Sunday's Sermon
The Rev. Aron Kramer 5 Pentecost (Proper 8) Sunday July 1, 2007
I saw a bumper sticker while I was driving around Virginia that said, “God wants Spiritual Fruit, Not Religious Nuts”. It made me laugh.
And listen to this story; a new teacher at a local middle school saw a pile of apples at the front of the cafeteria line with many students lined up waiting to get their hot lunches. The teacher quickly wrote out a note and hung it over the apples, the note said, “Please take only one, God is watching.” A shrewd young middle schooler with pen and paper in hand scribbled out and hung another note over the chocolate chip cookies that said, “Take as many as you want, God is watching the apples”
Being in Virginia this week was a fascinating exercise in contrasts. On the one hand, it is the birthplace of our nation, it is a place where great minds debated the future of this land and tried to eke out a living that would be an example for all people. On the other hand, as one of our African American presenters said, it was difficult to see Colonial Williamsburg, to see first hand all the plantations, knowing full well that there was a class of people who were considered inhuman, less than equal, second class. The last night we were there we experienced a debate between Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, and when asked about the Native Americans, they were clear, those were savages to be dealt with civilly, Patrick Henry said, but savages none the less, people less than human. There is fascinating history there, but there is great oppression as well, it was a strong and clear contrast for me
It was also interesting to walk into one of the oldest Episcopal Churches in all the country. A church that has been in full operation since 1715 I believe. It was a church that maintained a lot of tradition; it was a place of wealth, a large parish of about 2000 members. It clearly has a set pattern of life as it lives out its call to be a Christ centered church. As I flew into Virginia, not understanding at all what I as getting into, I was reading a book that placed this contrast at the front of all I experienced this past week. The book is called The Missional Church, and it talks about the shifting culture and shifting world views and how the Church must shift as well, with this tectonic movement we are experiencing, not by conforming to culture, but rather by getting back to the authenticity and meaning that was originally given by Jesus to his disciples. I walked into this place, this parish and was awed by its history, but struck by the rules and regulations set in place to ensure its existence. The sign you see as you walk in, with loads of school age kids mind you, is “please talk quietly, you are entering the Church.”
Rules and regulations can tell you a lot about where an institution is. When the rules and guidelines set in place speak louder than anything else in a community, particularly in a community of faith, you can put money down that the institution is nearing its death or is experiencing major change. We are witnessing that today, not just in our own Episcopal Church, but across the cultural spectrum, politics, education, technology, we are in the midst of great sweeping change and our reaction to this change has been to regulate everything, pass a law that restricts this or limits that until we have nothing left to regulate. When uncertainty about the future sets in, often we get anxious and frenetic and start regulating our own existence, not allowing innovation or creativity to flourish. We have experienced that here in the Garden, but I believe are currently at a place where we are able to re-imagine and live into what it is God is calling us to be.
This week we begin our Independence celebration, fireworks, barbecues, and all sorts of family gatherings will happen all over the country, as we celebrate the 231st year of our independence. Many words will be bandied about, tossed to and fro, but I imagine this year one of the words that will be used frequently will be the word “freedom”. Freedom is used in Paul’s Epistle abundantly and he uses it in ways that are quite foreign to our own perception of freedom, and what freedom is to us today. Many people today think freedom means we can do whatever we want. Our restraints have been removed and the road ahead is clear. Freedom means we can drive however fast we want, or we can say whatever we please, or we can make as much money as possible and who cares who loses out. I believe as you listen to the talk show radio hosts, as Rush lumbers along this week, as politicians from all sides speak, none of them will touch on the freedom that Paul speaks of in today’s epistle.
Biblical freedom, according to Paul, is far different from the current day idea of freedom. Biblical freedom is not just freedom from but also freedom to. The people who followed Moses into the desert were not just freed from slavery but they were freed into a new covenant relationship. Paul calls us to be freed from those worldly things that enslave us, things such as idolatry, envy and strife and Paul calls us to be freed into a different type of freedom, a freedom based on love for neighbor, freedom that is willingly taken on. Near the end of today’s Galatians reading Paul reminds us that when we live into the freedom of Christ the Spirit moves within us. And when the Spirit moves within us we are led to such things as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is where biblical freedom leads; not to a place where we have no restraints but rather to a place where we can choose to align our lives differently. Freedom is not about what we are doing or not doing; it is instead about what and who we are being. Freedom is about what we finally put our hope and trust in everyday, and all days. Following Jesus is 24/7, it doesn't mean not doing everything else, it means doing everything else with our face set toward Jerusalem, with our heart invested in God
Freedom is an idea that originates in the very heart of God. In the beginning, when God created humankind, God could have made us puppet-like, so that whenever God wanted us to do something, God would just pull a string and we would do it. God created us, women and men, with the capacity and the responsibility to act as free moral agents. To be truly free is to be able to move beyond the self and, as one who is wise has put it, to move into the risk of love and to give oneself to the demand of service. To be free is to be free for responsibility, not from responsibility. People of faith have a crucial role to play in the life of our nation. We must work every day to create a society that is marked by concern for the common good. We must listen for the voices of those who are marginalized. We must speak out against excessive self-indulgence and name the corrosive consequences of greed. Paul put it plainly in this regard, "if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another." The desire for freedom is not simply a function of the human spirit. Its source is nothing less than the free will of the One Holy and Living Triune God.
I saw a bumper sticker while I was driving around Virginia that said, “God wants Spiritual Fruit, Not Religious Nuts”. It made me laugh.
