PASTOR MIKE’S MEDITATIONS

July 2020

As we prepare to celebrate our nation’s independence this weekend, I am reminded that Paul’s letter to the Galatians has been referred as the epistle of “freedom.” There Paul invites us to live life in light of Christ’s sacrifice for us. Galatians 2:20 is foundational, “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The life I now live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” In other words, "Living the New Life" is about dying in order to live, and allowing Christ to live in and through us. You see, when we remove ourselves from the throne of our hearts and lives, we actually find ourselves freed to live a new and greater kind of life. We are no longer slaves to sin and ticketed for eternal death, but are free indeed. “It is for freedom that Christ has set your free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be bound by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).
The Gospel of Freedom helps us to make sense of our present series of sermons on the 10 Commandments. As illustrated in recent messages, rather than laws meant to limit, they are freedoms that are meant to be enjoyed. They outline ten good gifts that are meant to be enjoyed within the bounds that God gives so that we can maintain the freedom he has won for us. As Israel was rescued from Egypt, in God’s grace we are rescued from the slavery to sin and empowered to live the new life through Christ’s sacrifice and the Spirit’s empowerment. Like Israel in the desert, we may be tempted to turn back to familiar practices and patterns of old, but are invited instead to move forward into the new life God has for us. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, racial unrest, and financial upheaval in our country, we need to accept Christ’s invitation into a life of freedom now more than ever. Three freedoms in particular stand out in light of our present circumstances. The first is freedom from fear.

It would be all too easy to fall into fear and anxiety with increasing cases of coronavirus in our country and county. While we are encouraged to “mask up!” for our own benefit and the benefit of others and practice social distancing, we are also not meant to live a life of fear. In Romans, we are reminded that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. This includes the power of death, because Christ overcame the grave.
A second freedom is from racism. When we are reminded in Revelation that every nation, tribe and tongue will be seated around the throne of heaven, we realize that experiencing racial reconciliation is ultimately readying us from heaven. We have been reminded the hard way recently that we still have more work to do when it comes to racism. We also see people misusing the movement that has reminded us that Black Lives Matter to practice civil unrest and disobedience for its’ own sake. That is also sad. Recall that in Christ, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all on in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28), and that we have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5). Through Christ, we have the power to overcome our differences.
A third freedom we are invited into is freedom from materialism. Times are tough right now with many out of work and other limited opportunities for travel and recreation as a result of the present pandemic. But redemptively, I see God realigning our priorities, causing us to see anew the gift of family, both biological & in faith, & to learn the gift of contentment. We can celebrate the good things we have knowing that “every good and perfect gift comes from above from the Father of the Heavenly Lights who does not change like shifting shadows” James 1:17-18). Whether it is freedom from fear, freedom from racism, freedom from materialism, or anything thing else that might bind us, we can "Live the New Life" in Christ who sets us free!