The Riddle of Freedom

Bill Barney

First United Methodist Church

July 6, 2008

“I have been chosen….to set the burdened and battered free…”

From Luke 4:18

For a second scripture reading today, hear these words from The Letter of Paul to the Galatians: reading here from the 5^th chapter…here we find Paul or his surrogate writer, we are not sure which, reeling against the need for circumcision as the way to faithfulness. In that day, of course, he is only speaking to the men – the women were only admitted to the faith through the faithfulness of a man in their life – a husband, a brother, a father.

And so he goes on, speaking of following the old Law:

“What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.
⁷ You were running superbly! …It is absolutely clear that you have been called to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows.
¹⁴ For everything we know about The Divine is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom.
¹⁵ If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?

¹⁶ My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by The Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness.
¹⁷ For there is a root of self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day.
¹⁸ Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?”

There are several references to “freedom” in this scripture, many of the 30 or so references in the various translations of the New Testament. For whatever reason, I thought that as we gather on this weekend when we celebrate the 232^nd anniversary of the colonies’ declaration of separation – the declaration of independence – from the English, it might be good to take a look at “freedom” from the perspective of our lives of faith.

I for one have heard endless references to freedom throughout this last week in connection to every which relationship. Personal, family, marital, partnerships of all kinds, church, religion, country and international events.

Occasionally, when I pull myself away from listening to Golden Oldies or Country Music on the radio, I give a listen to Public Radio. If you ever listen to Car Talk on National Public Radio, then you know each week they present a puzzler to brain tease us. A riddle if you will. We all like riddles, puzzles or brainteasers, no matter our age. The Oxford Dictionary defines riddle as “a question or statement testing ingenuity in divining its answer or meaning.”

As I have heard the many references to “freedom” over this past week, it HAS tested my ingenuity to divine its meaning! Mixed into these references this week on another NPR program was a discussion of the meaning of patriot – another word that quickly becomes riddle like as one listens to the many perspectives people have on its meaning.

When we are paying attention we quickly realize that one person’s freedom is another person’s prison. My freedom in society can often mean that through conflict I have obtained my freedom while you have lost yours. Victory and defeat are often tied up with freedom. Today, we often hear the so-called defense of freedom being used to scare us into supporting the defeat of a so-called oppressor, who in fact is no threat to us at all. That kind of language, I think, must be an insult to our World War II heroes who did in fact serve in defense of freedom. Offense and defense often get confused in the sorting out of our riddle. We must never in any way demean anyone’s service to one’s country – all are to be thanked and honored for their service – but we must be careful to pay attention when that service is being presented by political or military leadership in serious misrepresentations of the term “freedom”. This riddle is a tough one.

In personal lives, freedom and the lack of it seems to come and go constantly. It doesn’t take much of a conflict for one to feel imprisoned by a relationship. And, it doesn’t take much love and affirmation for one to feel free like a released butterfly. Burdens drag us down, freedom lifts us up. There’s physical freedom, emotional freedom, spiritual freedom.

My journey with this word has come to a definite confirmation. In an ultimate, real life definition of freedom, one cannot be free unless all are free. One country is not truly free unless all are free. Freedom is not something that one comes by and enjoys while another remains burdened with physical, emotional, or spiritual restraints. So I guess in those terms – we live in a personal and international world where none are truly free.

This riddle is becoming a real brain teaser, to me at least.

In my brain teased state I always look to see what insights we might gain from scripture. That search is not always successful. But looking to today’s Gospel reading from Luke we find the writer attributing to Jesus the words of the prophet Isaiah from hundreds of years earlier:

“God's Spirit is on me; I have been chosen to preach the message of good news to the poor, sent to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the burdened and battered free.”

Jesus’ announced agenda is all related to freedom: freedom from poverty, freedom from false political and ethnic imprisonment, freedom from blindness – physical, emotional, spiritual – and freedom from the oppression of battering and carried burdens. It is very clear in Jesus’ teaching as interpreted in the Gospels that for him the oppressor and the oppressed were equally in need of freedom. And how was that to be achieved? With the implementation of a simple command: “love one another as I have loved you”.

The disciples and the early church began to grow when they caught the spirit of this command and did in many cases implement it. In our other reading today Paul is recorded as writing against the conflict over what makes one faithful with the words: “what matters is something more interior: faith expressed in love.” (Parenthetically, we should note: there are also examples throughout scripture and in the early church where Jesus’ command and his agenda were clearly not being practiced.)

And, therein I think we have at least a clue to the riddle of freedom. Loving one another – personally, corporately, internationally - is necessary for the freedom of all humanity. And, that, the birthing of this love is interior. Only when we come to terms with our own need to love, one person, one institution or one country at a time will we seek freedom that is for all and not just for some.

On this anniversary of the declaration of freedom made by the united colonies we do know that lasting and universal freedom never comes from the sword. The sword may be used to successfully bring physical conflict to an end. But, such an ending is not the beginning of freedom for all. When we who are followers of Jesus decide to live out his command to love in our own lives, only then can we contribute today to the freedom sought by those patriots of 1776.

Only when those who lead us politically or militarily, in every country and those of every faith, begin to make the freedom – love connection will our world have a chance of finding the answer to our riddle. We all must be willing to speak up against hate and fear in all its forms. It is not befitting the followers of Jesus to wait for others to take this on. I do not mean to try to solve this riddle today. But I do hope it will give each of us pause to consider how we may use our own willingness and ingenuity to engage in constructive accommodation with those around us to discover new and important ways to love one another into freedom.

Hear these other words from Galatians 5 that I think help us to define freedom born in love:

“what happens when we live God's way[meaning the way of love, of course]? Gifts are brought into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments,
²³ not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way.
²⁴ Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.
²⁵ Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.” Amen.