Freedom!
Sermon
I recently read a harrowing trilogy of books by Dave Pelzer. As a child, Dave Pelzer was extremely seriously abused by his mother, and the books are accounts of his experiences and his subsequent life.
When he was around twelve, Dave Pelzer was taken away from his mother and his family, out of his abusive situation and into care. He tells how he used to wake each day unable to believe that today he wouldn't get hurt, that he was free to be himself without fear of terrifying reprisals and bizarre punishment.
Almost immediately he got into trouble with the law. He was unable to handle his freedom, and for a while his behaviour was atrocious. Despite his love for his foster family and their love and care for him, he somehow couldn't help himself getting in quite serious trouble.
But to the reader, that was entirely understandable. Nobody could go through the appalling cruelty that Dave Pelzer went through as a child, without reacting in some extreme way. And similar behavioural problems from children who are distressed in some way by their home background, are now fairly common in all schools.
But bad behaviour isn't restricted to children. Even adults who suddenly discover a new freedom can behave badly, but as adults they generally manage to justify their bad behaviour.
At Pentecost, God's spirit had broken out of the restrictive boxing of the Law, the Torah, in which the Jews had tried to keep it. The accounts in Acts of the life of the early Christian church, speak of a real freedom. Freedom to worship in a way which was spontaneous and genuine and responsive to God, uncluttered by rules and regulations, free and authentic.
This free and exciting church grew. But along with it, grew behavioural problems by new Christians. By the time Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians, thought to be the earliest New Testament writing we have and probably written somewhere between A.D. 48 and 55, moral standards had slipped to such a degree that Paul writes exhorting the Galatians to behave properly.
It seems the concept of freedom from the law had gone to their heads. Some scholars also see in Galatians 5 a set of opponents against whom Paul writes, people who in their emphasis on the Spirit set aside all norms for conduct and became libertines in practice.
This seems to be the constant dilemma for the church. If the church is too authoritarian it's restrictive and limiting. New break-away churches spring up as people find a way of expressing their dissatisfaction with the establishment. And the Spirit breaks out of its restrictive boxing once more.
But there's a real difficulty in allowing freedom of the Spirit, yet still maintaining some sort of order in the church. A church where anything goes, where any behaviour is tolerated, would soon fall into disrepute and anarchy.
How can we strike the balance? How can we allow God and ourselves freedom, yet still maintain order?
Perhaps churches where people grow in spirit, where the God within is nourished, where the worship, whatever form it takes, is authentic and grows deeper, are churches where people are allowed to be themselves, and are encouraged to take responsibility for themselves. Perhaps they're churches which are open to change, painful as change inevitably is. But they're also churches which are not afraid to assess the nature of that change and to appraise its effects.
These sorts of churches are risky places, because the Spirit may pull in unexpected directions, producing untidiness. And the untidiness of not knowing quite what to expect, of losing the familiarity of some well-known and some well-loved ways, is always hard to live with. But they're churches where God is not restricted, is not boxed in, but is free and therefore alive within that church and that community.
Churches where it's more difficult for people to grow in spirit, where the God within is less nourished, are churches where both God and the people are stifled and restricted. Either they're restricted by a rather inflexible control, or by an erosion of any real lay responsibility, or by a refusal to consider any sort of change.
These churches are safe places, because the Spirit is firmly boxed up and won't be allowed to break out. They're neat and tidy churches where dissension is not accepted and discussed, but is feared. They're churches where the rules are all-important. Where everybody pulls in the same direction because they're not allowed to move in any other direction. They're churches which have probably followed the same patterns for ever.
And they tend to be churches which are either predictable and dull, with very little relevance to real life, or churches which can allow only very simplistic teaching, and which can't tolerate any doubts or uncertainties or explorations or challenges.
And when a church becomes like that, it tends to become dispirited. The Spirit goes out of it. Paradoxically, the more we try to restrict God, the more we try to contain him, the more difficult he is to find. And ordinary people, in their restless search for God, dabble in all sorts of new ideas, new religions, because they're unable to find the nourishment they crave within the church worship and church boundaries which are offered.
The marks of both churches and people who are filled with God's Holy Spirit are spelled out in today's reading from St Paul's letter to the Galatians. The fruit of the Spirit, he says, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
If we really allow the Spirit to guide and direct us, then we don't have to bother too much about the way we behave, because those characteristics will grow within us, and we don't have to do anything. They're gifts from God and to acquire those gifts we simply have to receive them.
If we tune into and receive God through his Holy Spirit, then we'll find we have the freedom to act as we wish without becoming libertines. But perhaps more important, we'll also find we worship in a way which is spontaneous and genuine and authentic and responsive to God. And that's the sort of worship which attracts other people, because it's the sort of worship which nourishes.
