Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Proper 8 (13) - Year C
Freedom is multivalent. There are two places where misuse can easily creep in. One is in thinking freedom is separation or distance from a variety of relationships. Here is the basis for individualism that discounts the wave function of community. The other is the substitution of a technique such as a majority rule. Here is the basis for tribalism that again discounts the value of every part of the community to the health of the whole.
“For freedom we are set free” is a great line, but only with an important caveat. We are not to return to slavery, our own or another’s. We can fool ourselves about slavery as both the above, individualism and majoritarianism are enslavements to particalism, forgetting that none are free unless all are free. This doesn’t mean until all are separated individuals or persuaded to join a coalition making a majority, but free to develop relationally.
Freedom here is a freedom toward community. None of the fruits of the spirit can be accomplished in isolation — they are all relational and unbounded in their implementation. There is no law against the multitude of ways in which we are able to participate in loving our Neighb*r.
For a course on “Living Sacramentally, Walking Justly” I condensed and modernized one of John Wesley’s sermons (On Zeal, #92). It includes these spirit-oriented qualities against which there are no laws and ways toward them. You may or may not find it helpful here. Click Here if you want to take a look.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2013/06/galatians-51-13-25.html
There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead;
And when she was good
She was very, very good,
But when she was bad she was horrid.
[HWL]
When we are good the Fruit of Spirit (singular) has many different expressions, each fit for an occasion. A Willy Wonka gobstopper creation. [MISSING URL]
When we are bad the Desires of Flesh (plural) come spilling out, one after the other, pulling and pushing the others along. A Heironimos Bosch creation. [MISSING URL]
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/june2004.html
There are two lists here that tie us into either/or thinking of saints and sinners. If we are going to talk about Jesus as truly human and truly divine we will need to talk about ourselves as truly spirit and truly flesh.
It is this primordial soup within which we live and move and have our being and work out any salvation with fear and trembling. As we proceed in this, the way in which we process "law" and "freedom from the law" is crucial to our long-term well-being. In the short-term we will from time to time err on the side paying more attention to the law or freedom, or not enough attention to freedom and the law. Knowing this helps us step back and make our course correction toward what we desire to lead us into eternity.
Are you more comfortable with law or freedom? Where are you with the issue of ambiguity between the two? Which will give more fullness to life?
It is helpful to set these two lists against Martin Buber's, I and Thou.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/june2004.html
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." - Kris Kristofferson
"Love means never having to say you're sorry." - Erich Segal
An internet search brings these variations:
"Victory means never having to say you're sorry."
"Backups ...."
"Apologetics ...."
"Being Wolfowitz ...."
"Sado-masochism ...."
"Coalition ...."
"Saying 'mistakes were made' ...."
"Self-love ...."
Now, think about what it would mean in your life to live freedom without all its current patriotic trimmings. Where freedom would mean never having to say you're sorry.
Thus freedom would not lead to fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strive, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, faction, (put your sorrow here, at the comma between verses 20 & 21), envy, drunkenness, carousing. Where we participated in such, we could not excuse it by an appeal to freedom.
Thus freedom would lead to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, (put your best here, at the comma between verses 22 & 23), gentleness, self-control. We are free to participate in such.
- - -
no law against love
but plenty of examples
of best intentions
gone horribly terribly wrong
no law against repentance
but plenty of examples
of having put our hand to the plow
never turning away
no law against new life
but plenty of examples
of turning a blind eye
to an open door
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html
We often look at the fruits of the spirit as though they were pickable right now. One of the realities is that they need manure and clean air and sun to nurture them to fruition. Many of us need to attend to one Anonymous group or another to provide the space needed for their growth.
A downside of seeing these gifts as fully mature, is the discouragement that comes when we don't measure up to these goals or results. At those moments when we do what we don't want to or refrain from acting when we should, we too quickly judge a growing fruit against a 4-H Fair Blue Ribbon Winner and give up. This is particularly galling in the area of patience.
There is no law against or limit on any of these blessings, regardless of their stage of faithfulness.
Here's a blog post you might appreciate, Dan Dick's Methodeviations that talks about the interconnectedness between the fruits of the spirit, not just their degree of maturity. Playing back and forth between Dan's image and this one, is a helpful spot to be.
You may also appreciate a connection with discipline and resultant (in the context of worship) as described by Evelyn Underhill in The Fruits of the Spirit:
Each person's discipline will be different because what God wants from each of us is different. Some are called to an active and some to a passive life, some to very homely and some to hard and sacrificial careers, some to quiet suffering. Only the broad lines will be alike. But no discipline will be any use to us unless we keep in mind the reason why we are doing this--for the Glory of God, and not just for the sake of our own self-improvement or other self-regarding purpose. Our object is to be what God wants of us, not what we want. So all that we do must be grounded in worship. First lift up our eyes to the hills, then turn to our own potato field and lightly fork in the manure.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2010/06/galatians-51-13-25.html