The sermon on Sunday was titled, “Setting People Free,” and I discussed what it means to ignore bad rules in order to make people freer in their own lives; but what does it mean to be free?  What does freedom look like?  American Culture holds up FREEDOM as a cornerstone to its identity.  As nation, we use freedom as the reason we pass certain laws and uphold various policies.  Freedom is the banner we fly every national holiday including Independence Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day.  We go to war on behalf of freedom, and we are told to be grateful for the freedoms we have in this country.  But what does freedom mean? Thinkers smarter than I have put forth that there is a dual nature to the idea of freedom: "freedom from" vs. "freedom to".

“Freedom to” is the easier idea to get our heads around because it is the one that is most often used when American Culture evokes a sense of freedom. "Freedom to" is the freedom to do whatever I want to.

• The freedom to choose what you want to do for a job
• The freedom to use one’s hard-earned money however one sees fit
• The freedom to live where you want and how you want
• The freedom to make your own medical decisions on what you are willing or not willing to do
• The freedom to make decisions, even if they are bad decisions
• The freedom to ride a motorcycle without a helmet even if it is dangerous
• The freedom to build a homemade hot tub with a kiddie pool and a propane tank on your own property

The idea of “the freedom to” is often guided by the idea that a person should have the freedom to choose their own destiny without interference or coercion from outside forces, including the government.  When people declare that the United States is “the freest country in the world,” what the speaker is often implying is that the US interferes the least with the actions of its citizenry.  When these same folks decry government overreach, they are often implying that the US government is impinging on their right to do whatever they want to do.

On the other hand, “freedom from” evokes a sense of collective freedom that is present in more collectivist cultures.  "Freedom from" evokes a standard of living where citizens are free from the worst outcomes of life.  

• Free school lunches provide children freedom from hunger.
• Free education provides freedom from ignorance and student loan debt.
• School vaccination standards provide freedom from potentially deadly diseases.
• Worker protects provides freedom from workplace abuse.
• Health and safety standards provide freedom from unsafe conditions.
• Environmental regulations provide freedom from toxic pollutants.
• Certain laws provide freedom from discrimination, racism, and sexism.
• Guaranteed housing provides freedom from the threat of homelessness
• Universal healthcare provides freedom from the threat of medical debt or death due to unaffordable healthcare or delayed healthcare.
• Social programs (are supposed to) provide freedom from poverty.

Part of the divide in our country that has polarized us is a different understanding of freedom. Many people are fighting for more “freedom to,” while others are fighting for more protections in “freedom from.”  In my personal opinion, both senses of freedom are necessary.  However, American culture has been weighted towards an idea of “freedom to,” and has often forgotten our obligations to protect each other by developing robust freedoms that protect us from the worst outcomes of life.  Unlike Cain, we are our brother’s keeper.  And if we are to lift the weight off of people’s backs, we need to develop more "freedom from"s.
​Blessings,
Pastor Chris

Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.”  Jesus continued in Matthew 25:45, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”  Have you ever wondered who counts as “the least of these?”  Well, an expert in the law wanted to know who counted as his neighbor and Jesus responded with the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Afterward, the lawyer answered that the neighbor was, “The one who showed him mercy,” (Luke 10:37).  Add this to Jesus’s command to “Love your enemies,” (Matthew 5:44) and no person can really be excluded from the category of people we are supposed to look after, care for, and love.

On Sunday, I gave you a type of rubric to use to judge whether policies of our government follow Jesus’s gospel message.  They were:

•  Does this policy feed the hungry, provide clean water, or shelter the homeless?
•  Does this policy heal people’s body, mind, or soul?
•  Does this policy help us to be less judgmental of other people’s lives or choices?
•  Does this policy help us to welcome the strangers among us?
•  Does this policy prioritize the health of the entire community, not just a subsection of it?
•  Does this policy lead people to repentance of wrongdoing and work toward repair and reconciliation?
•  Does this policy prevent the hoarding of wealth by the rich and powerful?
•  Does this policy hold powerful people accountable for their actions?

If the answer is no, I suggest that Jesus would advocate burning away that policy to make room for one that is more just and equitable.

But today, I have a different mental exercise for you: imagine Jesus being the person that the policies affect.  Jesus was born poor in a village of peasant families.  Jesus learned a trade (woodcutting or stonecutting, depending on the sources).  Where he lived was ruled by an oppressive empire that squashed political opposition.

When I think about how we treat people in our country, I imagine Jesus in the people’s place.  How would it change what we are doing if Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, was:

•  a child in Gaza at this moment?
•  an undocumented immigrant detained by ICE and taken to Alligator Alcatraz? 
• a child at school being taught how to hide under their desk in case of an active shooter?
•  a sweatshop seamstress working 12 hours a day for poverty wages sewing t-shirts that American consumers will wear once while the manager locks the doors so she can’t escape?
•  a black teen being chastised by the school cop because he was wearing his hood up in the hallway?
•  a disabled adult who is being kicked off Medicaid because they made a simple error in their paperwork when re-applying for benefits?
•  a single mother working 60 hours a week to provide for her family who is being kicked off her SNAP benefits because she didn’t have the time or energy to re-do the paperwork to prove she still qualified for benefits.

