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Theme Scripture - Gal. 5:1 “For freedom Christ has set us free.”
Theme Word - Freedom
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I came across a true story about a young boy who was always catching wild things and putting them into cages. The little boy particularly loved the sound of the mockingbird, so he decided to catch one and keep it so that he could hear it sing any time.

He soon found a very young mockingbird and placed it in a cage outside of his home. On the second day he saw a mother bird fly to the cage and feed the young bird through the bars. Wasn't that sweet and marvelous, thought the young boy. But then the following morning he found that the little bird was dead.

When he got a little older, he had the opportunity to talk to a renowned ornithologist (someone who is an expert in birds) and asked him about the death of the young bird. Said the expert, “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes take it poisonous berries. She evidently thinks it better for the one she loves to die rather than live in captivity.” (1)

Underlying this whole story is the belief that God intends for creation's creatures to be free. And before we take this statement to extremes, I don't have insight into the morality of maintaining zoos, animal reserves, or even owning pets, nor should these questions be addressed here and now and in the context of this message. Not everything in life is black and white, and some questions don't always have answers, at least not simple ones. Suffice it to say, one of the assumptions of this story is that the mockingbird is meant to be free.

One of the assumptions of our scripture passage is that humans, you and I, are meant to be free. Now we may not be caught and locked up in cages like the mockingbird, but we many times find ourselves enslaved to behaviors, addictions, temptations, and false gods such as material possessions. And if we are caught by these kinds of things, we are as good as caged. We can't get away from that which holds us. We are not free to be who we are meant to be and to do what we are called to do.

It's in this sense that Paul states that believers are freed from the things of the flesh and are freed for the things of the Spirit. What does he mean by that? Well, according to Paul, you and I get caught by certain behaviors and by certain ways of living and by what seems to be important in order to have a successful life and by what the world tells us will bring happiness. Paul lists examples in verses 5:19-21; according to Eugene Peterson's wording: “repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community.” We are constantly bombarded by persons selling products and services through ads and commercials, television and magazines, showing us examples of celebrities and the good life, offering questionable and self serving philosophies as though these bring meaning and fulfillment to life. Isn't it amazing that many of the people in our world who have everything and are living the “good life” are addicted to alcohol and drugs, can't maintain healthy or stable relationships, and party to extremes because they are insecure and lonely. Somehow, the success the world offers them hasn't taken away their demons and given their lives meaning and fulfillment. The things of the flesh have not set them free and they are just as dead as that mockingbird in the cage.

The only thing that can set people free is the belief and acceptance of Christ Jesus through his death and resurrection. And the emphasis that Paul proclaims is that we are freed FOR the things of the Spirit. While Christ has freed us FROM our cages, Christ's intention is to free us FOR living that freedom and sharing it with others. Paul lists these things of the Spirit in verses 22 and 23; and once again Eugene Peterson puts it this way: “He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.” Only free people can live in this way.”

Do we notice the difference in the two types of lives? The difference is one of focus. Those who are trapped and caged focus on themselves: what I need and what I want. Those who are free focus on others: how best can I help others to experience the freedom I have. Only free people can reach beyond themselves.

Last month, our Sunday School class spent several weeks on the 16 th chapter of Acts, and especially on an incident where Paul and his partner Silas were thrown into prison. Now when people are thrown into prison, their thoughts tend to center on themselves: how am I going to survive this? Can I escape? What do I need to do to make this more bearable and maybe even comfortable? Not Paul or other early Christians; they didn't center their thoughts on themselves What did they do? They sang and prayed and talked about their faith for the benefit of the other prisoners and especially for the benefit of their jailers and guards. In the incident we studied, an earthquake caused them to be released from their shackles and caused the prison doors to be opened, but Paul and Silas didn't escape. Why? If a guard's prisoners escaped, he was expected to commit suicide. Paul didn't want the guard to die. Only a live man can receive the grace of Christ, which was what happened. Paul locked up in jail was more free than the non Christian peoples walking around the streets outside of his prison.

You see, how we live our lives is a spiritual issue, because if we are free, we are not focused on ourselves but beyond ourselves: we are focused on loving God and loving our fellow human beings. And as easy as that sounds, it takes effort and intentionality and strength of faith to always look beyond ourselves. Why? Because freedom is scary and uncertain. We don't know the future; we don't know if it will last; we don't have a comfort zone; others may feel threatened and want to imprison us; there's always the possibility we could die; there's no security in freedom. Freedom is hard.

Remember the story of the Exodus? For those who don't, the children of Israel finally gained their freedom. They marched out of Egypt towards the Promised land filled joy and dancing and hope. Everything was coming up roses for a people who had been slaves for 430 years. They were free and they were going to have it all. But then reality set in. It got hard and it got uncertain and at times downright deadly. First the Egyptians chased them to take them back into slavery, and they discovered they had nowhere to go. So they complained to their leader, Moses: We're going to die. Why did we ever leave. We had it so much better in Egypt. Yet, despite the complaining and the wailing and gnashing of teeth, God saved them from the Egyptians. Then they were out in the desert with no food and no water. Sure they were going to die, they complained once again: We're going to die. Why did we ever leave. We had it so much better in Egypt. Despite the complaints, God fed them and gave them water. Then when Moses left them to talk with God, they were left leaderless for weeks. They were sure they had been abandoned to die. So once again they moaned: We're going to die. Why did we ever leave. We had it so much better in Egypt.

Think of it. They had been caged like that mockingbird, and they had been as good as dead. But God had saved them, given them freedom. But in order to live in freedom, they had to trust in God. In the midst of the hardships, the uncertainties, the insecurities of the future, they had to have faith that God would provide for them and take care of them. Freedom's hard, and it's only possible if we trust in God.

Freedom for the things of the Spirit. You and I have been saved by the grace of Christ Jesus. We've been freed. But this freedom isn't easy. We still live in a world that many times is a desert with no faith, no morals, no ethics, no hope. Temptations, addictions, and false religions surround us, sin and evil pound at us. It was so much easier when we just went along with it. We had it so much better when we were slaves in our own little cages.

But that way is death. Freedom only comes from God. And to live freedom means that we have to trust in God and to live for Christ, sharing love and grace with some of the worst people in the most unlikely spots.

My friends: have faith and hope and trust. The one who has freed you is with you and will not let you fall. Our Lord who as saved us, has saved us to go and share freedom with others. In the name of Christ you are free. So go and live as free people.

(1) James S. Hewett, ed. Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1988), p.225.
(2) Ideas for this sermon were taken from Marion Soards, Thomas Dozeman, and Kendall McCabe, Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C: After Pentecost 1 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), pp. 56-58.