In the letter to the Galatians St. Paul explains that Christians are called to live in freedom the way Christ did, through the Gift of the Holy Spirit who dwells inside.  “Brethren, for freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”  

What slavery?  Many people think that Christians are the ones who do not have freedom, because they have all these rules and laws about moral behavior.  For most people, freedom means being able to “do what you want.”  This is exactly what the serpent said in the garden of Eden.  He promised Adam and Eve that they could be like God, freely deciding for themselves what is right and wrong; what they would and would not do.  Why can’t you eat the fruit?  Do what you want!

 

The more we try to be free by exerting our will (doing what we want), the more we become a slave to our desires, the desires of the flesh.  Someone who constantly has to gratify the desires of the flesh is not free.  

“Doing what you want” is the Christian definition of selfishness.  It destroys marriages and family relationships, it destroys the community, it leads directly to addictions and self-destructive behavior.  Someone who lets the desires of the flesh rule him, “goes on biting and devouring others.”  

St. Paul says, “do not use freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love.”  Freedom doesn’t mean “doing what you want,” it means doing the right thing, and being able to do the right thing without having to fight yourself.  And the right thing means serving others: putting God first, and seeing one’s life in relation to Him and others.  

The more we seek freedom by doing God’s will, the more truly free we become.  To live in the freedom of God’s will requires His Holy Spirit.  The Spirit and the flesh are opposed to each other; their desires go in different directions.  In order to live according to the Spirit, the flesh must be submitted.  “Live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desires of the flesh… you may not do what you want.”  The Spirit has to transform us.  

The Gospel reading shows a perfect example of how the desires of the flesh get in the way of the Spirit, and bring slavery to sin.  When they were passing through the region of Samaria on their way to Jerusalem, James and John went ahead to a village to make arrangements for the group, but the villagers would not allow them, because they were Jews.  

James and John come back to Jesus pretty angry, and they say exactly what most people would say in a situation like that: “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”  That is the totally normal, human response.  That is exactly what they were feeling.  But what did Jesus do?  He rebuked them, and simply went through a different village.  

Who in this situation has freedom, and who is the slave?  Jesus, or James and John?  I’m sure Jesus was also hurt by the rejection and injustice of the villagers.  But Jesus didn’t “allow it to get to him.”  He was able to “let it go” and move on.  He didn’t get “bent out of shape.”  He was completely free.  

Jesus did not let the hostility of the villagers take away his peace, or interfere with his joy.  Those villagers did not rule him and his feelings and his will and his decisions.  

On the other hand, look at James and John.  They are slaves to their anger.  They want to respond to injustice by seeking vengeance.  They allowed the villagers’ actions to take away their peace and disturb their spirit.  They became trapped in their feelings.  Jesus had to rebuke them the way he would rebuke a devil.  “Leave,” “stop.”  

Now some people might say that by just moving on Jesus was letting the villagers get away with their crime; that he was letting others “run all over him.”  This is not true.  Jesus was not afraid of the villagers, and he was not afraid to stand up to anyone when he needed to: the Pharisees, the high priests, Pontius Pilate, King Herod.  It’s not that Jesus is afraid or weak.  It’s simply that he is free.  The freedom he has puts him above this incident.  Their silliness can’t touch or affect his will, which belongs to God.  

Jesus taught his followers to have the same kind of freedom he did: “if they strike you on the cheek, turn and offer them the other one; if they take your coat, give them the cloak as well” (Mt 5:39-40).  Jesus is not saying be weak and let everyone run over you.  He is simply saying, be free, with the freedom of the Holy Spirit.  

So this is what Christian freedom is.  Knowing what is important, knowing what is not important.  Knowing what leads to slavery, knowing what conquers the world and the Devil.  What is important is God’s will and love of neighbor, what leads to slavery is the desires of the flesh.  

Unfortunately, our reading from Galatians stopped at chapter 5 verse 18.  If you continue to the next verse, St. Paul lists the results of slavery to the desires of the flesh (Gal 5:19-21).  They are: sexual immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, politics, envy, drunkenness, “partying.”  

If we discover that these things are part of our life, it means we do not yet have the freedom promised by Christ, which comes from the Holy Spirit.  It means we are pursuing what our flesh is telling us to do, letting our feelings and desires rule us.  

On the other hand, if we live according to the Spirit, in the true freedom which Jesus had, we will find evidence in our life of the “Fruits of the Spirit.”  St. Paul lists these in his letter to the Galatians (Gal 5:22-23).  The Fruits of the Spirit are: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Generosity, Gentleness, Faithfulness, Modesty, Chastity, Self-Control.  

When we live according to the Spirit, we discover that these things are a part of our life.  And in fact, they give us an infallible guide to the pathway of freedom in Christ.  The fruits of the Holy Spirit are concrete evidence of freedom.  

Who is more free: The person who engages in fornication, or the one who can keep himself chaste?  The one who is constantly jealous, or the one who is kind?  The one who gets drunk, or the one who has self-control?  The one who is selfish, or the one who is generous?  The one who is filled with enmity and strife, or the one who is at peace with his neighbor?  

This past Wednesday, Bishop Mulvey came to our parish to celebrate confirmations, and he spoke about the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit.  By our Confirmation, we are not only called to the freedom of Christ, we actually receive the gifts that enable us to live in this freedom that conquers the Devil, the world, and the most powerful enemy of all, the self.  

Let us pray to the Father that He will renew in us the grace of our Confirmation, renew the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon us, so that we might live in freedom, and experience in our lives on earth the Fruits of the Holy Spirit.