|
Lectionary
7 TRINITY: 6 - 12 JULY, 2008
THEME: ‘DO NOT ALLOW
YOURSELVES TO BECOME SLAVES AGAIN.’
READING: GALATIANS 5:
1 – 6
Apart from the gift of God’s Son to the world,
freedom is the greatest gift of God to humanity. In giving us
freedom, God put himself at our risk – the risk of rejection.
It was in the use of freedom that our forebears, Adam and Eve
disobeyed God. In that disobedience, human beings became
slaves of sin and the law. It is God’s redemptive work in
Christ Jesus that purchased our freedom. When we accept what
God in Christ has done for us, then we are truly free and no
more under the yoke of the law.
St Paul called the
Galatians back from the temptation to believe that salvation
is derived from the obedience to the letter of the law. The
issue was that the Jews taught that for the salvation of the
Gentiles to be authentic, they must first be Jewish proselytes
– they should observe the laws and customs of Moses,
particularly circumcision. They must possess faith and
circumcision, grace and law. The freedom we are offered in
Christ is not a license to keep on sinning but to live out the
gift of freedom in the grace of God. We must deliberately
never allow ourselves to become slaves again. What are the
things that enslave us in our lives today? There are those of
us who fall back into the slavery of money – our love for
money and our desire to become wealthy enslave us and dictate
our every action. Some of us are enslaved in illicit
relationships, in alcoholism, in gambling. There are many also
who are slaves to their work – it dictates every aspect of
their lives. We become so busy that we even find no time for
the worship of God. Whatever our situation, we must remember
that Jesus sets us free not to become slaves again.
The most responsible use of our freedom is in what I
choose to call the ‘Gethsemane principle.’ In this we use our
freedom to surrender our will to God. We say like Jesus at
Gethsemane: “nevertheless, not as I will but as you (God)
will.” We are faced with various options in life. The one that
appeals to us at any given time may not be within the will of
God and within the scope of the values of the Kingdom of God.
We must seek God’s will for our lives, and in freedom choose
that which accords with God’s will. We should use our freedom
in obedience to God.
Submitted by Rev. ACee Temple
Anono
PRAYER
Almighty God, you have given us
freedom to be your children and not be under domination of
evil. In our misuse of freedom, we become slaves to ourselves
and to sin. Help us to realise that the freedom which connects
us to you is the best freedom we can have. Help us to
surrender ourselves to you as Jesus did at Gethsemane, so that
our continent will experience genuine freedom; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
PRAY FOR:
Malawi (National
Day – July 6)
São Tomé and Príncipe (National Day – July
12)
READINGS FOR THE WEEK
John 8: 31 – 41;
Philemon 8 – 12; Romans 6: 1 – 14; Romans 6. 15 – 23;
Deuteronomy 7: 6 – 9; John 15: 13 – 17
| |
|