When he was around twelve, Dave Pelzer was taken away from his mother and his family, out of his abusive situation and into care. He tells how he used to wake each day unable to believe that today he wouldn't get hurt, that he was free to be himself without fear of terrifying reprisals and bizarre punishment.
Almost immediately he got into trouble with the law. He was unable to handle his freedom, and for a while his behaviour was atrocious. Despite his love for his foster family and their love and care for him, he somehow couldn't help himself getting in quite serious trouble.
But to the reader, that was entirely understandable. Nobody could go through the appalling cruelty that Dave Pelzer went through as a child, without reacting in some extreme way. And similar behavioural problems from children who are distressed in some way by their home background, are now fairly common in all schools.
But bad behaviour isn't restricted to children. Even adults who suddenly discover a new freedom can behave badly, but as adults they generally manage to justify their bad behaviour.
At Pentecost, God's spirit had broken out of the restrictive boxing of the Law, the Torah, in which the Jews had tried to keep it. The accounts in Acts of the life of the early Christian church, speak of a real freedom. Freedom to worship in a way which was spontaneous and genuine and responsive to God, uncluttered by rules and regulations, free and authentic.
This free and exciting church grew. But along with it, grew behavioural problems by new Christians. By the time Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians, thought to be the earliest New Testament writing we have and probably written somewhere between A.D. 48 and 55, moral standards had slipped to such a degree that Paul writes exhorting the Galatians to behave properly.
It seems the concept of freedom from the law had gone to their heads. Some scholars also see in Galatians 5 a set of opponents against whom Paul writes, people who in their emphasis on the Spirit set aside all norms for conduct and became libertines in practice.
This seems to be the constant dilemma for the church. If the church is too authoritarian it's restrictive and limiting. New break-away churches spring up as people find a way of expressing their dissatisfaction with the establishment. And the Spirit breaks out of its restrictive boxing once more.
But there's a real difficulty in allowing freedom of the Spirit, yet still maintaining some sort of order in the church. A church where anything goes, where any behaviour is tolerated, would soon fall into disrepute and anarchy.
How can we strike the balance? How can we allow God and ourselves freedom, yet still maintain order?
Perhaps churches where people grow in spirit, where the God within is nourished, where the worship, whatever form it takes, is authentic and grows deeper, are churches where people are allowed to be themselves, and are encouraged to take responsibility for themselves. Perhaps they're churches which are open to change, painful as change inevitably is. But they're also churches which are not afraid to assess the nature of that change and to appraise its effects.
These sorts of churches are risky places, because the Spirit may pull in unexpected directions, producing untidiness. And the untidiness of not knowing quite what to expect, of losing the familiarity of some well-known and some well-loved ways, is always hard to live with. But they're churches where God is not restricted, is not boxed in, but is free and therefore alive within that church and that community.
Churches where it's more difficult for people to grow in spirit, where the God within is less nourished, are churches where both God and the people are stifled and restricted. Either they're restricted by a rather inflexible control, or by an erosion of any real lay responsibility, or by a refusal to consider any sort of change.
These churches are safe places, because the Spirit is firmly boxed up and won't be allowed to break out. They're neat and tidy churches where dissension is not accepted and discussed, but is feared. They're churches where the rules are all-important. Where everybody pulls in the same direction because they're not allowed to move in any other direction. They're churches which have probably followed the same patterns for ever.
And they tend to be churches which are either predictable and dull, with very little relevance to real life, or churches which can allow only very simplistic teaching, and which can't tolerate any doubts or uncertainties or explorations or challenges.
And when a church becomes like that, it tends to become dispirited. The Spirit goes out of it. Paradoxically, the more we try to restrict God, the more we try to contain him, the more difficult he is to find. And ordinary people, in their restless search for God, dabble in all sorts of new ideas, new religions, because they're unable to find the nourishment they crave within the church worship and church boundaries which are offered.
The marks of both churches and people who are filled with God's Holy Spirit are spelled out in today's reading from St Paul's letter to the Galatians. The fruit of the Spirit, he says, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
If we really allow the Spirit to guide and direct us, then we don't have to bother too much about the way we behave, because those characteristics will grow within us, and we don't have to do anything. They're gifts from God and to acquire those gifts we simply have to receive them.
If we tune into and receive God through his Holy Spirit, then we'll find we have the freedom to act as we wish without becoming libertines. But perhaps more important, we'll also find we worship in a way which is spontaneous and genuine and authentic and responsive to God. And that's the sort of worship which attracts other people, because it's the sort of worship which nourishes.
