Church newsletter pastoral column for St. Peter Lutheran Church, Greene, Iowa, for May, 2020.
Freedom of a Christian
“For freedom Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
– Galatians 5:1
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! By the time you read this, Easter might seem like a distant memory. But despite the strangeness of this year’s celebration, despite our inability to gather in person for worship, and the lack of Easter egg hunts and brunches, no matter how feeble our celebration might feel, the good news of Easter is still true: Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, and because he lives, we too shall live with him forever. Alleluia!
Because of Jesus’ victory on Easter, the powers of sin, death, and the grave have been defeated. As we say in the traditional words of the confession, we are in bondage to sin and death and cannot free ourselves. But God has come to do what we could not. By his death on the cross and his resurrection on Easter, Jesus has broken the chains of our sin. Your sins are forgiven and you are set free! That’s the good news of the Gospel.
So, what does it mean to be free? One of my favorite Lutheran theological concepts is “Freed from; freed for.” Because of what Jesus has done for us, we are set free from the burden of following the Law (and I don’t mean civil law, I mean God’s Law as set forth in Scripture – the Law is a sort of shorthand for the ten commandments and all the other commands God has given us). The Law was given to us to point out our shortcomings and our failings. The Law shows us how to live, but it also shows us where we fall short—and we all fall short. Measured against the perfection of God’s Law, all of us are exposed as sinners who deserve death. But on the cross, Jesus took upon himself the punishment we deserve, out of love for us and for the whole world. Jesus set us free!
But—and here’s the part where we often get mixed up—our freedom is not just for us. Paul writes in Galatians 5:13-14, “For you were 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. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” We are freed from the law, and we are freed for each other. Released from the punishments and requirements of the Law, we are able to use our freedom to unselfishly serve our neighbors.
Writing in 1520, Martin Luther put it 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.” (read the whole document here) Sounds paradoxical, doesn’t it? Here’s an example of how it applies to our current situation.
As I write this, there are reports of people protesting various state’s restrictions on business, and a few churches filing lawsuits demanding that they be permitted to gather in-person for worship. It’s a tricky situation, because as Americans, one of our core values is freedom. The Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of assembly and freedom of religion. As Americans, we believe in and defend freedom, and that’s a good thing!
But these freedoms are not the same as Christian freedom. Christians who live under repressive governments are also set free by Christ, just as much as we who are privileged to live in the United States. Let me be clear: We all want the economy to open. People’s livelihoods are being destroyed! And of course, we want churches to be open. I can’t tell you how much I miss gathering with our congregation for worship!
I firmly believe it is government’s job to protect religious freedom, including freedoms of worship and assembly. If our government were to declare that churches could not worship, or ban the name of Jesus Christ, I certainly hope that with the help of the Holy Spirit, I’d be the first to disobey and risk whatever punishment was threatened. The Church is obligated to disobey government orders that go against God. As Martin Luther said on trial at the Diet of Worms, “To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God.”
Remember, though, as Christians, our freedom is to be used for the benefit of others. We’re not set free to be our own gods, able to do whatever we want that benefits ourselves. We’re not set free so we can be the center of our own little worlds. We are set free from sin and joined to God. Paul writes in Romans 6:22, “You have been freed from sin and enslaved to God.”
A couple hundred years after Luther’s On the Freedom of a Christian, Pastor Dietrich Bohoeffer wrote, “Being free means being free for the other, because the other has bound me to them. Only in relationship with the other am I free.” Imprisoned by the Nazi regime in Germany, Bonhoeffer knew true Christian freedom was not granted by governments or anything else in this world, but by Jesus Christ on the cross. Freedom that harms another will always leave us bound.
The reason we’ve suspended gathering in person as a church congregation for worship is the same reason businesses are closed: To protect our neighbors. We’re living out Jesus’ commands. It is precisely because we are set free from sin that we ought to obey the instructions of health experts to maintain physical distancing and stay home as much as possible. We are set free from self-centeredness and greed, set free from seeking our own benefit, and set free to protect the vulnerable.
Now, of course, government orders are created by sinful humans, and there are certainly times when they get it wrong. But as Christians, our criteria for judging whether an order is right and lawful is different than the world’s criteria. Our criteria is based on whether protecting life and benefiting our neighbors and the least of these whom God loves.
I look forward to gathering with you again in person for worship as soon as it is safe to do so. Amidst all the challenges of this pandemic, may God bless you in this Easter season!
In Christ,
-Pastor Daniel Flucke