Pastor's Corner: Freedom is a finicky thing

Freedom is a finicky thing. When I was in seminary, I didn't have a car, but I had two feet and sturdy shoes. I walked almost everywhere I needed to go. My freedom to walk to work, school, church, and the grocery store depended on drivers giving up their freedom to drive at any speed, anywhere, anytime. My freedom to cross a busy street safely meant that drivers were not free to shave a few seconds off their morning commute. But the give-and-take of freedom goes the other way, too. I wasn't free to take the most direct path between my apartment and my favorite local pizza place because that would mean tromping through my neighbors' private property.

Freedom without rules results in everyone doing exactly what they please, which begins to look a lot like anarchy. Anarchy rarely leads to human flourishing. Freedom with rules gives us a way to live in (relative) harmony with others. Saint Paul in his letter to the church in Galatia (which is by the modern-day capital of Turkey, Ankara) gives us a rule to help guide our use of freedom: "For you are called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another" (Galatians 5:13, NRSV).

The message paraphrase of Galatians 5:13-15 puts it this way: "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?"

Martin Luther summarizes Saint Paul's reasoning like this:

"A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.

"A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all."

I've looked at that passage from Martin Luther so often since I first read it that my textbook falls open naturally to that page, and the binding has broken in exactly that spot. I've needed this reminder, and I think we all need this reminder, about the purpose and limits of our freedom when we live in a culture that valorizes and trumpets freedom.

What is our freedom for? Is it for personal glory and pleasure? Is it for building up the lives of our neighbors near and far? Is it for embracing who God made us to be?

What are the natural and good limits placed on our freedom? Is there a limit on our freedom when it's hot outside and we see the neighbors' lovely cool pool? Is there a limit on our freedom when our religious beliefs are different than our neighbors' beliefs? Is there a limit on our freedom when someone else's wellbeing is at stake?

This July Fourth weekend, I invite all of us to put our Christian freedom in conversation with our national freedoms. Freedom in every realm is a give-and-take, and the good Lord has taken away our captivity to sin so that we are free to live in love and peace everywhere we go. Amen!

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Pastor Megan Hoewisch

First Lutheran Church in Havre