United Church of Christ Communion Sunday
461 Orange Ave., Los Altos, CA 94022 July 1, 2001
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit
again to a yoke of slavery. – Gal. 5:1.
What
more appropriate text could we have to reflect upon this Sunday, prior to our
own July 4th Independence Day, when we celebrate our heritage of
political freedom. We, Americans, have
been experimenting with this notion of freedom for only 225 years and by all
accounts it is still a work in progress.
My most memorable July 4th
happened three years ago on my second trip to Russia, and my first trip with
Teens Uniting Globally. Our hosts were
very much aware that this was a big holiday in the United States, so they
surprised us on the morning of the 4th with our dining room
decorated with stars and a banner that read “Happy 4 July –
Congratulations.” This was to be our
last day in the village of Novasinkova, and in the evening the Russian youth
had arranged a special celebration. We
were to be hosted at the local Disco in downtown Dmitrov. This was a big deal for them. We would have a banquet, and then dance to
the ever-present throbbing sounds of “techno-beat” music.
In Russia there is no
drinking age, and the disco is nothing more than a glorified bar. We made a covenant with our American youth
not to drink, and fortunately none of them smoked, though we all had plenty of
second-hand smoke to breathe. In the
early evening, from 7-11, the teenagers from town came to the disco to dance,
drink and hang out. Between 11 and
midnight the owners closed the bar for our exclusive use. Then after midnight the 20 and 30 somethings
showed up to dance until 4 in the morning.
There we were at 11 p.m.
July 4th, saying our good-byes, expressing our appreciation to our
hosts for a wonderful experience (I was frankly counting the minutes until we
got out of that place. I was dying from the smoke, and if I never hear
techno-beat music again I will die a happy man). Our Russian hosts offered up a series of speeches and
toasts. Then, they asked us something
extraordinary. At least I thought it
was. They asked us to sing our National
Anthem.
Now, I had been in Russia
once before, in 1990 at the end of the Soviet era. At that time we had to watch out for ourselves on the
streets. Emotions were high and
Americans needed to be careful with their opinions. But, here we were being asked to sing our national anthem in a
bar in downtown Dmitrov. “Wouldn’t you
rather hear America, the Beautiful, or This Land is Your Land?” They were adamant. They wanted the Star Spangled Banner. So, eighteen of us stood up and sang with
gusto and pride O say can you see… all the way through to the land of
the free and the home of the brave… without messing up any of the words. We were really good.
We, then, turned to our
hosts and asked them to sing their national anthem. They couldn’t. They did
not have a national anthem, and I think they still do not have a single
national song for their country. We
forget that, though some form of Russia has been around for a thousand years,
democratic Russia is only 10 years old and still struggling to find its way in
this new world where it is no longer perceived as one of the Superpowers.
Paul was speaking to the
church in Galatia that was struggling to understand what it meant to be free in
Christ. They lived in a world dominated
by one great Superpower, Rome, who allowed freedom to those who could afford
it. For the common person slavery was a
real option, sometimes much to be desired because it at least gave you some
security. You knew where your basic
needs - food, shelter and clothing - were coming from. So what, if you had to deal with a
tyrannical overlord, or an occasional beating, life was hard anyway.
Still, slavery has never
been much to be desired. One of the
great appeals of the early church was the concept of freedom in Christ, which
meant that whoever you were, whether you were male or female, Jew or Gentile,
slave or free, whatever your human condition you were acceptable to God through
Christ. John Dominic Crossan calls it a
“radical egalitarianism” that crossed all the normal social boundaries and
restrictions. We read in the gospels of
the alliance between Joanna, who made purple cloth for the wealthy and royal,
and Mary Magdalene, who was reputed to be a prostitute. These two women, among others, from
different social castes, were disciples of Jesus and leaders in the Jesus
movement.
While, in the Roman world
you were divided by class and wealth, in God’s world everyone was
included. You were free to be yourself
as God’s own people. This was heady
stuff. It meant you were as good as any
person, and your faith was as powerful as any of the other religious groups
around with all their ceremonies and rich rituals and pageants. As good as, or better if you listen to Paul,
than the temple of Aphrodite in Corinth which had hundreds of temple prostitutes
to work the streets of this seafaring town and was rich beyond belief, or, the
other cults that practiced bacchanalian feasts. Drunkenness was akin to religious ecstasy. All this excess of fleshly pleasure was very
appealing, and new Christian who were told they were free in Christ, thought
all this was meant for them.
In the church in Corinth for
example, they thought, if a little bit of bread and wine meant the body and
blood of Christ resided within you, then, a lot of bread and wine meant a lot
of Christ’s spirit was in you. Paul
said, “Wait a minute, you’re using this as an excuse to get drunk at the
Eucharist.”
Freedom is a wonderful
thing. It is intoxicating. But, Paul
identifies several potential dangers.
First, freedom may turn out to
be more difficult than slavery. Why is
the recidivism rate of released prisoners is so high? Why do women willingly stay in abusive situations? Why do children not run from the parent who
beats them? Why do we so easily hand
over authority to the most assertive voice in the crowd? Why do we become mesmerized by a charismatic
leader. Why do only 50% of the people
vote?
