Dependently Free
The red, white, and blue flying high, apple pie, and NASCAR are just a few of the things that have been running through my mind this week after reading our scripture reading. We live in the epicenter of freedom. Even if you do not live in Arlington, VA, if you live within the borders of the United States, you most likely have lived under the banner of American freedom. We mark the annual celebration as fireworks fill the night skies with bright lights and loud booms. And many of us drive past the perfectly aligned tombstones of Arlington National Cemetery, being reminded that the freedoms we enjoy – one of them being the ability to gather for worship without fear of persecution – do not come free. Ask any diplomat who has served in a nation where the freedoms we enjoy in the United States are not guaranteed, and they will tell you what we often take for granted, which is something others are willing to risk their lives to obtain.
The freedoms we enjoy as citizens of the nation with the world's strongest military are not the freedoms Jesus talked about with a group of Judeans.
Our scripture reading is a snippet of a larger conversation Jesus was having with a group of Jewish interlocutors. Before I go on, I want to clarify that "the Jews" mentioned in verse 31 did not stand for all Jews – neither in Jesus' time nor anytime – nor an abstract notion of Judaism. Any attempt to imply that Judaism is an enslaving religion or that Jesus stood outside Judaism is to do exegetical-malpractice and is outright anti-Semitic.
Jesus was engaged in a conversation about truth and freedom. This conversation was between Jesus and a crowd in which "many believed in him." They had heard what he said to them when he said the One who sent him was "true." And because the One who sent him was "true," to follow Jesus is to know the truth. The truth revealed in the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ is not referring to a philosophical ideal or the opposite of falsehood, and this truth is not about an agenda or deciphering fake news from real news. Rather the truth Jesus reveals is knowledge of God. The churchy word for this is revelation, found in the entirety of the life, death, and resurrection of the revealer.
This truth cannot be quantified or tabulated, and it is not a truth to learn rather a truth that has been and continues to be revealed to the saints of the church – past and present. This is the truth experienced in the waters of our baptism and in the bread and wine at Christ's table.
To know the truth of God revealed in Jesus Christ is to know Jesus. And to know Jesus is to follow him. This is relational knowledge, trusting in his grace rather than a set of beliefs. To know someone requires that we spend time with them, listen to them, and share ourselves with them, our whole selves and not a carefully curated version of ourselves.
So, what does the truth of God revealed in Jesus Christ have to do with freedom? I am glad you asked.
In the church, we believe that humanity has been enslaved to sin. Simply put, this means that we often lean towards and do the things we know we should not do and, in the process, harm one another and turn away from God. In the church, we call this sin and, in the church, we have difficulty talking about the very thing Christ has set us free from. Even though we may confess our sins, we still do not like to be called sinners.
While we may live free to do as we please because of geography, our condition as sinners does not change. There is no amount of flag-draped apparel, apple pie, or fireworks that can undo this condition.
In following Jesus, we have been sent from the consequences of our sin. All of them. That is what we mean when we declare our sins to be forgiven. That very declaration of forgiveness is our declaration of freedom, a declaration of dependence, not independence, upon One in who we find freedom. Freedom has little to do with our ability to deserve or earn it, and instead, freedom extended to all of creation, regardless of geography or birthright.
Freedom in Jesus Christ is more than forgiveness. Freedom in Jesus Christ is liberation from what we have turned toward at the expense of our relationship with our Creator. And this freedom was not bought with military might or thoughtful diplomacy. It is freely offered to us through the righteousness of the One whose righteousness we clothe ourselves in when we are baptized. The freedom transforms us from the inside out when we listen to Jesus and place our whole trust in his grace. In the church, we call this new life. It is what Bartimaeus pleaded for, what the rich young man could not imagine, and what the saints of the past have placed their trust in.
The truth revealed in and through Jesus Christ and the subsequent freedom from sin that is ours, we can, like the saints before us, walk in his way of love in the world that others might know that freedom is theirs.
