Lent 3 (B) + The free life + 3.8.15

"Behold, the Joy of Jesus" by Lindena Robb

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Exodus 20:1–17, Psalm 19, 1 Corinthians 1:18–25, John 2:13–22)

"Sha-la-la-la-la-la live for today!" This is a song I remember from my youth, although it’s much older than me. It's from the "Grass Roots", a rock band of the sixties.^[1]  When I think of this song I remember my friend Kira, and my time in high school. When we had free time, especially during our final year of high school, we left the school campus in Kira’s blue Mustang, to buy a snack or just to take a walk, and Kira always played that song. "Sha-la-la-la-la-la live for today!" This song, to me, was all about freedom!

During Lent, many Episcopal churches begin the service of Holy Eucharist with the Decalogue, as a part of the penitential order. For me the Ten Commandments always seem to be the opposite of this sense of freedom. These are the rules that God has shared with us. If freedom is about doing what you want, what makes you feel the energy of life, the Ten Commandments have always felt as constraints. Necessary but not necessarily fun.

But today we hear the psalmist, who says: "The statutes of the LORD are just and rejoice the heart; *
the commandment of the LORD is clear and gives light to the eyes (Ps. 19:8).” And later ... "more to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold, *sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb (Ps. 19:10).”

How are God's laws desirable or sweet like honey?

A recent day I was listening to the "Pray as you go" webcast on my phone and the focus of the reflection was Deuteronomy  30:19-20: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,  loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." Listening, I heard this passage as if for the first time. I heard the part about choosing life, and understood that we do it not for God’s sak, but for our sake. Because if we do not, we will not live long; we will not thrive. We have to follow God and choose what brings life into our lives, or we will never have a sustainable life. On hearing this, it became very clear that my Lenten practice would have to have something to do with something that would give me life. So part of my practice is to exercise at least three times a week. This does not seem a big deal, but for a priest during Lent, self care is not on the top priority. So this is a small way for me to choose life.

Listening to this, I also realized something else. I realized in that it is all about having a relationship with God, not just doing things because God has told us to. It's not just about "following the rules."

Theologian Patrick Miller says that "God frees Israel, re-establishes a relationship with her, then gives her the commandments, which are the picture of what a free life looks like."^[2]

How is it that the commandments are a picture of a free life? And how can we live a "free life"?

We might follow the God’s laws, but in a way that leads to an abundant life.

I have a book about what is, at least for me, the most forgotten commandment, the Sabbath. Alll throughout this book you find the word “delight.” ^[3] How can keeping the commandments bring you delight?

Possibly there is delight following only our one true God, because in this we remember that we owe no allegiance to the other gods of this world, like money or power.

Perhaps respecting God’s name can bring pleasure, too. Because is this not a way to show our faithfulness to God?  

I know that I feel pure delight when I have a Sabbath day dedicated to the Lord, and I try to do this every week. When I really do not do any work one day and dedicate it to my relationship with God, my family, and my friends, it seems the best luxury in the world. But it is so necessary to rebuilding my body and my mind.

In honoring your father and your mother, one’s family life is strengthened and one feels free from the chains of bitterness and division. Rather than restriction here, many children (young or old) may feel freer, because there is nothing more binding than troubled family relationships.

When you do not murder, you are free from the shame of having cut short the life of one whom God has made. This is not a problem for most of us, but we can still realize that the reason for not killing is more to be free of the weight that a death brings than just because we are following the rules.

In not committing adultery, in the way we act as much as in any physical manifestation, we live a free life because there is pleasure in the safety of a fully committed relationship. There are no lies and there is no shame. Although we also know that with God, there is always a new beginning.

When we do not tell lies, we cannot be trapped in a web of our own words. We can live with authenticity, free to tell our truth and nothing else.

And not desiring what is not ours brings even more delight because otherwise life is a hell of always wanting the next thing you don’t have. The person who lives at peace with what she has and fights for justice and love rather than for power and wealth is not only the freest human being, but the happiest, too.

What do you think? How can you rethink God’s commandments to see how they might free you in your life from something that wishes to trap you, to keep you bound and unhappy?

This may seem strange at first. In fact it may even seem foolish. But remember the words of St. Paul: " Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe." (1 Cor. 1: 20b-21) So try it! You might find something of God’s wisdom in your practice.

And this may be the start of a free life.

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[1] The Grass Roots, “Let’s Live for Today,” 1967.

[2] Mi traducción de una cita en Karoline Lewis, Rolf Jacobsen and Matt Skinner, “Sermon Brainwave #405,” www.workingpreacher.org por el 3 de Marzo de 2015.

[3] Norman Wirzba, Living the Sabbath: Discovering the Rhythms of Rest and Delight (The Christian Practice of Everyday Life) (Brazos Press, 2006).