In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen
“You, my brothers (and sisters), were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather serve one another in love.” v.13

In 1883 in Allentown, New Jersey, a wooden Indian- the kind that was seen in front of cigar stores, was placed on the ballot for Justice of the Peace. The wooden Indian was registered under the fictitious name of Abner Robbins. When the ballots were counted, Abner the wooden Indian won over the incumbent Sam Davis by 7 votes.

A similar thing happened in 1938. The name Boston Curtis appeared on the ballot for the Republican party in Wilton, Washington. Actually, Boston Curtis was a mule. The mayor sponsored the animal to demonstrate that people know very little about the candidates. He proved his point. The mule won.

Now as ridiculous as these stories are they pale in comparison to the potential problem that we face as Canadians in our election tomorrow. And that problem is voter apathy. The problem is so much a concern that the message is everywhere. Get out and vote.

But we are not hearing it and we are getting better at tuning it out. In fact voter turnout has dropped steadily to 61.2% from 75.3% in four federal elections since 1988. Political scientists predict that nearly half of us will not cast ballots this time and anything below 50% undermines the legitimacy of governments. Like a dripping faucet, Canada is losing its electorate.

The philosopher Plato once said “the penalty that good people pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by people worse than themselves.
Now the decision to vote tomorrow or not to vote is an exercise in freedom. And freedom is a concept that is greatly cherished in our society. 

And yet at the same time it seems ironic even though we hold the concept of freedom in such high esteem it is so often devalued in our culture. The tendency in our society is to equate freedom with purely personal control, a world without restraints or rules, a setting in which we are all reduced to the level of obnoxious teenagers who feel accountable to no one but ourselves.

Too often freedom has come to mean freedom from...
Freedom from responsibility,
freedom from commitment,
freedom from consequences and this type of freedom is reflected in this problem of voter apathy.

The lottery companies play on this image of freedom as well. By winning millions we will be free to travel the world, buy expensive cars, clothes and homes, free from the dreariness of earning of a living.
We are told to “imagine the freedom, Lotto 649”

In the end the concept of freedom has been reduced to a level of no rules, no commitments, living just for tonight, no responsibilities, no concern for the consequences of one’s actions. All in all a rather sad and pathetic image.
The great American statesman Adlai Stevenson once said
“We have confused the free with the free and easy.

Now in our reading from Galatians at verse 13 the Apostle Paul tells us that we were “called to freedom.” Once we were slaves to sin but God has set us free through Christ. Because of Christ’s freedom to follow the will of God even to the cross we are now free. Now we are children of God.
So what will we do with this freedom?

Will we roam wild with concern only for ourselves, caring nothing for tomorrow, caring nothing for our neighbor. Barring the gates to keep the world at bay. There are times that this sounds awfully tempting. But Paul tell us “not to use our freedom to indulge the sinful nature...” So we are back to square one.
What are we free for?

Perhaps before answering the question we need to establish the type of freedom that we are talking about. On the one hand we have the adolescent type of freedom to which I have referred. The freedom from restraints and rules, freedom from responsibility, coupled with concern only for ourselves.

And on the other hand we have this idea of adult freedom. Where freedom is more than just a world without any rules or restraints, a limitless field with all the options open. Adult freedom means for commitment, for responsibility, for  choices that bring consequences.  By making the choice we enter the world of adult freedom. The choice may not be right and we may have to make another. But with each choice will come maturity and growth.
 
Now we come back to our question; what are we free for?
Paul writes that we are “ to serve one another in love”
That we are to use our freedom in order to serve others in love because it is in reaching out to others we become most human.
We find fulfillment as human beings through our love to other people. By being loyal, by being committed first to Christ and then to neighbor. Just as tree can only grow when it puts down roots so to we can only grow and mature when we commit ourselves to staying in one spot in order to love and serve.

And yet despite all this talk of freedom to serve others there are many times that we don’t always feel very free. We are constrained by deadlines and meetings, work schedules and school schedules, housecleaning and shopping and cooking. We are tied down by car repairs, health care, haircuts, feeding the pets and paying the bills. Looking after our children or aging parents. The grass needs to be cut and company’s coming.

So where is our freedom when life is full of endless, ordinary and often very tedious and time consuming tasks?
Where is our freedom when we continue to be enslaved by old grudges, hurt feelings or even boredom with life in general?
But maybe, just maybe our freedom is easier to find than what we want to believe.

We become so wrapped in these ordinary and often tedious tasks that we can lose sight of our true calling as Christians. Paul’s words give us pause this day. We are challenged to live in one sense as if we were children again.We are called to let go of the old grudges, our fears and insecurities, embracing instead a life of service that call us into freedom. A life of service that is rooted in the love of Christ which can only exist because of freedom.
There is a story concerning Mother Teresa which illustrates this sense of freedom. When Mother Teresa was at home in Calcutta it was here practice to go out in the morning with the sisters to gather up the abandoned dying from the train stations. This particular day the sisters found an old woman. She would not live long. Mother Teresa claimed the privilege of caring for her. She did all she could for the woman to make her comfortable. In her last moments, the women opened her eyes and said simply “Thank you.” And then she died. Mother Teresa remained on her knees and wept. Two women totally open to each other.

For true discipleship is freeing, it emerges not out of a sense of duty, or the hope that someone will do something for us in return but out of Christian love. And Jesus shows us what that freedom entails. He listens to his Father’s voice and answers the call which ultimately leads to the cross and his death. And the ultimate test of freedom is in the presence of death, for death is not outside of life but part of it. It is in death we come to surrender all of our life, so death is the total surrender, a total openness to God.

For us, then, it is clear. Created in God’s image, we are called to mature freedom. The very opposite to the hedonism that our culture mistakes for freedom. Freedom in a Christian context is an invitation to live out our destiny-our call to a life of loving and being loved. Free from self indulgence, we are free for the self emptying that lets the kingdom come.

THANKS BE TO GOD AMEN.