Tag Archives: freedom

Connecting the dots – Law, Freedom, Identity, Compassion

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Connecting the Dots

Over the last few weeks we have been thinking about our identity in Christ. Because we are in Christ we are no longer living according to the written laws of God. Instead, we are guided internally by the Spirit of God, which guided those who first wrote down the scriptures. So we follow the spirit if not the letter of the law. This is more difficult, and requires more of us – it is harder, not easier, to live out this kind of righteousness. It requires that we seek continual fellowship with God in Christ – only then can the Spirit guide us. It also requires a community of likeminded people who are walking the same path and will agree to mutual accountability.

We then explored the way that Jesus calls us IN our identity, and respects who we are individually and culturally. When we call others to follow him, or come together with those who already are, we must do likewise. That means recognizing and respecting the background and experiences of each person – as a whole person. Christ will transform them. We don’t need to change them. We are created for wholeness. Our Identity can become our opportunity, but only if along the way we don’t try to remake other people in our image.

Compassion for others informs and energizes our ministry. We “treat others as we want to be treated.” We realize that we already “suffer with” (the meaning of “com-passion”) as co-humans. Life is difficult. There is plenty of pain and sorrow to go around without imposing more. Jesus said, “I came that you may have life, and that life abundant.” (John 10:10) If we, who are of one culture and heritage, are to reach, call and nurture people from another culture, then we must honor both our identity and theirs. Paul describes his attempts to do this: “I become all things to all people, so that I might by all means save some.” (1 Cor 9:22) That is precisely where he is leading us in this discussion about food, and having compassion for the uniqueness and weaknesses of others.

** NOTE: Reflections for a sermon – “Our Freedom is limited by Compassion” based on 1 Corinthians 8.

Freedom limited by compassion for others

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Compassion suggests that we limit our freedom in ways that will help others on their journey toward wholeness. “But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.”

Freedom limited by compassion for others

The news is filled with events and discussion around freedom of speech, freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. The killing of journalists and cartoonists in Paris at the Charlie Hebdo office was directly in response to their exercise of freedom of speech – printing satirical cartoons about a wide variety of issues and figures, including the Prophet Mohamed. Those who carried out the murders said they were offended, and were defending their own religious views.

In Utah this week the Mormon church held a press conference about their new policy stand – supporting proposed legislation in that state preventing discrimination against people based on race, gender or sexual orientation, including in hiring, housing and other public practices. Along with this, they state a strong preference for policies that also protect the rights of religious people to speak and practice their religious views without retaliation. Depending on which coverage you read, or where you stand on the issues, you see

We in this constitutional democratic republic are accustomed to wrestling between freedom and and its limits based on responsibility to the freedom of others. You may have the right to carry a concealed hand gun, but there are limits to that freedom – you cannot carry it on a public school campus. You may have freedom of speech, but there are limits – you can’t falsly yell “FIRE!” in a crowded movie theatre.

These ideas are so well engrained in us that we sometimes get confused when we think about, discuss and practice our faith. We sometimes forget that Jesus came to establish his Kingdom, which is not a democracy. We pray His prayer, asking that God’s kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven – essentially pledging ourselves to living and working for that fulfillment. So what of our freedom in Christ within this kingdom that is coming, and is already here?

I’ve written recently about our freedom in Christ vis-a-vis the Law. Free from and Free for. Here I want us to think about the limits on our freedom based on our compassion for others. Take a look at the text again in 1 Corinthians 8:9 But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

The gist is this: If exercising my freedom would cause someone else to stumble, then I should limit my freedom to protect them. Each party has responsibility. But if the other person is prevented from exercising restraint because of their own brokenness, then my love (God’s love working through me) would dictate that I should not act in a way that harms that person or causes her to harm herself.

Paul uses an example that is anachronistic for most of us – food sacrificed to idols. There are still places where you can find this, but they are rarer than in Paul’s time. And Paul was writing to people who likely would have practiced this form of food dedication in their daily lives.

We may not be likely to encounter this difficulty. So how will we experience this?

They’ll never take our freedom

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They may take our lives…
        … but they’ll never take OUR FREEDOM!!!

This is one of my favorite scenes from any movie. I’m inspired by several things in it:

  1. We choose how to live, ultimately. We choose whether to live a rich and full life, however long it may be, or to live small, petty lives in fear and want.
  2. People, situations and forces will work against our efforts to live free.
  3. Skirts, braided hair with ribbon, and makeup are cool, and no one ever made them look more tough and masculine.
  4. Most importantly, people cannot “take our freedom” because real freedom is internal. This is what Viktor E. Frankl discovered in the concentration camps during WWII, about which he wrote in Man’s Search for Meaning. Its also the sentiment behind Maya Angelou’s poem “Caged Bird.“

I’m inclined toward pacifism actually, though I acknowledge the necessity of war to defend those who cannot defend themselves. Even so, if we take the movie as not only historical fiction but also as a metaphor for our spiritual lives, then we can perhaps see how  if we do not fiercely live our freedom, then we have lost it already.

“Those who seek their lives will lose them, while those who lose their lives for my sake will find them.” (Matthew 10:39) Maybe there’s a connection there. Maybe.

Caged Bird

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Purchase works by Maya Angelou here.

A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

Maya Angelou, “Caged Bird” from Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing? Copyright © 1983 by Maya Angelou. Source: The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (Random House Inc., 1994) Track Back to Poetry Foundation

Are you my mother?

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There is no question that identity matters. I believe that one of the reasons this particular question is so important is that it points to identity. Yes, we want to be loved, even to be “mothered” (nurtured, swaddled, held, nursed, comforted, encouraged, taught, protected…) These and many other essentials are held in the idea of motherhood. The “first cause” if you will of motherhood is to bring us into the world.

When the baby bird asks, “Are you my mother?” she is asking, “Do I come from you? Do I belong to and with you? Does my identity derive (at least in part) from you?” I have not personally had the ‘adopted child searching for his mother’ conversation with anyone, so I can’t speak first hand. My hunch is, though, that in this risky and difficult venture people are seeking identity as much as anything else. Some say they want to know why – “Why did you give me up? Why did you leave me?” I get that, I think, though I can’t imagine how it actually feels. Perhaps this is also a question of identity, at least partly. “Who am I, and who are you, therefore who are we, that you would do this thing? If you would do that, what does this say about me?” I don’t know, but I wonder if these aren’t some subconscious questions being asked. My mom died when I was 27 and my sister was 32. At the memorial service, as people walked out and greeted us, my mother-in-law (I adore both my in-laws) walked up and gave me a hug. Sobbing, I asked her, “Will you be my mommy now?” I felt like I was 5 years old. I felt like the baby bird. Who will do all those mothering things for me? I needed to know. It was also a question of identity – “Can I belong to you? Will you claim me in this way?” The answer was a tender and quiet and confident “Yes, of course.” What of all those around us who lack a relationship of this kind? Where are the mothers who will step forward and fill the gap? Who will respond to the cry of children and adults who lack a mother’s nurture, love and care? And who will carry this banner? Who will hold this vision of hope and community so that others might be inspired and moved to action?

**  A reflection for “Our Attachment to Identity” From 1 Corinthians 7:29-31   &   Mark 1:14-20 First preached Sunday 1/25/15 @ http://www.StPaulUCCDallas.org