How blind we are! We so easily confuse freedom and bondage, so that we hanker after slavery and flee true freedom. How could anyone be any more blind than that? Yet, we are exactly that blind. We easily seek to be bound by the law and its precepts, while fleeing the gospel and its liberating speech. As a parish pastor I often encounter this desire when people demand, "Pastor, just tell me what to do." I am always tempted to answer simply: "Go. Be free," and usually I do say some form of those words, although with a bit more explanation. The problem is that human reason can never see or appreciate the gift of spiritual freedom won by Christ and conveyed to us by the gospel. It does not have the capacity to absorb and fully appreciate such a rich blessing from God.

In the kingdom of this world, this incapacity is not considered abnormal. Reason is a gift which God gives to function in the realm of the world. It enables us to sort our way through the law with its rewards and penalties. It answers the question about how to get ahead in the world, to get a job and keep it, build a home and family, and to shape our children's lives. And even though there are obviously spiritual influences in these areas of our life, because the two kingdoms interpenetrate each other, their basic shape is given by the Ten Commandments. Sometimes people are described as being a "slave to their work," as though that could be avoided. While we do have other worldly callings, of course we work in our daily labor within the boundaries of law and requirements, and this implies a kind of slavery.

Relations within human culture are shaped and defined by the law. These are the issues which your mother taught you as a child: clean your plate, don't talk with your mouth full, show respect to your elders, and don't point sharp objects at anyone. If you don't learn these basic principles, you will struggle with human relations. Reason has the capacity to run life in this world. The power of reason-and it is powerful-then deludes us into thinking it can also evaluate the divine gifts. It is a confusion that happens naturally. This is similar to the confusion that many men experience when they realize that hammer will drive a nail very well. They conclude from that that a hammer can fix anything, as many a wife has found out from bitter experience. Reason is great for knowing the law, not so hot for applying the gospel.