|
Our Scripture lesson this morning is from the New Testament’s book of Galatians. Galatians is an epistle – another word for letter – of the Apostle Paul. You’ll remember that it was through Paul’s efforts, after a powerful conversion experience on the Road to Damascus, that many came to the Christian faith - to believe in the good news of Jesus Christ and follow in the ways of discipleship. After those communities were founded, Paul kept in touch with them, reminding them of the good news of the gospel, encouraging them, supporting them – and setting them straight when he felt they needed it. In today’s lesson, Paul is doing a little bit of all of these. He urges the Galatians to new life in Christ, A life lived in freedom and in love. Let us listen for the word of God. SCRIPTURE IS READ (using “The Message” translation) What does it mean to be a Christian? What are the essential elements that mark us as followers of Jesus Christ? Two weeks ago, I was at Hartford Seminary as part of a teaching team for a course entitled “Building Abrahamic Partnerships.” We gather for a week - Jews, Christians, Muslims – to learn about each other’s texts and traditions and practices. We come to understand what is essential about our respective faiths. Each year – and I think this is my fourth year of teaching – the two of us who lead the Christian portion of the class struggle to discern what we want to share, what we think is important and unique about Christianity. In the past we’ve talked about the diversity of thought and denominations, and sacramental traditions. We share our theology, Talking about God as Trinity – three in one, And the Incarnation – God’s love made real in Jesus Christ – And the atonement, what Christ’s life, death and resurrection means for us and for the world. We sing some hymns, as for many Christians, this is an essential practice and a way to learn theology. We teach about the Bible – its origins, interpretations, and perspectives. When we’re done, we often think – or others tell us! – that we’ve forgotten something. We should have talked more about worship, Or new or emerging ways of being the church, Or more theology. It’s not easy, we realize, to name what is unique and essential to our Christian faith. Through today’s Scripture lesson, we learn that we are not the first ones to wrestle with this problem, with this situation. The Apostle Paul has the same problem. There are others in the community in Galatia preaching the gospel, and what it means to be a Christian. You’ll remember that the first followings of Jesus were Jewish, just as he was. They continued to follow the Jewish ways of Torah and circumcision as a sign of the covenant AND gathered in memory of Jesus and to seek to follow in his way. Once Paul began sharing the good news, And gentiles, non-Jews, began to follow in “the way,” they did not follow Jewish customs and practices. There were some who were beginning to preach in Galatia that Jewish practices were essential; Paul, on the other hand, insisted that these things were not necessary to being a follower of Jesus. In fact, those things could sometimes get in the way of becoming truly Christian. For Paul, there are two essentials for Christian faith and living: freedom and love, and they are related to each other. “Christ has set us free to live a free life. Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom.” It’s hard to hear Paul’s words about freedom – and perhaps love, too – with our 21st century American ears, minds, and spirits. We are immersed in the language and history and culture of freedom: From our nation’s beginnings with a revolution, the emphasis on individual rights and freedoms, and living in the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” But friends, Paul urges Christians then and now to a different kind of freedom, a freedom that is not tied to individual freedoms or national pride or military ventures. Instead, it is a freedom that ties us, that binds us, that connects us, to Christ and to one another. Here is the paradoxical nature of Christian freedom: We are most free not when we can choose to do whatever we want for ourselves, but when we choose to do an act of love for another. It is a gift to be free, as Rose sang this morning. And Paul knew – and we know, too, don’t we? that freedom, like all gifts, can be misused and cause harm. In our freedom, We can sometimes choose only for ourselves or do only what we want to do. Please don’t mishear me. There are times when it is good – and even necessary to choose for ourselves, to take time, space, opportunities, for ourselves. But when we choose a path or a way with careless or callous disregard for others, then we misuse the freedom given to us by Christ. Paul has a list of what happens when we choose a self-centered life instead of a God-centered life: anger, jealousy, addictions, greed, an uncontrollable temper. We look for love and freedom in all the wrong places and with all the wrong people. We could add to that list, Couldn’t we? We could write the ways we depend on other persons or things to sustain us instead of God., the ways that keep you and me from living a life of true freedom as individuals and as a church. Here’s a few things that I would add: apathy, when we just don’t care about others or want to do anything for them. Sometimes a commitment to perfection that doesn’t allow for mistakes on our part or on the part of another and keeps us responding in freedom and love. Perhaps we have a fear of going hungry – in body and in spirit that leads us to an excess of possessions or power – and even pounds. A mark of an self-centered life is a lack of trust in God’s grace and goodness that keeps us hoarding and holding on instead of letting go and sharing abundantly. It takes courage, friends – and honesty, too - to name what keeps us form living fully, faithfully, and freely as Christians. But it is a necessary step as we move toward living a Spirit-filled life, a life in which God’s gifts emerge, as Paul reminds us, much in the same way that fruit appears in the orchard. And fruit appears in an orchard slowly and over time. Think of apples; first there’s a bud, then a flower, then a seed, then the full fruit. Paul invites us to imagine what our community might be like if we center ourselves in God’s way, how the fruits of the Spirit might come to bloom. Think about it for a minute: Haven’t you seen some of gifts of the Spirit that Paul talks about right here at RHCC, gifts of compassionate hearts, exuberance and joy, serenity. There’s the exuberance of life and joy in our children, so evident two weeks ago in worship on Children’s Sunday. Over the last six months, there’s been the generous response for relief in Haiti and to the Covenant to Care program.; We do, indeed, have compassionate hearts. In an orchard, all the fruit does not appear on the trees at the same time. That’s good news – Otherwise, we’d have to eat apple fritters, pie, cobbler, applesauce and cake all at once! Friends, That means more gifts are yet to emerge among us if we continue to follow in the way of the Spirit: this coming fall, individual boards and committees will begin to discern ways to incorporate the church-developed vision in their programs and efforts. In this way, we will be able – as Paul writes, to marshal and direct our energies wisely. We’ll develop new and deeper and more loyal commitments of stewardship, creating a spirit of joyous generosity throughout our congregation. We will see a deeper affection of others that live in our community inside this sanctuary and outside its walls. I love THE MESSAGE translation of Paul’s letter, because it reminds us that we have more interesting things to do with our lives, and with our life as a community of faith. We are called to imagine new ways of weaving freedom and love into our daily living as children of God and as the church of Jesus Christ. Friends, through Christ, we have the gift of freedom and the call to love. Let us share these gifts with each other and the world, and let us continue to do more interesting things together in the days and months ahead. |