A Declaration of Dependance

As we are coming up to the Fourth of July, we will be hearing a lot of talk about ‘freedom.’ I’ll be honest, the way that we as Americans talk about this always makes me feel a little uncomfortable. Our language and elevation of freedom seems idolatrous to me. We as a country, as a culture, have elevated a false (or at the least very unbiblical) view of freedom as being of ultimate religious and social significance. From here we have built our lives around this deity in an unintentional act of worship. But, idolatry is a slippery concept. It was in my Ash Wednesday sermon that I talked a little bit about the way that Christianity has defined the concept of God. The way that we think of God, of the Divine, is conceptually and linguistically close to the way that we use the word treasure. We can put all kinds of things into our treasure box; we can value all kinds of things, but the problem is that we begin to build our lives around these treasures, and it affects the way that we make decisions. Thus, we can inadvertently put all kinds of things in our “God box,” and what we put in this place will affect the way that we see the world. Most Christians are polytheistic without realizing it. I am no exception. I find that my spiritual life is often combing through my life and choices and discerning what has started playing such an important place in my life and decision- making that it has corrupted my ability to put the one true and living God at the center of my life. I am idolatrous, and I confess my sin often. Our American version of freedom has certainly made its way into our ‘God box.’

So, I challenge you to not elevate a declaration of independence this weekend, but rather to celebrate our declaration of dependance. A declaration that we need each other, that we serve each other, and that we are beholden to each other. Christ offers us a true freedom, and it is the best freedom that we could ever receive, but the paradox is that this freedom exists with the constraints to love our neighbors as ourselves. Freedom in Christ comes with constraints. Christ has set us free from sin and death, a freedom which offers us true happiness through union with God. But at the same time, we are completely dependent on each other as the church, and completely dependent on God our creator and sustainer. This weekend, be radical and make a declaration of dependence to follow the narrow path; to serve Christ and neighbors as ourselves.

So, for a reflection this week, I offer this statement from sixteenth-century theologian Martin Luther:

“[a] Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, and subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”