The Spirit of Freedom

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Romans 8:14-17

“The crate arrived, via overland express, one spring evening in 1849. Three feet long, two feet wide, and two and a half feet deep, it had been packed the previous morning in Richmond, Virginia, then carried by horse cart to the local office of the Adams Express Company. From there, it was taken to the railroad depot, loaded onto a train, and, on reaching the Potomac, transferred to a steamer, where, despite its label—this side up with care—it was

placed upside down until a tired passenger tipped it over and used it as a seat. After arriving in the nation’s capital, it was loaded onto a wagon, dumped out at the train station, loaded onto a luggage car, sent on to Philadelphia, unloaded onto another wagon, and, finally, delivered to 31 North Fifth Street. The person to whom the box had been shipped, James Miller McKim, was waiting there to receive it. When he opened it, out scrambled a man named Henry Brown: five feet eight inches tall, two hundred pounds, and, as far as anyone knows, the first person in United States history to liberate himself from slavery by, as he later wrote, ‘getting myself conveyed as dry goods to a free state’.” 

(Kathryn Schulz, the New Yorker).

When we confess that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of “freedom,” we are dealing with a very human struggle.  The world as we know and experience it is un-free in many ways.  The terrible American story of chattel slavery is an obvious example.  But we are un-free when we are fixated and obsessed with selfish goals or trivial preoccupations.  We’re un-free when we’re addicted to something: shopping, sex, food, online distractions, drugs, alcohol, or success.  We’re un-free when our lives are driven by unseen impulses and fears.

Henry Brown’s story is surprising and illuminating.  What amazing creativity!  What ingenuity and courage it took to plan and execute that deliverance from captivity.  But of course he didn’t do it by himself.  He needed help packing himself in the crate and he needed someone on the other end to receive it.  He wanted to be free, but he needed some others to want his freedom too.  Even when it’s illegal.  Even when it’s against the law.  Even when others are telling you to stay in your place and obey your superiors and show deference to your country and to the flag – they still believed in the Spirit of freedom for all people.  Do you?

Most of us will never have to experience a life-destroying institution like slavery. But there are other factors and forces that continue to block access to full life.  And besides, it’s not just about us.  It’s about being alert and awake enough to fight for the freedom of others.  Our world continues to suffer from various kinds of captivity and imprisonment.  Will we gather our energies and resources and summon our courage to fight for a world of freedom for ourselves, for our neighbors, and for everyone everywhere?  And will we do that even if it costs us something?

The Bible is a freedom story.  The central and defining story of the Old Testament is God’s deliverance of slaves from captivity in Egypt.  The central and defining story of the New Testament is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, understood as the liberation of all people from sin, evil, death, and all other threatening, de-humanizing, life-distorting powers.   Galatians makes the point simply: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”

God’s Spirit comes to us as an invitation to mature in our commitment to freedom.  If we’re not engaged in a fight for this freedom for all people, we’re missing our calling.  This is why those of us who are following Jesus Christ cannot ever be neutral or indifferent about ANY movement for human freedom and dignity.  Whether it involves the freedom and dignity of the poor, the uneducated, the disabled, the unemployed, those in the prison system, those caught in webs of human trafficking, refugees fleeing brutality, those living in civil wars, or black people calling for new paths forward, followers of Jesus Christ are those protesting the way things are – all the while working, hoping and praying for a better future, for more freedom for all people.

2 Timothy is most likely a letter written from one of Paul’s students, in Paul’s name, to a young leader named Timothy.  The letter reflects the reality of Paul’s imprisonment, which appears to be a source of shame for many.  Paul’s imprisonment, his identity as a criminal, as an illegal, as part of the prison system – this raises questions about the faith.

With these questions in mind, the letter to Timothy returns us to the heart of the matter.  We are to “rekindle our gift.”  We are to re-acquaint ourselves with the power and courage that lies at the heart of faith.  We are to remember the confidence and the boldness that is available to us.  And we are to value it as a legacy, to keep and guard it, and to share it with others.

Likewise, in our reading from Romans 8, we are reminded that the Spirit we received does not make us slaves, living in fear.  Rather, the Spirit makes us adopted, beloved children, with the security and confidence that comes from that new status. 

Shifting from life as a fearful slave to life as a beloved adopted child has enormous practical benefits for how you experience yourself.  If you are afraid of pain, afraid of hardship and disappointment and suffering, then you will always interpret life’s hard moments as signs that God might not love you.  When you experience searing loss – a divorce, a death of someone you love, the crash of an important dream, losing a job, failing in some project you worked hard at – the person who lives in fear begins to wonder if God has drifted away. 

