July 4, 2010
Galatians 6:1-18
“A New Creation Is Everything!”
Franklin Circle Christian Church
Allen V. Harris

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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. (1)

How do we handle liberty? How do we manage freedom? How do we conduct ourselves according to independence? Of course, this weekend, and today in particular, we call to mind July 4, 1776 when our nation’s founders announced the independence from the tyranny from British rule that the new colony had long sought. But today’s lectionary text, from Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia, also, brings to mind the same pronouncement of independence that Paul and other early church leaders were claiming from the tyranny of the Mosaic laws and rituals as new believers in Jesus Christ.

The question in both instances is, “How do we best handle this freedom?” And in both the American experiment and the Christian “experiment,” there were responses as varied as anarchy or hedonism to strict legalism or letter-of-the-law folks. For some, being free means to get rid of all restraint, let go, be wild, and elevate the individual’s wants, needs, and desires. Party! For others, being free means to formulate a new set of rules, conditions, principles, and laws; to reform and reestablish boundaries with a new set of referees, judges, rulers. Regroup!

I think our current conversations in America, whether it be the Tea Party call for “less government” or President Obama’s appeal to the “Audacity of Hope,” is around the nexus of what freedom means: does it mean more control for the individual and less intrusion of the government, or does it mean more responsibility of the individual and less constraint in finding the common good?

But, in contrast to both extremes in how to respond to independence, much like the founders of this nation, the Apostle Paul calls us to use our newfound freedom in order to be a New Creation! We don’t have to throw off all rules and laws, nor do we have to become the new enforcers, tyrants in different clothes. We become a new creation. Paul Tillich, the great 20-century theologian, says that if he had to sum up the entire Christian Message in two words, it would be “new creaton.” (2)

But, this is difficult. It is hard to live into the new creation in our world. We swing, as individuals and as communities, between the pendulum extremes of Hedonism and Tyranny. And if it is difficult to live in balance out in “the world,” it is equally hard, if not harder, to live into the new creation in our own community of faith. “So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.” (vs. 10). I feel this, even here, as our church does amazing ministry for the least amongst our world, in our Disciples Closet clothing room, Third Sunday Meal, and Fourth Sunday Food Bag Ministry, for even then we seem to have the sharpest words of criticism and harshest standards of conduct for those who are our sisters and brothers, members of the church, and leaders.

So, if it is difficult even in this community of faith to live the New Creation, how do we do it? For Paul, the solution to living in either extreme, that of no-holds-barred hedonism or enforcer-remix-Tyrant, was to focus on the cross of Christ. For Paul, the way to live out this new creation was to do everything within your power to understand this amazing, incredulous, awesome act of cosmic history in Christ Jesus. And for Paul the best way to do this was to focus on the cross of Christ. The crucifixion of Jesus was, for Paul, the fulcrum point of history, the place where all things changed, all bets were off, all rules were null-and-void, and all interested parties were made equal. He proclaims, “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” The one thing that enables this freedom, this liberty, this independence to become a new creation is to have all eyes, all hearts, all minds on Christ, and Christ crucified no less.

And this simply is to focus on the sacrifice which enabled this freedom to become a reality. Rather than rah rah parades, and showing how many American flags you can put up around your house, or over-scripted political speeches, wouldn’t our nation do better to focus on the honest sacrifices of those men and women who have gone before us who have made this freedom a reality the most effective, and meaningful, thing we could do?

And by “men and women who have made this freedom a reality” I mean more than just the soldier who fought in wars from the Revolutionary War to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, although I certainly speak of them. I also mean people of every stripe who clearly sacrificed for a larger good, a greater whole, a more perfect union: teachers and nurses, custodians and garbage collectors, factory workers and university professors, scientists and bankers, homemakers and artists, and yes, even politicians. Our nation is great only when every single one of us looks beyond the thrill of fulfilling our own wants, needs, and desires; reaches beyond the responsibility of organizing, codifying, enforcing; and simply lives in such a way as to make this world a better place for others, which means to sacrifice.

This past week I once again came across a letter my cousin Vonnie had sent to me some years back. It is a letter my father sent home from Europe during World War II and is dated May 25, 1945. It was written as the war was ending, and it reminded me in most tangible ways how sacrifice is the only path to a greater good. In part, my father, then Captain Wesley Dalton Harris, wrote to his family back home:

We are now near Lubtheen Germany about 50 miles south east of Hamburg. This is where we were when the war ended. The Russians met us a few days before the official end of the war.

The end was a fine sight. The Elbe was our fifth river crossing and our easiest. The Waal (lower Rhine) at Mimagen, Holland the toughest. The Krauts had put in quite a few mines which we were removing when the rush started. At first about fifty gave up – then more – and more – until by night they were coming in droves a bunch of rabble – shuffling in – in cars – horse back – walking – in tanks – bicycles. Men – women – kids – soldiers – liberated prisoners and slaves. In short a “rat” race and the krauts made good “rats.”

The concentration camps were much worse than the press described them. These germans wanted to kill, yes, but not the easy way, they had to make their victims suffer – starve – be beaten – live in filth – freeze. No human being could be so degenerate to do the things they did to the people in the concentration camps.

Our Division made every german in the sector visit the concentration camp before the bodies were removed and then the graves were placed in the town square as a constant reminder to these people of the crime their nation had committed against humanity.

This camp was new and small – less than a month since it started. 1,000 of the original 4,000 were dead when we arrived. Others were too far gone to be saved. These people [the germans] were living well. Much better than the English or other people we have seen. Quite a contrast between these fat healthy jokers and the piles of skin and bones inside the camps.

I suppose you can tell by my letter that we didn’t celebrate VE day very much…

So then, on this Sunday, July 4, 2010 let us seek a deeper understanding of what liberty means, what freedom costs, and what independence calls us to be. Let us not take such freedom, whether it be political, social, economic, or spiritual, to be a license for careless living and irresponsible behaviors. But neither let this freedom be a newly-forged chain around our necks nor a excuse to become the enforcer to compel ourselves or others to live by strident rules and confining laws. Instead, let us live into the New Creation God has set before us, both in our spiritual lives as followers of the Christ and as citizens of this great nation. And the key to unlock this New Creation, is to remember, recall to one another, and live by the sacrifices of those who made this New Creation a reality.

Amen.

(1) Declaration of Independence, from WikiSource, http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence Paul Tillich, Chapter 2: The New Being, published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1955.
http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=375&C=15

(2) I strongly urge you to read this entire chapter on Galatians 6. It is a marvelous look at what this “new creation” truly means for Christians. Paul Tillich, Chapter 2: The New Being, published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1955.
http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=375&C=15


 

Rev. Allen V. Harris
Franklin Circle Christian Church
www.FranklinCircleChurch.org


 

Copyright 2010 -- The Rev. Allen V. Harris

Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

1688 Fulton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113-3096