Chains of Oppression, Chains of Freedom

Transcribed from the sermon preached August 2, 2009

The Reverend Max Lynn, Pastor

Scripture Readings: Ephesians 4:1-16

I just love Ephesians.  It is written with such beauty and power.  Here in chapter 4, Paul calls himself a prisoner in the Lord.  He is an actual prisoner in Rome.  His imprisonment began in Caesarea years earlier.  Paul had spent two years in Ephesus, and after visiting other churches in Macedonia, the northern province of Greece, he made his way back to Jerusalem.  Acts 21 tells us that a group of Jews mobbed Paul when they thought he had desecrated the temple by bringing a gentile into it.  Roman soldiers intervened and took him into custody.  Paul was then taken to the Roman governor Felix in Caesarea where he stayed imprisoned for two years.  When Festus succeeded Felix as governor he intended to appease the Jews by having Paul sent to trial in Jerusalem.  But Paul drew upon his right as a Roman citizen to appeal his case to Caesar in Rome.  On route to Rome his ship was wrecked in a storm off the island of Malta.  After finally arriving around year 60 CE, Paul was held for another two years in Rome.  It is from the Roman prison that he is purported to have written to his friends in Ephesus.

          So when Paul says he is a prisoner in the Lord, he is literally in prison, literally in chains.  But there is a second meaning: he has given, dedicated, imprisoned his life in God.  Ironically, his imprisonment in God gives him power and freedom over his worldly condition.  His freedom is clear in his writing.

          Living a life worthy of our calling, Paul says, means ^“2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

          He is speaking to the Church community first, but the same behavior extends outward toward our relations with everyone.  We are all less than perfect, so first of all we need to admit that to ourselves; we need humility.  We also need gentleness and patience, to bear with one another in love.  Love is the means and the end in all our relations, whether with our family or fellow church members, or our prison guards. 

          Unity is already given by the Spirit, but paradoxically it is also that toward which we work.  Spirit unites us in a common bond of peace. By the Spirit we are bound and chained to peace.  This bond is not just to the principle but also to the experience of peace in our heart, given by the Spirit. It frees us from the arrogance, harshness and impatience that create so much strife in our families, community and the world.

We of course see the power of this bond of peace in Christ Jesus. “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.” We also think of Paul, Gandhi, Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela, each enslaved and bound by the peace of God was given immense power to love even those who imprisoned them.  They maintained their freedom of spirit, their freedom to speak and live the truth, even in chains.

          I find these lives to be incredibly inspiring and helpful.  For each of us knows personally things, people, institutions and parts of culture that tend to draw us in and imprison us in a certain way of being.  Perhaps it is our family, a particular family member, a colleague or someone walking down the street or in a car.  They push our buttons, and, seemingly imprisoned by their words or actions, they get us to react the same way over and over again. After multiple attempts to change some one else’s behavior have failed, too often our solution for ourselves is not to try a different approach but to try the same thing again only harder.

          Frequently, when people come in with a relationship that is driving them nuts, I find that they are focused on what the other person says or does.  For example, a couple of weeks ago I was speaking with a young man who had developed an online relationship with a girl, and after a while the girl said something arrogant and mean.  Clearly hurt, the young man’s plan was cyberspace revenge.

          I asked him if it was one of his goals in life was to be mean.  He said no.  Well then, don’t let the girl throw you off track.  She is mean; that is more her problem than yours.  If that relationship is not a positive for your life then end it.  Be done with her.  Let your revenge be your continued strength and kindness.  Don’t let her meanness suck you into it and imprison you.

          Much easier said than done of course.  At times, especially in relationships that are deeper that Internet dating, the person we are trying to love may be angry with us, and even accuse us when we are certain they have things misconstrued.  Part of us would like nothing more than to bring the truth down on them like an ax.  In humility, with gentleness and patience, bear with one another in love.  At such a moment, your key relationship is not with the other person, but with God.  Not there (point accusingly) but there (pointing up).  The question is not what response is the other invoking from me, but what response is God invoking from me.  Being bound to God gives us freedom in relationship hear in our earthly relationships.

           ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

          We are prisoners in God: Our goal is God’s goal, and God’s goal is love and peace for all.  Our success, strength and joy are bound to God, and God wants to build up the whole community.  Jailed unjustly, oppressed by racism, called an outside agitator and disturber of the peace by clergy of the church, Martin Luther King could justly pronounce condemnation of the country and the Church, which currently stood in opposition.  But masterfully, clearly led by God, in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King paints a picture of mutual destiny that calls all to justice, unity and peace. 

          “I am meeting young people every day whose disappointment with the church has risen to outright disgust,” he writes.

          “Maybe again, I have been too optimistic.  Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world?  Maybe I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church… But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom.

          “I hope the church will meet the challenge of this decisive hour.  But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future.  I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are presently misunderstood.  We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom.  Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with the destiny of America.  Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth we were here.  Before the pen of Jefferson etched across the pages of history the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, we were here…If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail.  We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.”

          The magic of this Christian rhetoric is that when those who are wrong finally figure it out and repent, there is a place for us.  When the white establishment has the worldly power to decide who is in and who is out, the spiritual power of King draws us all in.  The love of God is like a great earthquake that shakes the foundations of the prison and sets King free to write from heaven.  A prisoner in Christ, he has power and freedom beyond measure, and he calls each of us towards it, regardless of our race.

          Now I am not in a position to say that there is never a time for prophetic anger or condemnation.  Sometimes leaders need to be removed and folks with irreconcilable differences need to split, a stand for justice and love needs to be taken, apart if need be.

But it shouldn’t be about competition or envy.  Paul warns the church that we each are called to a unique calling, and we need all to function as the body of Christ.  Do the best we can in our present position to equip people for the work of ministry, and build up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.”  We should not be afraid to speak the truth, but we seek to speak the truth in love. 

          Now today we wrestle over the inclusion and rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people in church and society.  Some accuse gays and lesbians of destroying family values, of promiscuity, of destroying the peace of the church and disobeying the word of God. Many gays and lesbians have grown disillusioned with the church, and seeing no hope for themselves in the current understanding of family values and God’s church do in fact seek a war of radical destruction of the status quo. 

          But I also think we have turned a corner with the marriage issue for it shows a new sense of hope not for destruction but inclusion, not for throwing out but for moving forward.  In sexuality, the weapons of war for the minority, or hopeless anger against the status quo are flaunting.  For the majority the weapons are fear and law.  God’s power is in being. 

          Finally, just as gentiles were eventually recognized and included in the grace of God with gifts for the building of the body of Christ, if it is right, we will see it is right through right relationship, through the love of gay, lesbian and transgender people have for their partners and for everyone else.  Regardless of what it is called or whether it is recognized by the state, we will see loving, committed relationship, where couples join in covenant and pray for God’s help and blessing.  And when they run into rough waters just the same as every straight marriage, we will see them reach to allow God’s grace to carry them on, or God’s grace to forgive them. We will see children nurtured by loving parents, and male and female mentors share in the calling to build up the family within a community of strength and health and love.

          We will see people come to seek the grace and love of God, to share their gifts and be a part of the body of Christ, to follow the Good Shepherd, to share and serve the bread of heaven, to mature, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.       

          We may be tempted to think the food supply of the church will leave some without.  And there are those who would hold onto their small supply and divvy it out to those they deem worthy according to the current winds of the status quo.  But the spiritual food of the church doesn’t come from them, but from God. 

          And so I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, I don’t know if or when the church may change, but today in this church, by God’s grace through Jesus Christ, we are all invited and there is enough.  Do you here him calling you with his love?  “I am the bread of life.”  Regardless of what others say, regardless of our race or gender or sexual orientation, regardless of all the problems we surely face, we are going to keep our eyes on God, and with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, we make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God, Father and Mother of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

          I end with a famous quote from Marianne Williamson: 

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us. It’s in everyone. And as we let our light shine we give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”