Unity Lutheran Church + Chicago
follow us
  • Welcome
  • Who Are We
    • Eternal Flame Saints
    • History of Unity
    • Affiliated with
    • Welcome & Vision Statement
    • Constitution & Bylaws
  • Our Faith in Action
    • Concerts at Unity
    • Green Space
    • Social Justice
  • Space Sharing
    • Calendar
    • Picture our Rooms
    • Space Sharing Partners
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
    • Offerings & Gifts >
      • Unity Special Funds
  • Community Resources

Sermon by Pastor Fred Kinsey, "Freedom's Fullness"

7/3/2017

0 Comments

 
Readings for July 2, 2017 the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 13)
  • Jeremiah 28:5-9 and Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18  
  • Romans 6:12-23   
  • Matthew 10:40-42

Freedom's Fullness, by Rev. Fred Kinsey
One of my favorite things on the 4th of July is waking up to the Declaration of Independence on National Public Radio.  In familiar voices, the hosts and reporters all take turns reading one section at a time.  I’m not sure how long it takes, maybe 5, or even 10 minutes?  But it’s impressive!  There is stirring background music that heightens the tension as they transition from one reader to another: “When in the course of human events… we hold these truths to be self-evident, … that we’re endowed with certain unalienable rights …among them, are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness… The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, … establish[ing] … an absolute Tyranny over these States…  
 
“He has refused …He has forbidden … He has dissolved … He has endeavored to prevent… He has obstructed… He has plundered…  imposing Taxes on us without our Consent… and For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury… We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, … do, … solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States…” 
 
It’s exhilarating to hear it read-aloud like that.  To think back to that time and the risk they were taking.  Although skirmishes of the Revolutionary War had already begun the previous year, it was a bold declaration that Jefferson had crafted.  They were officially standing up to the world’s #1 power. 
 
But consensus to sign-on to this Declaration, seemed to build most powerfully around the desire to be free from tyranny and oppression – to have the right to determine their own destiny and not be enslaved to any other, to an overlord who didn’t have their best interests in mind.
 
And that’s just what’s inherently built-in to most all of us, I think we might be able to conclude.  It’s the foundational story of the Hebrew people, as well, as told in the Torah, in the experience and story of the Exodus, celebrated at Passover – when the Israelites were freed by God, from slavery in Egypt, and brought through the wilderness, and into receivership of the Promised Land.  Nothing is more integral to the identity of the Jews.
 
And St Paul says, in our 2nd Reading, that that is basically the story of Jesus, in his suffering, death and resurrection.  Our longing for freedom and liberation is satisfied, and completed, in our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection. 
 
But, it is not a freedom that is like every other liberation out there, either – not one amongst many – but for the Disciple, baptism is life-changing.
 
The oppressions and enslavements we experience in our lives, whether from a ‘tyrannical government,’ or other codified slavery, entrapment, or poverty, are just the outward forms of, the Power of Sin-itself.  This created world is not perfect, and neither are we, as humans.  But we have enormous ‘freedom of choice,’ as God’s creatures, who are made in God’s image.  The question is, how do we make good and Godly choices, and avoid the deadly separation from God and our neighbor that is our universal condition of Sin?! 
 
This was the issue in Paul’s letter to the Romans: “Shall we then be sinners,” says Paul, “because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!”  Paul undoubtedly shocked his listeners by implying that giving-up living under the Torah, the Law, was sinful instead of, as every Jew knew it to be, life-giving.  Paul, like Jesus – who were both, incidentally, good Jews – believed that the Torah was a blessing and gift.  Yet at bottom, we are all enslaved to the Power of Sin in the world.  And Paul’s interest here, is more about our behavior than our religious identity – how do we make good and Godly choices, and avoid the power of sin? 
 
In the Hellenistic world of Paul and Jesus, everyone was subject to someone above them.  The Greco-Roman hierarchy was well defined all the way up to the Emperor.  And Paul’s point is that, ‘all human existence takes place in slavery, to one slavemaster or the other,’(N.T.Wright, Romans NIB) which would have made perfect sense to his contemporaries. 
 
To us, not so much!  In this country whose story is founded on its Declaration of Independence, 1) we thrive on meta-narratives like, “give me liberty, or give me death;” and 2) the actually history of slavery in this country, is still not easy, or often, talked about – and its affects, rarely acknowledged or admitted, to this day.  To say we are “enslaved” to anyone, even Christ – whether we’re black or white, is fraught and loaded terminology.
 
And yet, as a baptized people, we cannot turn our backs on Paul’s letter to the Romans and our founding story.  It seems to me that we have a choice: is our story going to be, freedom for freedom’s sake, liberty to do whatever I decide I want to do?  Or, is our meta-story found in God’s freedom, in the death and resurrection of Christ?  In being “set free from sin… to become slaves of righteousness,” as Paul put it.
 
If- the Power of Sin in the world, is that ‘all human existence takes place in slavery, to one slavemaster or the other,’ then the truth is that we need an authority in our lives that is both ethical and fair – big enough to be life-giving, and intimate enough to know us and look out for our best interests.  We need a Christ who sets us free, but doesn’t abandon us.  We need a Savior who has been to the depths of Hades yet who reigns from on high.  We need a Parent who forgives us, even when we fall short.  We need a Lord who has emptied himself to suffer an innocent death, yet was raised to new life.  We need ‘the way, the truth, and the life,’ to inspire our hearts and minds to believe! 
 
That is how we are made right – ‘justified’ – in this world, and empowered to hold our heads high, submitting ourselves to a life of faith-active-in-love.  We are justified by the Grace of God, through the faith of Christ -and in Christ.  There is no program or religious test for this – it’s a matter of the heart, a leap of faith, and a risk.  All we have is our Christian-Exodus story, a daily washing in the baptismal waters, a dying and rising to creatively face-up to the human-existence-story of enslavements. 
 
And so we cannot make any laws for others, or dictate our cultural norms on others, as a condition for believing in this Messiah and King.  That would be just another way of imposing slavery, rather than journeying into freedom. 
 
And, so it’s always worth considering, how much we overlook the ways that we re-construct “law” amongst us, just because we sometimes want to keep our fear of, less familiar mores, at bay.  How often, for instance, do those who are different, meet in us, not grace and welcome, but suspicious looks, inhospitable entitlement?  In Christ’s freedom we need to constantly evaluate ourselves, so that our treatment of others is not contingent on age, experience, social or political circles, or other hurdles we place before the new-comer or stranger, lest we return to our old lives of Sin.  
 
Paul says, those who are not under law are “sanctified” – that is “set apart” for God’s use, rather than Sin’s (Kyle Fever, workingpreacher.org).  A disciple’s life of faith is not imposed.  It is not learned, or memorized.  It is received, implanted in our lives, that Christ may grow the fruit of grace in us. 
 
And so, our longing to Declare our freedom, finds fullness and satisfaction, in giving ourselves over completely, to the only one who will not re-enslave us.  Let us bow down and worship the crucified and risen one, the one who knows us intimately and completely – who has conquered the Power of Sin, once and for all, who is our Suffering Servant, and righteous-liberator! 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.