I’d like to start by telling two little stories, both of which occur in churches and are, I am told, absolutely true.
Some years ago the Church of England, in its unfathomable wisdom decided to authorise a whole series of new liturgies. Many vicars, brought up on the Book of Common Prayer and the Alternative Service Book, had a bit of difficulty negotiating their way round the new prayer liturgy. For decades they had been saying “The Lord is here” and the unanimous response was always “His Spirit is with us.” But one day, one vicar began his Eucharistic Prayer saying, “The Lord is here,” only to be met with stone silence. He looked down at his prayer book, tapped the microphone, and said it again. “The Lord is here.” Still no response. And so he said it a third time. “The Lord… is here, is he?” And the curate said back, “Not in Prayer B, he’s not!”
The other incident occurred during a sermon in a Congregational church, where a visiting minister was waxing eloquently on his text for the day, Matthew 25 (the parable of the ten virgins). The problem is, he gravely underestimated the spirituality of his audience. So after having preached his heart out he ended his sermon with this ringing exhortation: “And you young men up there in the gallery, where would you rather be, in the light with the wise virgins or in the dark with the foolish ones?” And he got a unanimous and vocal reply. And it wasn’t the one he was expecting either!
Legalism or License?
Two little anecdotes which we may find amusing or entertaining – but there is a serious point. The first story is about legalism and the second story is about license.
Legalists say, “The most important thing of all is not Jesus but protocol and procedure.” For legalists Christianity is better than Christ. And when it comes to the church, they like to put the steeple before the people. No matter that the place is unwelcoming to any young children who might come along, this hard furniture and cold buildings are what we’ve always had.
Have you ever had the embarrassing experience of waiting at traffic lights and then stalling your car as soon as the lights turn green? It usually happens when you are in a hurry for something. What a joy it is, and how helpful, when the cars behind start bibbing at you… This is what happened to a young lady one evening. No matter how hard she tried, the car wouldn’t start again; so she gave it some choke and then the carburettor must have flooded. The man behind her could have simply drove round her bit, no, he decided that getting cross and leaning on his car horn would be much more helpful. Beeeeb… So she got out of her car, walked towards him, opened his car door and said, “I’ve got a better idea. How about you try and start my car and I sit in yours, hooting at you like a demented owl?
Like that man, some Christians are very fond of the rules and love to tell people what to do, but never help anyone to it. So you spend all your life trying to attain a standard and never manage.
Licentious people on the other hand say, “The church is too stiff and boring. The most important thing is not stuffy old Bible study and doing what Jesus says, but doing whatever you want.”
During the 1980’s a parish church I know in London put up posters on a notice board which was situated on a main road. Every four or five weeks there was a new poster with a new message. One month, there was a picture of a marathon runner looking absolutely exhausted; every muscle of his body was straining and his face was twisted in pain. The caption read, “Are you tired of sin? If so, come inside.” Quite effective... until some joker from the neighbourhood scribbled underneath, “If not tired of sin yet, call Debbie on 457 8141!”
What Freedom Looks Like
Our readings this morning extol neither stiff legalism nor sinful license; they commend spiritual liberty. 2 Corinthians 3.17 says: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
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| Freedom by Zenos Frudakis |
It’s actually quite difficult to express what the freedom of the Spirit is; it’s an elusive thing, but you know it when it’s there and you miss it when it’s gone. Wherever the Holy Spirit is at work, you notice an open mood of generous friendliness with an absence of judging or criticism – and no spirit of competition. Spiritually, you can discern a healthy unity; it is most agreeable.
But the Spirit’s freedom can be so easily lost, because every Christian runs the risk of falling into legalism on the one hand and into license on the other. Churches too often fall into these extremes. Paul wrote Galatians to fight legalism and 1 Corinthians to combat license. Which tendency do you lean towards the most if you’re honest? Licentiousness or legalism? Which of the two is the greatest threat to your freedom in the Spirit? Stifling the Holy Spirit or just doing your own thing?
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Question; how free? If you asked Jesus that question I think he’d reply, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” In other words, freer than this doesn’t exist. But freedom from what? And freedom into what? If I am really free indeed am I free to sin? Can I rebrand the Ten Commandments as the ten suggestions and be free to observe only those that are convenient?
It’s not that we are free to sin. But it’s not that we are not free to sin either. It’s a category error. The truth is we are free not to sin. The Holy Spirit sets us free from the minute by minute burden of remembering rules and laws about the minutiae of existence and frees us to please God in unfettered joy.
And v18 shows how this works: “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
That is a description of true liberty; it’s a personal transformation that reflects God’s splendour and glory. It’s a work of the Spirit. It results in radiant faces. Time and time again, I’ve seen people become more beautiful, more radiant, more youthful, as their lives are so touched by God’s grace that their faces shine with and the joy of the Lord.
That’s what freedom of the Holy Spirit looks like. So how do you get it? How do you live in the glorious liberty of the children of God? The key is in v18 – it is “contemplating the Lord’s glory.” This is the secret! We change and grow into the likeness of Christ by marvelling at the splendour of his countless perfections. We come to resemble what we attentively admire. We know this works on a human level, don’t we? We talk about those we love and esteem and think about as leaving their mark on us.
Ending
Are you free? Do you feel like you are? Do you want to be? Learn, as I too am learning, to contemplate the glory, the beauty, the radiance, the excellence, of Christ; his humility, his authority, his mercy, his words, his sufferings, his death, his resurrection – and we will be changed from glory to glory, in the freedom of the Holy Spirit.
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 5th July 2009
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