“For freedom Christ has set us free.” Galatians 5:1
Freedom. What do you think of when you hear that word? Perhaps – you think of our country’s freedom - especially this week when Americans across the country celebrate the 4th of July with flags, parades and of course fireworks. It’s good to celebrate. It’s also good to remember that Freedom isn’t free. Our political freedom cost our forefathers something – the lives of some Americans were lost for the sake of life, liberty and justice for all.
Freedom was the rallying cry. But it wasn’t freedom for all. Other patriots, in later years, needed to raise the banner of freedom again –freedom for people regardless of the color of their skin, freedom for women to vote, freedom for people to love whomever they love. As a country, we love the idea of Freedom – at least for ourselves. We want to be free.
But people don’t always agree on what or who should be free or even what it means -not now and not in Paul’s day either. Paul is writing to churches who were having a debate over what it meant to be a Christian – and whether that meant following all of the rules of the Torah, including the dietary laws and circumcision. Paul, as someone who had been a strict follower of every Torah rule for his whole life, said, “NO.” Paul argues that the laws which previously had been used to indicate who belonged in the family of God no longer applied. Instead, he argues that Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfilled that law. Jesus Christ had set them free from the rules of the Torah law which kept some people “out”.
This is why Paul declares: For Freedom, Christ has set you free!
Freedom t is a marvelous rallying cry, almost intoxicating because people love the idea of Freedom, of doing what they want, when they want to do it. St. Augustine was even quoted once as saying, “Love God and do whatever you want.” Of course, that was taken out of context. It is not hard to see that freedom, when used selfishly, could easily lead to lawlessness and strife.
Paul quickly clarifies that Christ has freed you FROM the laws that bind you AND Christ has freed you FOR love and service to the neighbor. He writes, “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 enslaved to one another.” Paul envisioned a world in which Christians with higher status and money and resources would use those gifts to raise up Christians who had fewer resources; the rich would share with the poor – even “enslave themselves” to indicate the radical change from a society that was divided into rich and poor, slave and free, to become a community of mutual love and care.
Alas… it is more tempting to use that freedom selfishly.
Fifteen hundred years later, Martin Luther, in reading Paul’s letter to the Galatians, argued that the rules of the church had again gone astray. This time, the church was requiring purity, good works and indulgences – which were fees collected by the church – as requirements for salvation. But Luther, pointing to Paul’s teachings, insisted that Christian freedom means that:
“Christians are free to love without any thought of reward for themselves [because]… their charitable actions are not motivated by self-interest but rather by the neighbor’s need. 1 In other words, Christ has set us free from all the things that would bind us. Our good words and works are to be done as a response to the love of Christ. We are free for love and service and concern for our neighbor in need.
Luther’s work helps us as Lutherans and Christians generally to remember that Christ sets us free – and so we are free to serve our neighbor.
But Luther wasn’t perfect. When German peasants were inspired by their freedom and equality in Christ that Luther wrote about and began a mass uprising, Luther sided with the Princes who had supported him and condemned the peasants.
As Lutherans today, we can learn both from the wisdom of Luther and from his mistakes.
As one scholar wrote: In a world that is still marked by inequality, injustice, and polarization, the story of the peasants’ struggle for freedom invites Christians today to critical and humble reflection. What is Christian freedom for — for us? Is it merely a spiritual freedom, pertaining only to individual salvation and preserving the social status quo? Or freedom also for the greater, collective good?”2
Let us join Paul’s call to Freedom – not only from the forces of evil but also Freedom FOR the neighbors. For as Paul writes earlier to the Galatians, we are all one in Christ Jesus. And that means that when one hurts, we all hurt, and when one suffers, we all suffer, and when one is wrongly enslaved, we are all wrongly enslaved.