The Lincoln Memorial as seen at night. It was here that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I have a dream” speech.
“For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1
“A Christian is the most free lord of all and subject to none; and at the same time a Christian is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone.” Martin Luther
I’ve been thinking a lot about freedom in light of the most recent presidential election.
Freedom is such a priceless gift. It is the longing of every human being. But I grew up in a time in this country when if you were black your freedom was precarious at best, and if you had the courage to stand on the meaning of your freedom, you could lose your life.
On a Sunday morning after worship at Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem I remember a conversation with a Palestinian doctor who was talking about going through the check points set up by the Israelis. I asked him, “What do you do when you are asked to go through those check points?” His response aroused in me a deep sadness. He said very matter of factly, “I hang my head, and I do what is asked of me, what is expected of me.”
As I listened to the rhetoric of the campaign over these last several months some of it ugly, some of it reminding me of a time that I thought we were long past, I thought of those who grew up as I did in a place where it was illegal to vote if you were black, where your movements were restricted and where you were often treated either by law or by custom as less than a human being.
Paul is speaking of freedom on a different level, on a spiritual level, but it is difficult for me to separate the spiritual from the physical. In fact, I think that it is dangerous to do so. The religion practiced by some faith communities in the Deep South was flawed and destructive because they chose to separate faith from what was happening in the public square.
In real terms many people shed innocent blood to gain the political freedom that I enjoy today.
The first time that I cast a ballot was when I turned 18. I have never missed since I gained the right or the privilege because I am deeply conscious of the many ordinary people who fought for that right and privilege.
Paul was equally clear that God shed his blood to win our freedom. He declares elsewhere that by the blood of Jesus not only have we been set free but we have been made sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.
What have we been freed from?
Freed from sin, yes, but what does that sin look like?
The sin of racism driven by fear and arrogance that seeks to separate the human family is as powerful today as it was yesterday. And the freedom that Paul speaks about and that Luther so wonderfully captures in this great paradox is indeed a priceless and perfect gift.
The truth and the power of that freedom is a liberating freedom that we cannot afford to put in chains. It is not just freedom from but freedom for. The gift of our freedom is that we get to live for others. We get to walk in solidarity with those in our midst, those in the public square who still are not able to live in the fullness of their humanity, restricted by poverty, hunger, homelessness or political and economic injustice, we have been set free to help tear down walls so that no person should ever hang their head in shame because of their racial, religious, ethnic or sexual identity.
Whenever I think about the cross I am forced to examine my own life and to search out those things in me that would cause me not to value the worth of another human being and to ask God to crucify that thing in me. We have been set free to love each other, to heal each other and to redeem each other.
Ken Wheeler is a retired pastor. He most recently served at Cross Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Milwaukee, where he is now the director of the Bread of Healing Empowerment Ministry. He served 18 years as an assistant to the bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the ELCA.
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Wheeler: "... they chose to separate faith from what was happening in the public square."
My response: What is the purpose of the Church? What is the purpose of the State? The Church is where the Gospel is preached and the sacraments are rightly administered. What has this to do with the State as well as the public square? The voice of the Gospel is not spoken in a vacuum nor is it proclaimed in a place outside of history nor outside the public square. It is spoken to sinners and all of us are sinners in faith communities in the public square. There is no such thing as a visibly redeemed community and no one can claim that one can be find that within history. However that redeemed community is present as the Body of Christ and only God sees it. To venture into the arena in which a politically charged vision can take the place of the Gospel of freedom is to usurp God's unique place as Judge of the public square and within the public square as it is God's creation and not ours.
Wheeler: "The truth and the power of that freedom is a liberating freedom that we cannot afford to put in chains."
My response: The freedom that Christ brought is a gift. Once it becomes an object to be manipulated through a political or social aim it becomes embedded in the issues of retribution and is no longer Christian freedom.
Wheeler: "Whenever I think about the cross I am forced to examine my own life and to search out those things in me that would cause me not to value the worth of another human being and to ask God to crucify that thing in me. "
My response: Yes, this is the specific and unique act of the Christian individual. You have nicely worded repentance in a way it can be heard, imo.
I am wondering how to qualify the statement: “The sin of racism …. is as powerful today as it was yesterday”. Have we not made any progress? While racism is surely not dead, or will it ever be, it is just as surely not as powerful today as it was yesterday. I would argue that this generation of young Americans is the most racially diverse and tolerant of any in our history. We have African, Asian, and Latino Americans participating in all levels of American life. We have an African American President and Candidate for President (Herman Cain), both of which drew large white support. Government ordained segregation does not exist. The only time we seemed to be segregated today is at Sunday morning worship. We created a system called “affirmative action” which, by the way, is a system that helps people based solely on the color of their skin and not the content of their character. In other words, most white folks are willing to place their own self-interests aside for the betterment of their darker skinned brothers and sisters. We have enacted hate crime laws specifically directed at crime involving bigotry. Racial discrimination has been eradicated from government institutions. Interracial marriages are not only legal everywhere now; they are common place. Racially charged labels have been roundly eradicated as an acceptable form of speech. What I see is a nation that has radically changed, in an extraordinarily short amount of time (historically speaking) for the better. Racism has been weakened on literally every front. Can’t we as Americans give ourselves a little credit where credit is due?
I am not sure why this post would hold up Luther and compare him to Paul. Luther in the end was a pretty hard core anti-Semite; Racism?
And finally, the sin of racism should not be elevated, or minimized. It is a sin, like other sins, that should be castigated, but forgiven. Racism thrives in all of our ethnic communities, not just the white community. Racism, in one form or another, is present in us all. In many ways I think we keep aggressive racism on life support for future generations by holding current generations to account for the sins of their fathers. Aggressive racism is a learned affair. Racism feeds on racism and will continue to thrive if not countered with the Gospel and forgiveness.
Have you struck a cord here. My question to all is where are we taught values? In the church, schools, and family life. If we are emulating what we see by those that are suppose to be our mentors and they fall short what happens to our value system? How do I explain to my children what happened in church stays in church. Or do we have enough courage to stand up and say, "Let's get this right"
We get our values from our environment. Mostly that's parents and peers, but there's also some culture and the places where we spend our time. If the Church's job is to instill morals and values, it has failed miserably. More importantly, it's also redundant: do atheists rape, pillage and plunder more than Christians?
When the Gospel is proclaimed, it does change a person, and that flows out past Sunday into the week. In those cases, though, it also probably doesn't require explaining.
I am still struck by Elert's definition of Christian freedom: "when what I want to do is what I ought to do".