Thought for Today

John 8:31 . . . "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."  

John 16:13  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  

“. . . the church of Jesus Christ is the place – that is, the space – in the world in which the lordship of Jesus Christ is witnessed and proclaimed over all the world . . . The first instruction to those who belong to the church is not, therefore, to do something for themselves – say, create a religious organization or lead a pious life – but to be witnesses of Jesus Christ to the world.” (I Want to Live These Days with You, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, pg.172)

Jesus told the Jews who believed, “the truth will make you free.” Jesus named the Holy Spirit, “the Spirit of truth.” More and more each day, we are confronted with the issue of trying to determine in an AI world, “What is the truth?”

I have written and preached before, the truth is the gospel good news. I believe the truth is best summarized in certain verses, parables and pericopes of our Bible; e.g., Micah 6:8; John 3:16-17; Luke 10:27; Matthew 28:19.

Did those verses set those 1st century Jews free? Do those verses set us free? If so, from what? How? Freedom is a much bandied about word and always has been. “Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint.” (en.wikipedia.org)

Does our Christian freedom offer us the power (or right) to speak, act and change as we want without hindrance or restraint? Or, does our Christian freedom itself function as a filter or control on how we speak, act or change?

In the Bible, especially in the New Testament, freedom is implicitly freedom from the Law. That Law is the Mosaic Law of the Old Testament. Few of us have truly studied the Torah, the 5 books of Moses which begin our Christian Bible. Those 5 books contain a lot of laws, rules and regulations. There are laws, rules and regulations for almost every aspect of daily life, every detail of worship, every interaction with those around us.

By the time of Jesus, those laws, rules and regulations had become more stifling and confining than freeing. Pharisees understood salvation as achievable only through perfect obedience to that plethora of laws, rules and regulations. Many of us learned that childhood rhyme, “step on a crack, break your mother’s back.” For the Pharisees some minor, trifling infraction could literally condemn them through eternity.

What is our Christian freedom? What is our purpose, our duty as Christians? Is our loyalty to denominationalism, to the laws, rules and regulations of our particular faith tradition? How do our denominational laws, rules and regulations square with those verses I cited above? Do our denominational laws, rules and regulations help or hinder?

I do believe our Christian freedom lies in the truth. Not the truth of laws, rules or regulations, but the truth of the Incarnation, Ministry, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. I believe our Christian freedom lies in the truth of Micah 6:8; John 3:16-17; Luke 10:27; Matthew 28:19. It is in the love of our Creator God for God’s Creation, including God’s creatures (including us!).

Are we, as Christians, free? Do we have “the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint?” Not exactly! We are free from the constraints of the Mosaic Law. Unless, however, the civil laws under which we live conflict with God’s law, we are not free to ignore, disobey or disregard civil laws.

Even our individual ‘freedom’ to speak, act or change is constrained by those verses and by the guidance of God the Father, Jesus the Son and by the Holy Spirit God has given us. Jesus’ own words in Luke 10:27 are unambiguous. “Love your neighbor as yourself” leaves little room for doubt. We cannot speak, act or change merely to serve ourselves. Bonhoeffer is correct, our purpose as Christians, the purpose of the Church, is to be “to be witnesses of Jesus Christ to the world.”

Stay safe, witness your faith in how you lead your life, trust God,

Pastor Ray