We find it hard to shake off
the habits of servitude, and we find it easy to “submit again to a yoke of
slavery.” Freedom, after all poses new
responsibilities. I met a woman
recently who told me she is studying at a conservative seminary because “I need
to have a clear and narrow interpretation of God’s law to feel safe in this
world.”
The Israelites complained to
Moses, who had led them to freedom from oppression and slavery in Egypt,
grumbling, “Why did you bring us out here into the desert where we are starving
and desperate for water. We will die
out here. At least in Egypt we could
sit by the fleshpots and eat to our fill, and watch our children grow up. We’ll take slavery over freedom any day if
this is what it means.”
We like to say that we are
out of the “free-church tradition” but the emphasis is often on the word
“tradition” rather than “free.” While
our pilgrim forefather, John Robinson, sent off the Pilgrims to a new land
saying, there is yet more light and truth to break forth from God’s holy
word, - which has suggested that every generation must redefine its own way
of being the church in the world – in fact, the words we most often hear within
the average church are those dreaded “seven sacred words” that make every
pastor cringe: we’ve never done it that way before. Freedom calls for risks and responsibilities
that may be more difficult than the security of servitude to the old
traditions.
Secondly, Paul points out
that freedom may destroy a sense of community.
We are cautioned not to allow our freedom to become “an opportunity for
self-indulgence.” Freedom should lead
us to a certain level of civility that transcends mere politeness, where the
good of all is a counterbalance to the need of one.
Summer camps are about to
begin and at each camp children and youth are asked to read, understand, and
sign a behavior covenant. One phrase
always causes comment, “there shall be no inappropriate sexual behavior.” With the youngest children there is not a
lot of explaining to do, but as we get into the older age groups more
clarification is needed. “What is
sexual behavior…exactly?” “What is
inappropriate?” “Maybe what is
inappropriate for you is not inappropriate for me?” The hairs are sometimes split very fine.
I’ve always been a bottom
line kind of guy, and I say, behavior that will get a girl pregnant, or will
lead to getting a girl pregnant is inappropriate sexual behavior. My own children didn’t think that was very
helpful, or sophisticated enough for the camp.
They instructed me “If the purpose of camp is to build Christian
community, than inappropriate behavior is any behavior that takes a person
outside the community, or pushes the community away from them.” Therefore, young 20+-year-old counselors who
feel they have the freedom of the heart to pursue a relationship with a
16-year-old camper are breaking covenant with the camp community.
An overly individualistic
interpretation of freedom, which tends to satisfy our “fleshly needs,” as Paul
calls them, becomes a relentless pursuit of the individual with no moral
commitment to others, and eventually becomes self-destructive, as well as
destructive of community.
Finally, freedom may
translate into a form of moral relativism.
One objection to Paul’s gospel is that it provides license to sin (Rom.
6:1-4). In the absence of law how are we
to provide a responsible ethic? This is
as much a struggle in our 225-year-old republic, as it is in the 10 year old
Russian democracy. How do you proclaim
freedom for individuals on the one hand, but provide reasonable constraints to
behavior on the other. Is less
government necessarily better government?
Is more government the answer.
Theologically speaking we can say that Christ set us free to be – not to be out there on our own making it up as we go along, but - in relationship with God and with one another.
Whenever there is a relationship between two or more people an organization of some sort is involved. We are organizational creatures. We are born not only into a society and culture but usually into a specific, complex organization: a family. Our marriages are organizations, ruled by the laws of a larger organization of legal codes. We study in schools that are organizations; we make a living in businesses and agencies that are organizations; we worship in institutions that are organizations; and when we die we will be ushered out of this world by organizations.
And wherever there is an
organization involved we agree to adjust our behavior for the needs of the
group. In this context we must
recognize the existence of genuine moral conflict within us, the struggle of
opposing, powerful forces. Paul
describes them as Spirit and flesh. We
might describe them as the conflict between personal appetite and our higher
ideals. It is an old problem. Plato described it as the struggle between
two powerful horses pulling a chariot in different directions toward eminent
disaster unless the driver is in control.
We are called to live in the
tension of freedom and civility. Free
to be who we can be, but in the context of a group that is our point of
reference to the world, delaying gratification for higher interests. This means
nurturing a freedom that may be harder than enslavement, a freedom that must
under self-control, and a freedom that is centered on relationship and our
mutual dependency on one another. We
are not alone. Christ is with us and
prays for us that “We may all be one” in loving relationship with our God.
Last year our closing
celebration in Dmitrov was more subdued.
We didn’t go to the disco. We
took over a restaurant. It must have
seemed strange to the owners: no smoking and no drinking. The Youth Council of Dmitrov has taken
seriously the drug and alcohol problems of their generation. The theme for the summer was “Healthy
Summer,” which was their catch phrase for learning how to take care of one’s
body, one’s mind and one’s community.
All of the Russian youth made a covenant not to drink during our time
together. It was a new concept for
them, but many things about freedom are new for them, and in this fact is the
challenge and the hope of a new Russia.
We go there, not to preach
to them our values, or show them how we do it better, because we are not always
very good examples of freedom ourselves.
We go just to witness to what is happening and to let them know they are
not alone, we are struggling alongside, with them, remembering Paul’s words: For
you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom
as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single
commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Amen.