"The Purpose of Freedom"
A sermon preached on The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, July 1, 2007 at our Patriotic Worship Celebration at Edgemont Chrsitian Church (Disciples of Christ) , by the Rev. Christopher E. Yopp. The sermon is based on Galatians 5:1, 13-16.
In just a few day we will be celebrating the Fourth of July, and this year our country will be turning 231 years old. That’s a long time for a nation to remain free, but when we consider our history in regards to the history of the world - America is still very young, especially in comparison to countries such as China and Japan, Rome and Greece, Egypt and the counties of the Middle East.
In fact, I came across an illustration this past week which puts our brief history into perspective. When Thomas Jefferson died, Abraham Lincoln was a young man of 17 years old. When Lincoln was assassinated, Woodrow Wilson was already 8 years old. And by the time Wilson died Ronald Reagan was 12 years old. With the lives of these four men you can go all the way back to the beginning of our country - 231 years ago. Indeed, we are young; and yet, we stand tall among the nations of the world because of the principles on which we were established. And, certainly, these principles - our freedom is something we need to celebrate!
We cannot argue that with freedom comes great responsibility. You see, freedom doesn’t mean "we are free to do what we want when we want." We are not free to live excessive lives, nor are we set at liberty to pursue selfish ends. As Paul so well puts it in our Scripture Lesson this morning: "You, my sisters and brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature." And so, as we prepare to celebrate our national freedom and independence, let us celebrate what freedom truly means and focus on what freedom demands from us.
What is freedom? You know, we often take freedom for granted. But each year around this time we find ourselves focusing a great deal on freedom, and what it means to us as Americans. Now, we all know how our nation defines freedom. In fact, all we have to do is look at several historical documents which define and affirm our national freedom. For an example, the Declaration of Independence affirms:
In fact, I came across an illustration this past week which puts our brief history into perspective. When Thomas Jefferson died, Abraham Lincoln was a young man of 17 years old. When Lincoln was assassinated, Woodrow Wilson was already 8 years old. And by the time Wilson died Ronald Reagan was 12 years old. With the lives of these four men you can go all the way back to the beginning of our country - 231 years ago. Indeed, we are young; and yet, we stand tall among the nations of the world because of the principles on which we were established. And, certainly, these principles - our freedom is something we need to celebrate!
We cannot argue that with freedom comes great responsibility. You see, freedom doesn’t mean "we are free to do what we want when we want." We are not free to live excessive lives, nor are we set at liberty to pursue selfish ends. As Paul so well puts it in our Scripture Lesson this morning: "You, my sisters and brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature." And so, as we prepare to celebrate our national freedom and independence, let us celebrate what freedom truly means and focus on what freedom demands from us.
What is freedom? You know, we often take freedom for granted. But each year around this time we find ourselves focusing a great deal on freedom, and what it means to us as Americans. Now, we all know how our nation defines freedom. In fact, all we have to do is look at several historical documents which define and affirm our national freedom. For an example, the Declaration of Independence affirms:
"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."
The Constitution of the United States of America, defines freedom in this way:
"We, the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves..."
And, of course, we can’t forget about the words to the Pledge of Allegiance, which reads:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
These are all calls to freedom. These words represent the ideals that we believe in and want our nation and government to be built upon. But in our Scripture Lesson this morning, we see that the Apostle Paul gives us a greater call to freedom.
Keep in mind, Paul was addressing Christians who wanted to enslave the new Gentile Christians to Jewish laws. In fact, many Jews claimed that in order for a Gentile to become a Christian, they must first, convert to Judaism and then convert to Christianity. But here, Paul declares independence from the law - from the Old Covenant! Now, Paul is not saying that Christians are no longer called to keep God’s law; rather, he is saying that we have been set free from the tyranny of trying to make ourselves righteous through the law. Paul is not saying that we are not to keep the law - the law is vital, the law is essential, the law is God’s standard for peace and happiness. But the law will not make us righteous - nor will the law save us! For Paul very plainly reminds us; "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
Now, obviously, the problem Paul faced is that some deliberately misinterpreted his words - they misinterpreted his idea of freedom from the law as being a license to sin. In fact, Paul addressed this problem in several of his epistles and he makes it very clear here in our Scripture Lesson that it is not a freedom to sin but freedom from sin. Through Christ we are made righteous and are free to act righteously. So we should not use our freedom as an opportunity to act unrighteously - that’s not freedom.
