Rector’s Reflection

06.23.22

Independence Day is just around the corner.  It is the occasion when we remember and celebrate the birth of our nation, that point in our national history when men and women sacrificed so much for the sake of freedom and a chance at a new kind of future.  Since that time we have learned that freedom is ever-expanding and must be constantly and earnestly pursued.  True freedom is to be cherished and takes great effort to maintain.  But what exactly is this freedom for which so many give so much?

As followers of Jesus, at least part of our understanding of freedom comes from the teachings of the Bible. In his letter to the church in Galatia, the apostle Paul writes that “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. (Gal. 5:1)”. The corresponding themes of bondage and freedom are central to Paul’s theology. Indeed, for Paul, the whole reason for Jesus’ birth, life, and especially death is that the world, including all of us, might be free.  But again, what exactly is this freedom for which Jesus lived and died?

Real freedom is always grounded in God’s love, and most parts of God’s creation do an admirable job of manifesting this love simply by fully being that part of creation that God has created them to be. A rock manifests God’s love by simply and fully being a rock.  A bumblebee manifests God’s love by simply and fully being a bumblebee.  It is only human beings who seem unable or unwilling to be, simply and fully, the human beings that God has created us to be.  And so the authentic human journey of freedom is not about becoming something extraordinary, but rather, by becoming, quite simply, who we were created to be. Because of sin, this has proven to be exceptionally difficult for us.

Jesus teaches us the way forward to freedom.  The way forward always entails love… receiving love and giving love.  When we allow our lives to be free-flowing conduits of love, we become more human, more free.  As we become more free, freedom itself is unleashed.  In his living and in his dying, Jesus was a river of love.  By immersing ourselves in that river of love, we become agents of freedom just as Jesus was an agent of freedom.

For freedom Christ has set us free.  Receive Jesus’ gift of freedom.  Let that freedom flow through your life. And let freedom reign for all eternity!

~Father Art