And listen to this story; a new teacher at a local middle school saw a pile of apples at the front of the cafeteria line with many students lined up waiting to get their hot lunches. The teacher quickly wrote out a note and hung it over the apples, the note said, “Please take only one, God is watching.” A shrewd young middle schooler with pen and paper in hand scribbled out and hung another note over the chocolate chip cookies that said, “Take as many as you want, God is watching the apples”
Being in Virginia this week was a fascinating exercise in contrasts. On the one hand, it is the birthplace of our nation, it is a place where great minds debated the future of this land and tried to eke out a living that would be an example for all people. On the other hand, as one of our African American presenters said, it was difficult to see Colonial Williamsburg, to see first hand all the plantations, knowing full well that there was a class of people who were considered inhuman, less than equal, second class. The last night we were there we experienced a debate between Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, and when asked about the Native Americans, they were clear, those were savages to be dealt with civilly, Patrick Henry said, but savages none the less, people less than human. There is fascinating history there, but there is great oppression as well, it was a strong and clear contrast for me
It was also interesting to walk into one of the oldest Episcopal Churches in all the country. A church that has been in full operation since 1715 I believe. It was a church that maintained a lot of tradition; it was a place of wealth, a large parish of about 2000 members. It clearly has a set pattern of life as it lives out its call to be a Christ centered church. As I flew into Virginia, not understanding at all what I as getting into, I was reading a book that placed this contrast at the front of all I experienced this past week. The book is called The Missional Church, and it talks about the shifting culture and shifting world views and how the Church must shift as well, with this tectonic movement we are experiencing, not by conforming to culture, but rather by getting back to the authenticity and meaning that was originally given by Jesus to his disciples. I walked into this place, this parish and was awed by its history, but struck by the rules and regulations set in place to ensure its existence. The sign you see as you walk in, with loads of school age kids mind you, is “please talk quietly, you are entering the Church.”
Rules and regulations can tell you a lot about where an institution is. When the rules and guidelines set in place speak louder than anything else in a community, particularly in a community of faith, you can put money down that the institution is nearing its death or is experiencing major change. We are witnessing that today, not just in our own Episcopal Church, but across the cultural spectrum, politics, education, technology, we are in the midst of great sweeping change and our reaction to this change has been to regulate everything, pass a law that restricts this or limits that until we have nothing left to regulate. When uncertainty about the future sets in, often we get anxious and frenetic and start regulating our own existence, not allowing innovation or creativity to flourish. We have experienced that here in the Garden, but I believe are currently at a place where we are able to re-imagine and live into what it is God is calling us to be.
This week we begin our Independence celebration, fireworks, barbecues, and all sorts of family gatherings will happen all over the country, as we celebrate the 231st year of our independence. Many words will be bandied about, tossed to and fro, but I imagine this year one of the words that will be used frequently will be the word “freedom”. Freedom is used in Paul’s Epistle abundantly and he uses it in ways that are quite foreign to our own perception of freedom, and what freedom is to us today. Many people today think freedom means we can do whatever we want. Our restraints have been removed and the road ahead is clear. Freedom means we can drive however fast we want, or we can say whatever we please, or we can make as much money as possible and who cares who loses out. I believe as you listen to the talk show radio hosts, as Rush lumbers along this week, as politicians from all sides speak, none of them will touch on the freedom that Paul speaks of in today’s epistle.
Biblical freedom, according to Paul, is far different from the current day idea of freedom. Biblical freedom is not just freedom from but also freedom to. The people who followed Moses into the desert were not just freed from slavery but they were freed into a new covenant relationship. Paul calls us to be freed from those worldly things that enslave us, things such as idolatry, envy and strife and Paul calls us to be freed into a different type of freedom, a freedom based on love for neighbor, freedom that is willingly taken on. Near the end of today’s Galatians reading Paul reminds us that when we live into the freedom of Christ the Spirit moves within us. And when the Spirit moves within us we are led to such things as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is where biblical freedom leads; not to a place where we have no restraints but rather to a place where we can choose to align our lives differently. Freedom is not about what we are doing or not doing; it is instead about what and who we are being. Freedom is about what we finally put our hope and trust in everyday, and all days. Following Jesus is 24/7, it doesn't mean not doing everything else, it means doing everything else with our face set toward Jerusalem, with our heart invested in God
Freedom is an idea that originates in the very heart of God. In the beginning, when God created humankind, God could have made us puppet-like, so that whenever God wanted us to do something, God would just pull a string and we would do it. God created us, women and men, with the capacity and the responsibility to act as free moral agents. To be truly free is to be able to move beyond the self and, as one who is wise has put it, to move into the risk of love and to give oneself to the demand of service. To be free is to be free for responsibility, not from responsibility. People of faith have a crucial role to play in the life of our nation. We must work every day to create a society that is marked by concern for the common good. We must listen for the voices of those who are marginalized. We must speak out against excessive self-indulgence and name the corrosive consequences of greed. Paul put it plainly in this regard, "if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another." The desire for freedom is not simply a function of the human spirit. Its source is nothing less than the free will of the One Holy and Living Triune God.
Comments
We were in Virginia about the same time and saw Yorktown & Jamestown, stayed at a State Park that had been a plantation...I found too that there was a lot of history to learn & think about the meanings of.
Your presentation of freedom as "freedom to..." is a helpful perspective. For me Christian discussions of freedom have sometimes seemed full of "correct doctrine" that hasn't necessarily resonated much with my experience or sense of things. Your presentation resonates though and I think makes sense of the doctrine in ways I hadn't quite been able to put together that way before. It commends itself to further consideration. I'd like to look at the biblical references, familiar doctrinal perspectives, as well as my own observations and experiences with the "freedom to" concept in mind and see how it meshes. Not that I have time to explicitly take on such a study, though I wish I did...but informally I hope it will be factored into my thinking.