           Just as that was God’s challenge to Israel, it is also God’s challenge to us. Let’s be clear, friends—we are blessed to live in this nation. Anybody who has been to another part of the world will tell you that even when things are rough here, we are still blessed beyond belief. We are blessed to live in a nation where, theoretically anyway, each one has the ability to choose for themselves their life and how they want to live that life. God’s challenge to Israel echoes down to us today—keep the commandments of God, worship God alone, and serve God with all that you are. Remember, in your freedom, who your God is—the God of not just you, but of the widow and the orphan, the stranger, and the voiceless. In all the freedom you enjoy, remember the Lord your God!

           The idea of freedom is most closely and commonly associated with the notion of political freedom—what Israel was enjoying and what we in the USA enjoy. There is another kind of freedom, though; a freedom that, I will contend, is far better and more important that any political freedom. The gospel tells us that through Jesus Christ, God offers us spiritual freedom, and that freedom is true freedom.

           In 1775, the American colonists began a war with a tyrant, who sought to oppress and limit liberties. Sin is a tyrant as well--a tyrant that seeks to run our life and leave us with no control, no freedom to determine for ourselves how we want our life to be. Just as the colonists defeated the tyrant from Great Britain, so too has Jesus defeated the tyrant of sin and allowed us to live free of its control. The story of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection remind us of that fact. The story reminds us that on the cross, Jesus battled with sin and in the Resurrection, sin has been defeated! In sin’s defeat, we granted our true freedom!

           That freedom, though, comes with a measure of responsibility. There are two components of this true freedom—without them, we cannot fully experience the freedom God offers. The first component, as we read from Galatians, is to love one another. This might sound like Christianity 101, and it is. God did not grant us freedom from sin so that we might use it on ourselves. Instead, we are given freedom so that we might love one another, fully and completely. God has given each of us the freedom to love those around us, even “those who persecute us, hate us, or pursue us”. To love is freeing! It allows us to accept those around us for who they are and to acknowledge that they are of worth to God, and therefore worthy of our acceptance and love. To be truly free, we must love one another, and not just those who love us back, but everyone.

           If the first responsibility of true freedom is Christianity 101, the second responsibility is Christianity 201. Once we get this love thing down, we are encouraged to “live by the Spirit”. In other words, allow the ways of the Holy Spirit, the ways of God, to be our guide. Some translations say about the Fruit of the Spirit “against such behavior there is no law”. Did you hear that? There is no law against being generous, faithful, kind, at peace, gentle and humble, etc. It is these behaviors that not only demonstrate to others that we belong to Christ, but that allow us to put everything in its proper perspective and live a life that is free from sin, free from conformity to the ways of the world, and free from anything that would separate us from God.

           Freedom is not the permission to do whatever we want. Instead, true freedom is the permission to decide for ourselves how we will live. God has given us that permission and God has given us our freedom. And so, celebrate this Independence Day. Celebrate that we live in a land where we are free. At the same time, let us remember God in the midst of our freedom and remember the true freedom God has given us in Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God! AMEN.

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