One commentator has written; "Christians can be tempted to view freedom in Christ as a selfish opportunity for the flesh," in other words, sometimes we are tempted to view this freedom that we have in Christ as an opportunity to do whatever we want. But that’s not freedom! If we view freedom in Christ in that way then we are only becoming slaves to ourselves - slaves to the flesh, as Paul reminds us. And so Paul reminds us that, true Christian freedom is the freedom to serve God wholeheartedly and faithfully and to serve one another in love and grace.
Look at verse 1 again, Paul writes; "Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of slavery." I find it interesting that our freedom as Christians, according to Paul, makes us slaves to Christ. And he sums up freedom by using such terms as "servant," and "slave." Now typically, when we think about freedom, nowhere does the word servant or slave come to play. They are the last words on our minds when we think about freedom. Here, Paul is saying that the Christian has abandoned their old allegiance to serve self and now pledges their allegiance to serve Christ and his kingdom. As Christians we can declare our independence from sin and now declare our dependence upon Christ. We have cast off the chains of selfishness and are now free to serve Christ and others as Christ served us.
Throughout America’s history most of our conflicts have been about freedom. The wars we have fought have always been, at least in the popular mind, about setting people free. And it is no different when it comes to our spiritual freedom, God through Christ fought the greatest battle - the battle we have over sin, by nailing it on the cross and the battle we have over death, by destroying it through rising from the dead. While all the "just" wars in history have ultimately sought to bring freedom and to liberate humanity, the greatest liberation of all is the war fought on Calvary some 2,000 years ago. But the question remains, what are we going to do with this freedom? The only way to use this freedom, Paul tells us, is by self-investing in the lives of others for Christ’s sake, and by ongoingly dying to those things to which Christ died for, and by allowing the Spirit to continually produce fruit in us, and thus share that fruit with others and with God’s kingdom.
I find it ironic that for many years the license plates of New Hampshire bore the slogan, made famous by the Revolutionary War general, John Stark; "live free or die." Now the irony is, those great words were printed onto the license plates by inmates in the New Hampshire state prison. They could not leave their prison - they were in now way free. But many of us stay in our prisons of doubts and fears, sin and idleness - many of us imprison ourselves and we have the power to leave. We want to live free, but we do not want to do what the gospel says we need to do in order to truly be free.
In verse 13 Paul tells us what not to do with freedom, he says; "Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh." Freedom requires discipline. This word "opportunity," which Paul uses here in verse 13 is the Greek word aphormi, which can also be translated as "opening." It literally means "a place for jumping off." Paul must have loved this word because he used it all through his epistles. Originally, the word, aphormi, was used to designate the point from which one would launch an attach. It was often used in military language to mean a base of operation. Paul knew that if freedom was interpreted merely as the removal of restraint, then sin would seize the opportunity and use the weakness of human nature to launch an attach against the spirit. That’s why earlier, Paul said; "STAND FIRM!" In other places Paul would say, "Arm yourself, protect yourself, with the full armor of God!" We must stand firm, we must arm ourselves, we must protect ourselves from the attacks of the Enemy, and instead perform a counterattack. You see, Paul knew that we are in a spiritual warfare and that we must always be on the guard and ready to protect ourselves!
In the hymn, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee, written by Samuel Smith in 1832, we find that the first stanza ends with the words: "From every mountainside, Let Freedom Ring!" "Let freedom ring." Thank God, freedom rings in this country! But, more importantly, thank God that freedom rings in spiritual lives. We can affirm; "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God, I’m free at last!" - that’s our affirmation. Now, the only question remains, what are we going to do with our freedom?
