Sermon Recording

“For freedom Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). What a good line to ponder as we get ready for Independence Day picnics and parades.

My colleague Phillip Dennis called the children of his church forward for the children’s sermon one Sunday. It was a day like today, the Sunday before July 4th, so he told them about freedom in the United States and, more importantly, our freedom in Christ. One boy exclaimed, “I’m free!” and Dennis agreed with him.

Not to be outdone, another boy proudly announced, “I’m four!”

So we laugh about being free, but we need to watch out. Freedom is not just a good idea — it can be as explosive as a Fourth of July firecracker.

I recently read about a surprising study: Two economists have discovered that the freedom to shop on Sundays contributes significantly to wicked behavior. And the people most affected are the ones who are the most religious.

Jonathan Gruber and Daniel Hungerman have studied what happens when states repeal “blue laws” — statutes that prohibit the Sunday sale of nonessential items such as jewelry, liquor and cigarettes. They have found that church attendance declines when stores are open on Sundays, while drinking and drug use increases. Most striking is that the biggest change in bad behavior mostly occurs among those who frequently attend religious services.

Before the shopping ban was lifted, 37 percent of people attended religious services, at least weekly. But once the stores were open on Sundays, attendance fell to 32 percent. And instead of going to church, many of the faithful are going astray. Marijuana use increases among church attendees, as does cocaine abuse and heavy drinking.

Open the stores, and suddenly Sundays become sinful.

As Americans, we are certainly great lovers of freedom, but it’s time we took a long, hard look at the dark side of independence. Like kids who get their drivers’ licenses and then wrap their cars around trees, or students who go off to college and get wasted in frat houses, we’ve got to learn how to handle the freedom we are given.

What do we do when we suddenly find ourselves without boundaries or constraints? Do we have to sit in front of the television and channel-surf for hours? Yes, I’ve been guilty of that, especially since getting Hi-Def. Do we have to become total party animals, stumbling from regular church attendance into drug and alcohol abuse?

Or, can there be a much more uplifting outcome to being set free from the law?

“For freedom Christ has set us free,” says Paul (5:1). This liberty doesn’t have to result in Sinful Sundays.

I like to think of Paul’s letter to the Galatians as a spiritual Declaration of Independence, because it frees us from Jewish legal obligations and insists that we become right with God only through our faith in Jesus Christ. But Christian liberty is not a license to go crazy. When we are set free from the Jewish law, we are not given permission to do whatever we want. Freedom in Christ is freedom to do what Jesus wants — it is a freedom that says, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (2:20).

“You were called to freedom,” writes Paul to the Galatians; “only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence” (5:13). Don’t assume that faith in Christ gives you a “get out of jail free” card for the pursuit of personal pleasure through drinking and drugging and whatever else eases your pain and makes you feel good. Paul opposes this tendency toward self-indulgence, and turns us toward the needs of our neighbors, saying, “though love become slaves to one another” (v. 13). He knows that if we are servants of one another, then we are not going to behave in selfish ways or abuse one another. “For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment,” writes Paul, “’You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (v. 14). He challenges us to love one another as Jesus loved us, and to serve each other as Christ served us.

The blue law study indicates that when stores are open on Sundays, marijuana use increases by 11 percentage points among church attendees, compared with those who never go to services. Cocaine use increases by nearly 4 percentage points. Heavy drinking increases by over 5 percentage points. And although the study doesn’t say so, you can imagine that other pleasure-seeking behaviors increase as well: “fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these” (vv. 19-21).

These are signs of freedom, yes — but not Christian freedom.. The liberty we have as Christians is the freedom to love our neighbors and act as slaves to one another.

Now maybe you are thinking that this talk of selfish pleasure-seeking has little to do with you. After all, you don’t smoke pot, snort cocaine, or go on alcohol-fueled benders. Licentiousness, idolatry, and sorcery are not part of my normal Sunday routine — and I doubt they are part of yours, either.

For you, this talk of Christian freedom has a different but equally important message: You now have total license to go crazy with good works! “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,” says Paul. “There is no law against such things” (vv. 22-23). There’s absolutely no regulation against having too much joy, being far too patient, showing excessive generosity! Go ahead, says Paul — knock yourself out! There’s no law against it.

Unlimited freedom to be followers of Christ — that’s the amazing gift we are given when Jesus sets us free. Sadly, it’s a gift that few of us are willing to put to use. When was the last time someone came up to you and said, “Would you please stop being so loving, joyful, peaceful, and patient”?

No one has ever said that to me, I’m sorry to say. You and I don’t tend to get these comments because we’re timid as Christians — timid about using the freedom we have been given.

It’s time to show our independence and unleash some good works on the world around us. Time to focus on “the fruit of the Spirit” instead of “the desires of the flesh.” Time to uncork some love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and generosity. Bernie Siegel, the author of several books including Peace, Love and Healing, recommends that we ask ourselves “How would I behave if I were a loving person?” and then act that way. Identify a role model, a truly loving person, and then imitate that person.

“I view the world with love,” says Siegel. “I tell people to experiment with this. Judge no one you meet for the next 24 hours. Love everyone you meet and see. It’s incredible how that changes your relationship with people. … When you judge everybody — he’s lazy, he’s no good, he only wants money, he doesn’t care about me — you project that, and you affect those people. When I walk around being loving, it’s incredible how people respond.”

Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Generosity. All these are gifts that can be unleashed on the world, because we have been given unlimited freedom to go crazy with good works!

The time has come to stop holding back. On this, our spiritual Independence Day, let’s break free from being stingy with our God-given love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and generosity.

For freedom Christ has set us free. We have total license to go crazy with good works, so let’s unleash our gifts on the world. Amen.


Sources:
Morin, Richard. “When malls stay open on Sundays, the pious party,” The Washington Post, September 14, 2006, A2.
Stearns, Mary Nurrie. “How love heals: interview with Bernie Siegel,” Personal Transformation Website, 2002.
http://www.personaltransformation.com