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This week, we pause to give thanks for the blessings of freedom. We remember the sacrifices of those who came before us – people who, having lived under the weight of tyranny, gambled their own lives, liberty, and happiness on a dream that the powers of government could be -- and should be -- entrusted to all the people. And we reaffirm the notion that our nation has always been built on solid principles, values that are deeply held and shared in common.
As people of faith, however, we recognize an even deeper set of values that define our most basic views on freedom. In Christ, we are freed from the tyranny of sin and the prison of death. This is an amazing and wonderful gift, but we dare not believe that it comes without bounds or limits. Having been liberated from the chains of fear and oppression, we willingly and joyfully accept a new set of values – values that not only honor and respect the needs of other people, but often require us to place their needs ahead of our own. “You, my brothers and sisters,” Paul writes, “were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh. Instead, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal. 5:13-14).
This year, as we pause to give thanks for the freedoms we enjoy, let us remember that our principles of freedom are determined by the principles of our faith. As those who have been set free and claimed by the love and grace of God, we are called to a different way of life. “If you bite and devour each other,” Paul warns, “watch out or you will be destroyed by each other” (Gal. 5:15). But if we choose instead to walk in the freedom of the Spirit – if our shared pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness is defined by things like love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – then in these things we will find true freedom… for “against such things there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23).
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