Keep in mind, Paul was addressing Christians who wanted to enslave the new Gentile Christians to Jewish laws. In fact, many Jews claimed that in order for a Gentile to become a Christian, they must first, convert to Judaism and then convert to Christianity. But here, Paul declares independence from the law - from the Old Covenant! Now, Paul is not saying that Christians are no longer called to keep God’s law; rather, he is saying that we have been set free from the tyranny of trying to make ourselves righteous through the law. Paul is not saying that we are not to keep the law - the law is vital, the law is essential, the law is God’s standard for peace and happiness. But the law will not make us righteous - nor will the law save us! For Paul very plainly reminds us; "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
Now, obviously, the problem Paul faced is that some deliberately misinterpreted his words - they misinterpreted his idea of freedom from the law as being a license to sin. In fact, Paul addressed this problem in several of his epistles and he makes it very clear here in our Scripture Lesson that it is not a freedom to sin but freedom from sin. Through Christ we are made righteous and are free to act righteously. So we should not use our freedom as an opportunity to act unrighteously - that’s not freedom.
One commentator has written; "Christians can be tempted to view freedom in Christ as a selfish opportunity for the flesh," in other words, sometimes we are tempted to view this freedom that we have in Christ as an opportunity to do whatever we want. But that’s not freedom! If we view freedom in Christ in that way then we are only becoming slaves to ourselves - slaves to the flesh, as Paul reminds us. And so Paul reminds us that, true Christian freedom is the freedom to serve God wholeheartedly and faithfully and to serve one another in love and grace.
Look at verse 1 again, Paul writes; "Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of slavery." I find it interesting that our freedom as Christians, according to Paul, makes us slaves to Christ. And he sums up freedom by using such terms as "servant," and "slave." Now typically, when we think about freedom, nowhere does the word servant or slave come to play. They are the last words on our minds when we think about freedom. Here, Paul is saying that the Christian has abandoned their old allegiance to serve self and now pledges their allegiance to serve Christ and his kingdom. As Christians we can declare our independence from sin and now declare our dependence upon Christ. We have cast off the chains of selfishness and are now free to serve Christ and others as Christ served us.
Throughout America’s history most of our conflicts have been about freedom. The wars we have fought have always been, at least in the popular mind, about setting people free. And it is no different when it comes to our spiritual freedom, God through Christ fought the greatest battle - the battle we have over sin, by nailing it on the cross and the battle we have over death, by destroying it through rising from the dead. While all the "just" wars in history have ultimately sought to bring freedom and to liberate humanity, the greatest liberation of all is the war fought on Calvary some 2,000 years ago. But the question remains, what are we going to do with this freedom? The only way to use this freedom, Paul tells us, is by self-investing in the lives of others for Christ’s sake, and by ongoingly dying to those things to which Christ died for, and by allowing the Spirit to continually produce fruit in us, and thus share that fruit with others and with God’s kingdom.
I find it ironic that for many years the license plates of New Hampshire bore the slogan, made famous by the Revolutionary War general, John Stark; "live free or die." Now the irony is, those great words were printed onto the license plates by inmates in the New Hampshire state prison. They could not leave their prison - they were in now way free. But many of us stay in our prisons of doubts and fears, sin and idleness - many of us imprison ourselves and we have the power to leave. We want to live free, but we do not want to do what the gospel says we need to do in order to truly be free.
In verse 13 Paul tells us what not to do with freedom, he says; "Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh." Freedom requires discipline. This word "opportunity," which Paul uses here in verse 13 is the Greek word aphormi, which can also be translated as "opening." It literally means "a place for jumping off." Paul must have loved this word because he used it all through his epistles. Originally, the word, aphormi, was used to designate the point from which one would launch an attach. It was often used in military language to mean a base of operation. Paul knew that if freedom was interpreted merely as the removal of restraint, then sin would seize the opportunity and use the weakness of human nature to launch an attach against the spirit. That’s why earlier, Paul said; "STAND FIRM!" In other places Paul would say, "Arm yourself, protect yourself, with the full armor of God!" We must stand firm, we must arm ourselves, we must protect ourselves from the attacks of the Enemy, and instead perform a counterattack. You see, Paul knew that we are in a spiritual warfare and that we must always be on the guard and ready to protect ourselves!
In the hymn, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee, written by Samuel Smith in 1832, we find that the first stanza ends with the words: "From every mountainside, Let Freedom Ring!" "Let freedom ring." Thank God, freedom rings in this country! But, more importantly, thank God that freedom rings in spiritual lives. We can affirm; "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God, I’m free at last!" - that’s our affirmation. Now, the only question remains, what are we going to do with our freedom?
posted by Pastor Christopher @ 10:43 AM
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