Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“For freedom Christ set us free, so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. For you were called for freedom, brothers and sisters” (Gal. 5:1, 13). These words of St. Paul are found in our second reading today, and in some sense they capture the struggle found in the other two readings, from 1 Kings and the gospel of Luke. Freedom – what is freedom? In just one week we will celebrate American Independence Day, the 4th of July. It is a day that celebrates freedom. But this is a freedom associated with rights: the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, etc. Is this what Paul means when he talks about freedom?
Actually, the context of today’s Galatians passage is the circumcision debate. Against those early Christians who believed that circumcision was still binding on the followers of Jesus, Paul argues that Jesus’ disciples are called to something beyond that covenant law which required circumcision. The further context is the tendency to try to exclude Gentiles from the Christian faith; by demanding circumcision of the Gentiles, the Jewish Christians were making it less likely that Gentiles would convert. So the freedom that Paul proclaims is the freedom from this former ritual and legal covenant. Christ has not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, and in so doing, the emphasis has been changed from the outward symbol of circumcision to a complete lifestyle transformation: “Rather, serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” (Gal 5:13-14).
This is the freedom brought by Christ. It is not a freedom of rights, which allow us to make demands on others. Instead, it is a freedom of service. We are freed from our former way of life, as the Jews were freed from circumcision, and we are freed from original sin in baptism, so that may love and serve one another, following in the footsteps of Christ our Lord and Savior.
With freedom comes responsibility, and the freedom given us by Christ is certainly a demanding freedom. Today’s gospel passage from Luke is one of those tough ones that we might rather ignore or pass over without much consideration. To the one who tells Jesus that he will follow him wherever he goes, Jesus points out that his is a life of homelessness and little rest. And to those that would follow Jesus only after taking care of other tasks, including family obligations, Jesus seems to say that this isn’t good enough. The point here is not that Jesus wants us to forget about or neglect our families today, but that as Christians we must always maintain a proper order wherein following Christ is our top priority. We will be led astray if we think we can follow Christ only after we have accomplished other tasks that are unrelated to him. In fact, the freedom of Christ, the freedom of the Kingdom, is something that we cannot postpone. Rather it must shape all of our acts in the here and now, and this will often require sacrifice on our part, just as Elisha’s following Elijah required sacrifice.
Freedom awaits us. But it is not the easy freedom wherein we can make demands on others based on our own rights. Instead it is the freedom of the peace of mind that comes from knowing that we are trying to live the will of God, by worshiping Him and loving and serving those around us. Even though it will not always feel like fun, we will recognize our reward if we keep our eyes on what lies ahead rather than what lies behind (Lk 9:62). Today, let us move one step forward toward embracing this freedom offered to us. Let us embrace our hardships cheerfully for his sake and let us love one another in such a way that others cannot help but notice God’s own love shining through us.
- Maria Morrow