Free Indeed
0 Amens
Free Indeed
Galatians 4:21-5:1 (NRSV)
21 Tell me, you who desire to be subject to the law, will you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman. 23 One, the child of the slave, was born according to the flesh; the other, the child of the free woman, was born through the promise. 24 Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from
Verse 22 says Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman. For clarity, it might be good for us to know the names of these individuals before we move on. The slave woman is Hagar, Sarah’s slave. And Sarah, Abraham’s wife (or Sarai as she was known at the beginning of the story) is the free woman. Now Hagar and Sarah both have sons. Hagar’s son is Ishmael, and Sarah’s son is Isaac. So the slave woman is Hagar, and the son of the slave woman is Ishmael. The free woman is Sarah, and the free woman’s son is Isaac. This probably would have been clear to the original readers of the book of Galatians, but I know I had to brush up a little bit.
OK, so what’s next? The text says that Ishmael was born according to flesh and Isaac was born through the promise. Now here’s where the allegory comes in. The two women, Hagar and Sarah, represent two covenants. Hagar represents the covenant of slavery which the earthly city ofSo are you following Paul’s train of thought? Hagar represents Slavery. Sarah represents freedom. Then Paul says Sarah “is our mother.” Now what does that mean? You’re probably familiar with the Sunday School song, Father Abraham had many sons. I remember thinking when I was young that that song simply didn’t make any sense. I didn’t even know any Abrahams. And I certainly knew that my father’s name wasn’t Abraham, let alone all of the other children who were singing that song. But this language goes far, far back.
Abraham was promised that he would be the father of a multitude of nations, and from his blood line came the Jewish people. From then on when God identified himself, he identified himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob thereby solidifying the bond between himself and his chosen people.So if Abraham was the Father of the Jews, it stands to reason that Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was the mother of the Jews. And since Paul’s Galatian audience would have been predominantly Jewish, they would have understood what Paul meant when he said Sarah was their mother. But most, if not all, of us here today are not Jewish. So does this relate to us? The short answer is yes. You see, inclusion in the bloodline of Abraham has more to do with inclusion in the covenant than it does with a biological bloodline. Jesus came to extend the covenant first to the Jew, but also to the Gentile. So, for all who confess Jesus as their Lord and Savior, we can rightfully claim Sarah as our mother as well.
OK, so back to the passage. Verse 28 says we’re children of the promise just like Isaac was the son which God had promised to Abraham. But verse 29 goes on to say that Ishmael, the son born according to the flesh, persecuted Isaac, the son born according to the Spirit. And this is continuing now. What does Paul mean? He means that those born according to the flesh are still persecuting those born according to the Spirit. In other words, those who do not claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior are still persecuting those who do claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior.And then comes the crux of Paul’s allegory. The point he is trying to make. It is written, “Drive out the slave and her child; for the child of the slave will not share the inheritance with the child of the free woman. So then, friends, we are children, not of the slave but of the free woman. For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” We are Isaac, and we must drive out Ishmael. In other words, we have been freed from the law, and we must drive out the bondage that the law once had upon us.
For freedom Christ has set us free. Before Christ sacrificially died and rose again for you and for me, we were bound by the law. We had to keep the law to obtain our salvation, a feat which none of us was capable of. But because Christ died and rose again, we are freed from the law, and we have obtained salvation through his ability to perfectly keep the law. This is the gift that Jesus has offered… freedom. And Paul says that it would be simply foolish to submit to the law once again. Why would one who is freed choose slavery?All this talk about slavery and freedom seems quite appropriate on this Sunday before Independence Day. For the Galatians, the story of Hagar and Sarah… of Ishmael and Isaac, was a story from their history. But we as Americans have a story in our history which could also be used as an allegory. For us, slavery may be represented by the rule of Great Britain, and freedom may be represented by the freedom from Great Britain which the13 original colonies declared. And as the child born according to the flesh persecuted the child born according to the Spirit, the Revolutionary war is evidence of the persecution of freedom.
Listen to this first part of our Declaration of Independence.IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.Thomas Jefferson then went on to describe the grievances he and the 13 colonies had against the king. But a couple lines in this now famous document especially stick out for me. Let me paraphrase them. All men are created equal… endowed by their Creator with unalienable Rights such as Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Governments are instituted among Men to secure these rights. But whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish that government, and to institute new Government. A government which to them seems most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
We all know what this meant for the United States of America. It meant that the British government was standing in the way of the safety and happiness of the people in the new world, and they therefore found it to be appropriate to start a new, independent government. But I want to borrow this language for a moment to consider a few spiritual truths. I believe Jesus taught that all men and women are indeed created equal. He went first to the Jew, but then also to the Gentile. And while he may not have used words such as liberty and happiness, he did say, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Doesn’t that sound like liberty? Doesn’t that sound like happiness?And while the law was not instituted by men, it was destructive to the ends of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. How so? II Corinthians puts it this way. The law kills, but the Spirit gives life. Since none of us were capable of keeping the law, all of us deserved death under the law. And while Christ did not come to abolish the law, he did come to fulfill the law, and in his fulfilling of the law he brought not a new government, but a new covenant. A covenant which brings us the safety of eternal life and the happiness of a life spent forever with our faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
So this July 4th, as we enjoy our cookouts and fireworks and remember the bravery and love that it took to sign and fight for the declaration of independence from the powerful British Empire, might we also use it as an allegory. An allegory to remember the bravery and love that it took for Christ to die on the cross to reign triumphant over the powers of sin and death so that me might truly experience life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Life which no earthly government can ever give.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Comments:
Login to post comments