2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Psalm 77
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Luke 9:51-62
Mt.
Zion UMC, Stokesdale, NC
1 July 2007
Free to Be Slaves
The Fourth of
July is approaching. I see evidence of
preparations being made for the celebration of the signing of the Declaration of
Independence all around me. Quite
frankly, I’m looking forward to this Fourth of July; maybe Cathy and I will be
able to take in some fireworks without getting caught in a really nasty storm
on our way home this year! But as I was
saying, I see evidence of the approaching celebration all around me. One place I really see such evidence is on
TV. I’m not talking just about the
commercials, but also the movies that are being shown. Many of the films are certainly of the
patriotic sort; very appropriate for the time of year. Many deal with the American Revolution; some
with World War Two. One movie that’s
been run recently on TV may come as a surprise, Braveheart. Yes, a movie
about Medieval Scotland has been televised as part of the upcoming Independence
Day Celebration. Despite being set a few
centuries before the American Revolution and on a different continent, it does
tell a similar story; an underpowered, outnumbered people fighting for their
freedom, liberty, and independence from the English crown. Yes, this sure appears to be the same theme
as what we celebrate on each July Fourth here in the United States. It’s a celebration of freedom.
Our reading
from Saint Paul’s
letter to the Galatians also speaks of freedom.
It begins with a resounding statement that we have been set free through
Jesus Christ! Saint Paul then gives us some instructions
concerning the use of our freedom. “For
you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom
as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one
another” [Galatians 5:13]. Does this make sense to you? Did Saint
Paul just say that we’re to use our freedom to become
slaves? Yes, he did. That doesn’t seem to make much sense. But then, this entire passage is pretty
confusing when one looks at it carefully.
Much of the confusion comes about because the original Greek of this
section is pretty difficult translate into English. So, let’s unpack this.
The first
thing to keep in mind when reading this passage is that Saint Paul is not talking to individuals;
he’s speaking to a community. These are
not so much instructions for individuals, but instructions for communities. You see, the Galatians were a gentile
community that was conflicted about the role of the Jewish Law in their lives
of faith. Was there a set of rules
dictating what you do and don’t do as Christians? If so, what are these rules? Are these rules the same as the Jewish
Laws? If so, are Christians required to
follow all of these rules or only some of the rules? If only some, which ones? Saint
Paul tells the Galatians that they have freedom –
freedom from not only sin and death, but freedom from the law as well.
Saint Paul’s first
instruction about Christian freedom is that it should not be used “as an
opportunity for self-indulgence” in verse 13.
This is where the Greek starts to become hard to translate into
English. The word translated as “use” is
better translated as “allow.” The Greek
word translated as “opportunity for self-indulgence” is actually the word for
“area of military operation.” What Saint Paul is saying here
is, “Don’t let freedom become the staging area for the invasion of sin.” Saint
Paul is using military language! We are free from the intricacies of the law because
we understand the law to be summed up as, “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself” [Galatians 5:14]. Christians are to take the energy and
devotion that we’re tempted to direct toward ourselves and turn it outward
toward our neighbors.
Saint Paul then goes on
to discuss the Spirit and the flesh.
Again, here Saint Paul
is not talking to individuals, but to a community. The Spirit that Saint Paul talks about is not our individual
spirits and the flesh is not our individual bodies. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit and the flesh
is the fallen creation. This is not a
description of an individual’s struggle “between a sinful lower nature and the
higher better self,” it’s a description of “a cosmic conflict between the
redemptive power of God and the rebellious fallen creation.”
Verse 16
states, “Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the
flesh.” Here is another example where
the original Greek text is a little bit difficult to translate into English. First, the word “live” is more often
translated as “walk.” To “walk by the
Spirit” is to be entirely consumed by the Spirit; to order all that we do,
every action of our days both big and small, by the Spirit. Next, Saint
Paul’s statement in verse 16 is not two commands as
the English seems to insinuate. Instead,
it’s “a conditional promise: ‘If you walk by the Spirit, you will never carry
out the desire of the flesh.’” Remember, Saint Paul is using the term “flesh” not in
the individual sense that is often interpreted with a sexual context. Instead, Saint Paul is using the term to describe the
places where “that self-seeking human desire opposes itself to the divine will
and the wholeness of the community.”
“Flesh” are the places in the community
where divisions are created because of self-seeking desires.
So, how could
the Galatians tell if their community was walking by the Spirit or cowing to
the desires of the flesh? Saint Paul offers them a
list of indicators. He says, “Now the
works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness,
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions,
factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these” [Galatians 5:19-21a]. This is an incomplete
list of indicators that the community is submitting to the desires of the
flesh, of the sinful nature of a fallen creation. Unfortunately, this list has often been
interpreted as a check list of things individuals are not to do. Now, I’m certainly not suggesting that these
things are OK for individuals to do. The
point is, this is not intended to be anything but a list of indicators, a way
of interpreting whether a community is submitting to the desires of the fallen
creation. I’ve seen people hold this
list up to themselves and say, “Well I don’t do any of these things, so I’m a
good Christian. But I see my neighbor do
this, this, and that. They’re
sinners!” By doing this, we turn this
list of indicators into the law. If Saint Paul just said that
we’re free from the law why would he then impose another law? He wouldn’t; but he would give us a list of
indicators to test how our community was doing.
Saint Paul doesn’t just
give us indicators for the works of the flesh, he also gives us indicators for
walking with the Spirit. He states, “By
contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” [Galatians 5:22-23a]. I think it’s interesting
that when I’ve witnessed people turning the list of community indicators into a
law, they never seem to mention this list.
They always determine that they’re a good Christian based on not doing
the works of the flesh. I’ve never seen
these people say how well they’re practicing the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is a list of
indicators similar to the list for the works of the flesh. They’re indicators that the community is
truly walking by the Spirit. These are
aspects of the community that will be evident if we as a whole are walking by
the Spirit.
How then, do
we as a community move from the works of the flesh to the fruit of the
Spirit? We do this by taking advantage
of our freedom to become slaves. We have
been given freedom from the law. With
that freedom, we can either focus on ourselves, on our own desires, on gaining
power for ourselves, on furthering our own agendas; or we can take that freedom
and focus on others, on meeting other’s needs, on empowering the weak, on
reaching out to those who nobody will help.
So, what
indicators do you see in our congregation, our community? I’m sure that indicators from both the works
of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit are evident. There’s always a little of both because we’re
human. We are fallen creatures; but we
are also creatures of the light when we walk by the Spirit. And if we’re walking, we’re on a journey – a
journey towards perfection. What can we
do as individuals to help the community on this journey? We can become slaves to one another.
This Fourth
of July, we will celebrate the liberty we have as citizens of the United States of America. I pray that as we think about this liberty,
we will also think about the freedom that Christ attained for us. I pray that we each chose to use this freedom
to become slaves.
SDG