May the words of my mouth and the meditations of
our hearts be always acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our
redeemer ☩ in the
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
This
morning, I want to present the other side of the coin. Last Sunday, we heard
St. Paul say in Galatians that “We are no longer subject to a disciplinarian,
for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.” I used that
verse to offer a reflection on God’s amazing grace and said that the point of
the Gospel is not to get people to accept Jesus, rather it is to get people to
trust that Jesus has already accepted them. This means that faith isn’t about
what we have to do because we don’t have to do anything – instead of earning
our salvation, we are to enjoy it. And all of that is absolutely true; I’d
stake my life on it.
Grace is absolutely a
gift, and any good gift has a purpose to it. I’m sure we’ve all received gifts
before that we didn’t need, didn’t ask for, didn’t want, and couldn’t use. Yes,
it’s the thought that counts, but sometimes it’s pretty clear that the gift
giver didn’t put much thought into the gift. Grace is not that sort of gift.
Grace is a wonderful gift because it is intentionally given and is absolutely
something that we need and can use. And so this sermon will focus on this
aspect of grace – how it is to be used.
As we continue reading
from Galatians, St. Paul continues by writing, “For freedom Christ has set us
free.” You see, there’s a purpose to the grace of Christ setting us free and
that purpose is freedom. But we have to ask, what does “freedom” mean? This is
especially the case as we will all be thinking about freedom as we mark the
anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on Thursday. Freedom, contrary
to how it is often understood, is not the ability or right to do whatever you
want. That’s actually closer to anarchy or chaos. That version of freedom is
about isolation – to do whatever you want means that you are severed from any
sort of connection or relationship of mutuality.
St. Paul makes this very
point: “Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but
through love become slaves to one another.” Now there’s a paradox for us – use
your freedom to become a slave. So freedom isn’t at all about doing whatever
you want, rather it’s about being unbound and released from anything that
prevents you from living the abundant life that God intends for you. As an
example of this, think about a married couple. In a healthy marriage, can
either partner do whatever they want? Try that out for a while and then let me
know when you’d like to schedule a time for some marriage counseling. Of course,
that’s not how marriage works, marriage works when both partners are faithful
to the relationship.
Perhaps “slave” is a bit
strong of a word, but the idea is right on. Both partners need to focus on
serving the marriage. And in that loving service to each other, they find true
freedom. They discover the depths and joys of love, they find the space to grow
in authenticity. Those of you who have been married know this to be true –
ideally, your spouse is the person that you can be most “you” with. You can say
things to your spouse that you’d never say to anyone else, you dance like you
never would in public, you are vulnerable with the core of your being. In other
words, by being submissive to love, you actually find freedom. But if you just
did whatever you wanted, you’d never encounter the grace of freedom. The same
is true in our faith. The grace of the freedom that we have been given doesn’t
mean that anything goes, rather it means that you don’t have to keep up
pretenses or appearances because God is faithful and loving to us in a way that
is beyond our ability to ask for or imagine.
So if one side of the
coin of grace is “Grace means you don’t have to do anything” then the other
side is “Grace gives you something to be obedient to.” Now, I realize that
“obedience” is a dirty word in our culture. Ever since the Enlightenment, our
society has valued independence, autonomy, rationality, individualism, and free
will. This nation was founded upon ideas like “don’t tread on me” and many
people, if they had to choose a theme song for their life would choose “I did
it my way.” Plus, ever since the Protestant Reformation, we’ve bought into the
false distinction between faith and works. Grace, when misunderstood, can
become a license for laziness. I’ll never forget, I once heard someone say
“Since I’ve been saved, I don’t have to follow any rules, I don’t have to worry
about being a good person.” And while that is true, it’s also unfortunately
incomplete.
Absolutely, grace means
that you don’t have to do anything. That list that St. Paul mentions –
fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife,
jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing
– have at it all you want. You can go out and do all of those things and God
won’t love you any less. But St. Paul cautions us that “those who do such
things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” For him though, the Kingdom isn’t
Heaven or salvation, instead, as it was for Jesus, the Kingdom is synonymous
with living the abundant life that has been given to us. Sure, you can do all
of those sorts of things. Because of grace, nothing is off limits. But not
everything is beneficial. Salvation is meant to be enjoyed and to be used. If
we choose to live according to the flesh, we are free to, but it won’t lead us
to the place that grace wants to take us.
Obedience is not about a
list of rules, it is not about what you have to do. Obedience is not about
requirements, it is about resonance. The truth of the matter is that every
single one of us has desires. God has made us creatures that have passions,
drives, and desires. St. Augustine once wrote that “Our hearts are restless
until they rest in God.” Sure, we can go out and party like there’s no
tomorrow, but we’ll never encounter the grace that comes with aligning
ourselves with the peace of God which passes all understanding.
A metaphor that I find
helpful about this is one that you’ve probably heard me use before. It comes
from a phrase used by a theologian, “people who bear crosses are working with
the grain of the universe.” And of course, “bearing crosses” is synonymous with
St. Paul’s language of through love becoming slaves to one another. When you
work with, or we might say when you are obedient to the grain, things go
smoothly. Sure, you have the freedom to cut across the grain, but things will
splinter and be rough. This is what obedience is about – it is not about rules
and regulations, not about credits and demerits, instead obedience is about
aligning ourselves with God’s promises.
Obedience is important
because, through it, we are given our identity. Without obedience to something,
we can get lost in our freedom. It is our obedience to things like serving the
poor, to respecting the dignity of all human life, to our commitment to repent
of our sins and seek forgiveness, to be generous with the blessings given to
us, to be faithful in worship that gives us our identity. If it’s a
free-for-all of “I do whatever I want,” then there is nothing that binds us
together. But it is our obedience to a common vision, a vision of love, which
makes us who we are as God’s people.
All of this is what
Baptism is about. Baptism is a pure gift of grace, but it’s also an identity
that we are obedient to. Baptism is not an “add on” to our identity, it is the
very foundation of who we are. Your baptism is the radical proclamation that
you are free – you are free from hopelessness in death, you are free from the
burdens of your mistakes, you are free from being alone, you are freed from
having to figure out who you are, as Baptism gives you your identity – the
beloved child of God who is sent out into this world to proclaim this message
of love. Grace proclaims this and grace means that you don’t ever have to earn
and can never lose that belovedness. Obedience is how you enjoy this gift. By
aligning ourselves with this identity, by working with the grain of love, we
encounter the peace and joy of the Gospel.
Today, as we Baptize Sarah
into the Body of Christ, pay special attention to the words and actions of
Baptism – as they will show you how it is that we can be obedient, aligned, to
God’s grace. We repent of evil and put our whole trust in the love and grace of
God, we gather for fellowship, we proclaim in word and example this Good News
of grace, we love our neighbors, we strive for justice, we respect the inherent
dignity of every human being, we die to self and live in Christ. Do you have to
do any of these things if you don’t want to? Absolutely not. Ebenezer Scrooge
can be your pattern and God will still love you and Jesus will still have died
for your sins. You do not, by the power of your sin, have the ability to make
God reject you. But you can, by being obedient, with God’s help, come to know
the joys of God’s saving grace for you. By being servants to love, we can use
our freedom as it is intended so that the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control
– can take root in your life. Pay attention to today’s Baptism and see what the
life of grace is all about. For freedom, Christ has set you free. Enjoy your
freedom by using it to love, and thereby to work with the grain of the
universe.
