Can Freedom Be Taken Too Far?

I hope as we've gone through a week of paradox you have found hope. I hope as 2009's calendar placed the Week of Mourning and the Week of Christ's Passion together you found in the story of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection a God who is near and suffers with us. I hope that today as we celebrated Christ's resurrection you were able to discover a greater measure of life. This morning's gentle rain reminded me of God's desire to bring new life.

This coming Sunday, we'll turn back to our discovery of freedom in Paul's letter to a group of churches in the Roman province of Galatia.

Many of you have sharpened my thinking on this journey. Frequently, you've asked some questions related to freedom being taken to far. Some of us have seen the most horrendous behavior in churches. The Week of Mourning reminds us that in Rwanda's history the community that should have been the guardian of life instead became an accomplice in genocide. A friend of mine once candidly told me, "I hate churches." As I listened to his story I could easily understand why he had such feelings of anger.

I've never seen a church become a place of violence, but I've frequently seen it become a place filled with back biting and division. I've also seen it on occasion become a perpetrator of ethnic or racial prejudice. A strange dynamic I have observed is that sometimes churches that throw off the shackles of rule keeping become filled with sin. Freedom should bring a community of love, but sometimes instead freedom is used to promote selfish agendas.

Paul was dealing with these dynamics of ethnic prejudice when he wrote Galatians. Some in the church were dividing people along ethnic lines and they used church rules to promote their own prejudice.

An easy temptation for Paul could have been to create another set of rules. Instead Paul shifts his argument back to two keys for our personal and community health. The first key is love. The second is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

This week we'll spend some time looking at one of humanity's oldest principles of ethics. This is to love our neighbors as our self. Paul quotes the Old Testament as he makes the argument. Jesus also made this his base of ethics. In fact those who study world religions find this principle in all religions. Something inside our humanity knows sacrificial love is the answer to a community wracked by anger, hatred, and prejudice.

History shows that the principle of treating others as we would want to be treated has transformed nations. The former United States President John Kennedy quoted this principle when he decided to force the University of Alabama to admit black students. He understood that the true test of freedom was our ability to love beyond our prejudices.

It seems that today we also must have the courage to embrace freedom motivated by love.

I hope to see you this coming Sunday as we continue our journey.

Imana ikurinde,

Dave Jenkins

P.S. If you would like to join CCR as a member or learn more about our vision please stay after worship this coming Sunday to join us for our Beginnings Class. We'll provide a light lunch. Also, we can provide child care if needed.