But if you see yourself as a beloved child adopted into a new family, you are free to receive everything life brings – the pain and the laughter, the heartache and the joy.  And none of the painful stuff threatens who you are as a person loved by God in Jesus Christ. 

I read a story recently about a guy who owns almost nothing.  James Altucher owns only 15 things, which he carries with him in a canvas bag.  His worldly possessions include an ipad, three pairs of pants, three t-shirts, a Ziploc bag full of cash, and a few other things.

He recently decided to give up his apartment.  He got rid of 40 garbage bags full of clothes, dishes, sheets, books, and photos.  And he’s been surfing around on friends’ couches.  He has no house.  He has no spouse (he divorced in 2010).  He has no car.

His ambition, he says, is “to have no ambition.”  He has failed at just about everything he’s tried. 

In the 1990’s, he made millions with a web design company that he started.  He and his wife at the time spent $1.8 million on a loft apartment in New York, then spent another $1 million renovating it.   He had lots of money but he wanted lots more.  So he started investing in all sorts of other start up companies.  All of them went bust.  Not a single investment panned out.  They sold the apartment for a $1 million loss, and divorced.

His next plan was to make money investing in the stock market.  He read over a hundred books on investing strategies.  He became a writer for financial web sites, a contributor on CNBC, and started his own hedge fund.  When the 2008 financial crisis hit, the hedge fund imploded and he lost his writing jobs.

So he started a blog, Altucher Confidential, in which he chronicled with utter honesty all the mistakes he’d made along the way.  He argues that college is a waste of money.  That student loan offers are a scam and a trap.  He argues against owning a home.  No one should tie up that much of their net worth in a single asset that can be difficult to get rid of.  And he argues against investing in the stock market, because it’s rigged.

His life philosophy is expressed in his self-published best-seller, Choose Yourself: “If you don’t choose the life you want to live, chances are, someone else is going to choose it for you.  And the results are probably not going to be pretty.”

Now I’m not telling you about James Altucher because I think he’s some kind of saint.  I think it’s more likely he’s a self-involved, self-promoting idiot.  And yet – his experience allowed him discover that the “American Dream” can be a trap.  The great job can be a trap.  The big house can be a trap.  Needing more money can be a trap.  Owning things can be a trap.

And I think there’s a lot of wisdom in what he says, “If you don’t choose the life you want to live, chances are, someone else is going to choose it for you.” 

The grooves that present themselves to you in life are not sacred.  Those pathways offered to us by our culture, by the economy, by parents and peers – they might look like the only and the obvious options.  But they aren’t.  They are a mashup of practical necessities, good intentions, and idolatrous fear.  They may be good for you.  They may not.  Life pathways are often organized by forces and institutions that funnel you onto an approved pathway not for your good, nor for the good of your family, neighborhood or community.  There are often ulterior and sinister motives that contribute to the shaping of the “approved” paths. 

And so you will need to develop strategies for getting some critical distance from the kind of life that is offered to you by our culture, by our schools, by our economy and entertainment industry, by your parents and peers.  You will need some practical disciplines that will keep you open to the winds of God’s Spirit.  And then you will need courage and creativity to make a way that’s right for you.  And you will need companions – either books or friends, hopefully both – to support your journey.

So let me ask you some penetrating questions – I don’t ask them lightly, since they might put you in the difficult position of needing to repent.  God's Spirit is the Spirit of freedom and courage.  So has your faith made you feel more free and more courageous?  God’s Spirit is the love that adopts you into a new family.  So has your faith helped you become more secure and confident in God’s love, even when difficult and painful things come your way?

Many people go to church for years but never experience any real freedom.  They live caught in the old net of duties, rules, and obligations.  They experience faith as yet one more sphere of life in which we're supposed to exhaust ourselves meeting someone else's expectations.  You can live your life in cramped little crate and never even dare to get out. 

Many people go to church for years but never enlist in the fight for the freedom of other people.  They remain ensnared in bigotry and indifference and entrenched in an inability to listen to the pain and frustration of others.  When the Henry Browns of the world need a little help packing themselves up for freedom or unpacking themselves into a better life, we’re not there to help. 

Here’s the good news: there's something better.  It’s the way of Jesus Christ.  It’s the way of God’s new kingdom of love.  It’s the freedom that marks the work of the always unpredictable Spirit of God.  And it’s all right in front of you.