The Careful Use of Freedom ~ Dr. Brian Clardy

A sermon on Galatians 5: 13-15

Given by Dr. Brian K. Clardy, Associate Professor of History, Murray State University

Delivered to the Congregation of St. John’s Episcopal Church June 26, 2022

May I speak to you this morning in the Blessed Name of the One True and
Living God +Father Son and Holy Spirit. +
Eight days from now, Our Country will celebrate the day and the moment when the
Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. This
document not only declared the American colonies free from their political ties
with the British Crown, but it made a bold and radical declaration that all people
were equal and were endowed by God with certain liberties and guarantees: the
rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
However, we should take the time to remember that when these words were
crafted, Africa’s children had been kidnapped and forced into slavery on American
shores and were considered property and less than human. Women were
marginalized and lacked basic freedoms to participate in the governing of the
country. The Native American had their lands stolen and were living as fourth
class citizens. And white people who did not own property were relegated as less
than when it came to the governing of the nation that they were spilling their
blood to defend on the field of battle.
But over the course of time, the words of the Declaration found new meaning
among various groups who were considered “other.” Hard fought victories for
freedom were fought at Seneca Falls, Gettysburg, Birmingham, Stonewall, and Wounded Knee. At these places, men and women fought for an inclusive and
diverse society that privileged the freedom of all people. And that battle for an
inclusive society continues as these cherished freedoms find themselves under
attack. Albert Camus once wrote, “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to
become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
However, in our New Testament reading for today, the Apostle Paul addresses a
different question of “freedom” within the context of a controversy in the early
Christian Church. Here Paul confronts the controversy within the church at Galatia
as to whether believers should continue to adhere to the strict dictates of the
Mosaic Law and whether “freedom” under this new Christian doctrine, articulated
by Jesus’ followers, was giving a license to allow for abhorrent behavior.
The Text was read for your hearing earlier in this service, but I want to introduce
the Eugene Peterson translation from “The Message” to give Paul’s response to
this query a little more clarity:

It is absolutely clear that God has called you 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. For everything we know about God’s Word is
summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an
act of true freedom. 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?
The operative word in the Attic Greek that Paul uses is the word “eleutheria”
(Ἐλευθερία) the origin of which harkens back to the ancient Greek goddess
Artemis, who was indeed considered the personification of “Liberty and freedom.”
In this Epistle to the Galatians, Paul is striking a balance between this new-found
liberty and freedom and this question of moral and ethical absolutes as privileged
in the Hebrew Bible teachings. While the Christian believer is no longer bound to
the strict adherence to “the law,” the Mosaic Law’s emphasis on compassion, love,
benevolence, charity, and a sense of social justice are still applicable in the
Believer’s day to day relationship with God and God’s Creation.

While the believer may not may not choose circumcision for their eight-day old
male babies, they can still hold fast to the admonition of the Prophet Amos:
Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so, the Lord, the God of hosts,
shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and
establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be
gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

While the believer can now consume pork, shellfish, and other foods that were
forbidden in the Torah, the believer can still take comfort in the words of the
Prophet Haggai:
Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not
borne fruit. “’From this day on I will bless you.”

While Adonai Elohim’s appearance to Moses through a burning bush on Mt. Horeb
may have been a distant memory, the believer could still lovingly reflect on the
words of the Prophet Jeremiah:
The LORD appeared to us in the past saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
And while the Temple in Jerusalem had faded into the pages of Holy Writ and
History, the believer could still hold fast to the encouragement (again from Haggai:
The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says the LORD of
hosts, 'and in this place I will give peace,' declares the LORD of hosts."
In the vein of this new-found liberty that Paul is describing, we need to take the
pains to understand that God is not giving the believer a license to be lawless and
reckless, but instead the believer is giving a flexibility and moderation of purpose
to serve God’s People with love and understand. This is the penultimate “charge to
keep.”

Neither is Paul saying that the Christian Community can cherry pick and choose
what they the accept or reject as part of this new moral standard. To quote Paul
from another place: God Forbid. Instead, Paul is calling for the believer to adopt a
loving balance…..a careful use of our freedom.
Yes…. we have freedom of speech………….but do we have the right to use our
words to wound and to cause injury? Do we have the right to foment revolution
and encourage violence and assassination to achieve short term political and social
ends? God forbid.
Yes…..we have freedom of association….but does this give us the right to
discriminate against people who we view as different or other? Does this give us
the right to lock certain people out of their basic human rights? God forbid.
Yes….we have the freedom to preserve our resources…..but does this give us the
right to willfully allow starvation, homelessness, depravation, and want? God
forbid.
Yes……we have the freedom to worship as we please…or not…..but does this
give us the right to use our Bibles, Torahs, Qurans, and Gitas as a bludgeon to
enforce a cruel and unusual collective form of conformity? God forbid.
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?

As a nation, our freedoms now stand on a dangerous and frightening precipice.
We must decide here and now as to how we strike this balance as we engage in the
careful use of our freedom. We’d better. Because as recent events have reminded
us, we stand to lose the very freedoms that we cherish and for which thousands
gave their lives. 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?

Let us pledge to ere on the side of freedom, but also on the side of moderation,
prudence, and inclusion that gives all people the right to live and participate in the
decisions that affect us all. That gives them what Paul Tillich called “the courage
to be” and so that ALL of God’s People can be all they are called to be at this
inflection point in human history.
Knowing this…. let us give thanks and praise to a God who desires the freedom of
all. That we are called upon to be responsible in the use of our freedom so that no
one should be made a slave and that all people enjoy the benefits of liberty
everywhere.