This isn’t just a mental exercise; if we take Jesus’s words seriously, these people ARE Jesus.  “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me, [and] just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”

Blessings,
Pastor Chris

On Sunday, I admittedly did not talk about the beginning of the scripture passage we had for that morning.  I skipped this part because it would have made the sermon way too long and I figured that you all would like to be out before 1 p.m.  That said, I didn’t want to forget about these verses because it ties into what I have been discussing in our Tuesday Notes emails for the past few weeks: some of Jesus’ teachings are difficult to follow if we don’t water them down or spiritualize them.  Luke 12:32 is a case in point: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions and give alms.” – Luke 12:32

In this verse, Jesus is literally commanding his followers to sell their possessions in order to give to the people who having nothing.  Jesus encourages this behavior by telling the people that it is good for the soul; that these actions will build up their spiritual treasures in a place where no one can steal it from them.  I love the idea of this, but I have a few questions for Jesus:

First, how much should I sell off?  I have a house full of stuff but I need some of that stuff to live… and some stuff to be comfortable.  How much stuff is “you should sell this and give the money to charity” amount of stuff?  How much is it ethical to own?

Second, where should I give the money?  Directly to the people on the streets?  To the church?  To charities?  Or to scientific research?  Does it count as giving alms if my tax money goes towards Medicaid, housing vouchers, and food assistance?  Is it better to have church-led charities, community actions groups, or government assistance?

In Acts 2:44-45, the early Christian Community took this instruction of Jesus seriously:  “All the believers were together and had everything in common.  They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”  In light of the explosion of growth that the early church saw, it makes complete sense to me.  Of course people wanted to join the Christian Community!  They were giving away free food and provided people with housing.  Poor people were being supported by their community and those that were better off had the joy of seeing other people flourish.  But as time went on, Christians and their communities started to hold back more for themselves.  As it turns out, this kind of living is difficult to sustain over the long-term.  But the ideal remained.

When I think about the type of society that I want to live in, it is a society that takes care of its people.2`  It is a society that pools resources together so that communities can do together what it is difficult to do by oneself.  Personally, caring for people is exactly what I want our pooled resources (in the form of taxes) to go toward.  I want kids to not have to worry whether they can eat at school or not.  I want every person to be guaranteed a roof over their head.  I want every person to be able to access medical care without fear of financial ruin.  And if every person could potentially be the Son of Man, a mortal or representative for the whole human race - like we talked about in service - I want to make sure that every person is cared for and treated as if we are caring for Jesus himself.

Blessings,
Pastor Chris

“Chris, pause. You need to straighten your wrist when you do that motion.”  I have now heard some form of this comment weekly for the past four months.  For my ongoing health and well-being, I have started going to a physical trainer to help me build strength.  Last fall, I was diagnosed with a genetic condition where my body doesn’t synthesize collagen correctly.  That results in ligaments and tendons that act like old, stretched out rubber bands.  One of the ways to combat this is to build strength in the muscles to compensate for what those ligaments and tendons can’t do.  Only one problem: I hate lifting heavy things and so I haven’t done so for years.

In order to get me to actually lift heavy things a few times a week, I have started seeing a trainer.  This also doubles as protection from me hurting myself by using bad form.  In recent weeks, I have struggled to keep my wrist straight when doing a particular set of exercises.  Me being me, I stood there for a minute trying to figure out when I kept returning to a bad form that would injure me in the long run.  What I realized is that curling my wrists felt like I was protecting that joint from stretching out (due to my overly stretchy ligaments) and the weight was heavier when I straightened my wrists.   The side effect of this slight change meant that I wasn’t working the muscle intended and I was opening myself up to injury later.  Correct form was more difficult, but I told myself that I can do difficult things.

Jesus’ teachings are difficult to follow.  There is no way around it: so many of Jesus’ teaching are difficult.  Some of them are difficult because we are fallible humans and it is difficult to love everyone 100% of the time.  Other teachings are difficult because - if we were honest with ourselves - we actually don’t want to follow them.  One topic that Jesus returns to again and again is how the accumulation of wealth is immoral.  He tells followers to give up their lives and follow him in a life of nomadic ministry.  He instructs a rich young man to sell all of his possessions.  He tells parables about rich men dying and burning in the flames of hell.  He says that it will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  At the end of his ministry, Jesus flips the tables of money changers in the temple.  There are many questions that we have about Jesus, his ministry, and his life; but his feelings toward people who have accumulated wealth is clear: he thought it was sinful and immoral.

Following Jesus’s teachings on money and wealth are some of the most difficult teachings to follow.  I know very few people who are willing to take a vow of poverty and sell all of their worldly possessions.  I fully admit that I am one of the people who doesn’t want to live in poverty due to my faith; but when I read certain parts of the Gospel, I can feel myself doing the theological equivalent of protectively curling my wrists to make the weight lighter. 

I ask myself:

• How much do you need to have to be considered rich?  Yes, I live comfortably, but Jesus is talking about the millionaires and billionaires, not me!
• Can you have wealth and not love it?  Jesus criticizes the love of money.  Just because I have some money doesn’t mean that it is a priority above my faith!
• What about the middle class?  In Jesus’s time, there were landowners and peasants.  It isn’t fair to apply his teachings today; Jesus would have a slightly different message to the middle class.
• Doesn’t God want good things for us?  If I sell all of my things, that doesn’t actually solve the problem of inequality in our society.  I might as well keep it.
• Jesus died to offer us forgiveness for our sins. I guess sinfully holding on to my money is a forgivable sin.  Jesus, I’m working on it!
• What matters most in not how we sin, but where we end up in the afterlife.  We don’t need to worry about how much money we have; we should worry about how many souls we have saved! (One perspective, not mine).

But in the end, all of these points are just lifting the heavy weight of Jesus’s most difficult teachings.  I don’t have answers to most of these questions, and I still wrestle with how to understand Jesus’s teachings about money today.  But if I am being honest, I find that I am often all too willing to curl my wrists to make the weight a little bit lighter.
​
Blessings,
Pastor Chris