<p></p><p><em>It is easy to view Christianity as an overwhelming series of dos and donts an extended divine recipe for earning Gods love. Todays reflection though reminds us that Jesus came to free us from extrinsic demands made in Gods name. Instead followers of Jesus are invited to live in the freedom and the responsibility of finding and following the call of Love in our deepest hearts as it makes demands in our public lives.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>June 26 2022: Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time</strong></p><p>1 Kings 19:16b 19-21</p><p>Psalm 16:1-2 5 7-8 9-10 11</p><p>Galatians 5:1 13-18</p><p>Luke 9:51-62</p><p></p><h3>For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free</h3><p><em>A reflection by John Falcone</em></p><p>This weeks readings speak to us about freedom in political spiritual and interpersonal terms. This comes through loud and clear in Pauls Letter to the Galatians: When Christ freed us we were meant to remain free. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you (Gal 5:1; Inclusive Lectionary and Message versions).</p><p>Many of us know what its like to be fitted with a (metaphorical) harness. As LGBTQ+ people or allies the first parts that we notice are often the bit and the bridle. The bit fits in the mouth of the workhorse; the bridle restrains the whole head. Many people try to keep us from talking about our experience of love. Others want to direct what we look at or to choose what we notice and what we ignore. And theres more to a harness than just bit and bridle. A harness fastens you to a plough or a cart: it makes you serve someone elses agenda. Paul warns us against the forces that want to harness us. He calls them the Law and the flesh.</p><p>For many centuries Christians believed that Pauls warning about the Law was a warning about Jewish legalism. But theres also another way to understand it. The Galatians were a fiercely independent tribal people with a distinct language and culture. They were considered dangerous and animal-like by the Romans who spent great efforts to conquer and propagandize them. Some scholars like Brigitte Kahl place Pauls argument within this historical context. If the Sadducees and Pharisees were the Law in Judea the Romans were the Law in Galatia. God sets us free from them both.</p><p>Paul also warns us against slavery to the flesh (sarx in Greek). By this he means slavery to self-centeredness and to death-dealing habits. Theres no denying that flesh for Paul is a negative word: flesh/sarx passes away while the body/ soma will be raised to new life (1 Cor 15:50 and 1 Cor 15:44). But the traditional equation that Christians have drawn between the flesh sex and sin is very toxic. It is quite rightly rejected by most contemporary scholars. However the insight that self-centered and death-dealing habits are lodged in our bodies is very astute. Cravings and addictions are lodged in our bodies. We experience cravings for comfort; for eating and overeating; for the rush of adrenaline due to anger; for mindless TV; for video games or pornography; for sugar alcohol nicotine; or for compulsive sex. Are any of these bad or bad for us in themselves? Maybe. But all these cravings can become toxic and dangerous when we lose the power to moderate and manage them and when marketers and politicians use them to harness us for their own profit.</p><p>How can we cut the cords of these harnesses? Our other two reading provide us with some hints. In the reading from Hebrew Scripture God tells Elijah to seek out and anoint Elisha who will become his successor. To seek out and train your own replacement is an act of freedom. Its a practice that many leaders (even from Dignity) can find challenging. But there is freedom in giving up the spotlight; in making space for others to grow and to shine. There is also freedom in letting go of one part of our lives so that new life can emerge both for us and for others.</p><p>Unfortunately the Lectionarys reading from the Hebrew Scriptures also skips over two troubling verses: 1 Kings 19:17-18. These verses are gruesome and political as Elijah anoints leaders to eliminate Israels enemies. Religion and politics cannot be separated either in the Bible or in modern-day life. For example: are we called to vote for a greener economy or to burn ever more carbon? Are we called to make trans rights an active priority? What about womens rights pre-born rights and abortion? Freedom and political choices go hand in hand. Our Lectionary may try to avoid it but following God honestly and faithfully means facing the real world consequences of our decisions.</p><p>In Lukes gospel Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem. When a Samaritan village refuses them hospitality Jesus disciples want to punish them. Jesus tells them to let go of their anger. A fellow traveller offers to follow but Jesus asks Can you live like me without house or home? Two travellers also want to follow Jesus but feel obligated to their families; Jesus says Let go of those feelings as well.</p><p>Is Jesus encouraging followers to abandon their families? In the context of American individualism it might certainly seem so! But I see Jesus challenges as calls to radical freedom. How far towards our own Jerusalem are we willing to travel? How much of our own harness bridle and bit do we dare leave behind? How comfortable have we become in the limits that our culture has put on us and are we willing to suffer the discomfort of breaking free from the strictures of polite society in the service of loving our neighbors?</p><p>This weeks readings invite us to greater freedom. They invite us to speak out from our own truth; to transgress unjust religious and political frameworks; to make space for new ideas and young leaders; to face the tough choices and not turn away from them. The gospel invites us to move through our feelings of anger fear and co-dependence so that we can get on with the practice of loving as Jesus loves.</p><p>We can do all these things and even more through the One who loves us: God who has been revealed in Christ Jesus.</p><div class=oldwebkit>&nbsp;</div><div class=mobile-full><img class=mobile-full src=https://www.dignityusa.org/sites/default/files/civicrm/persist/contribute/images/uploads/static/falcone_9034bf1fdfb0f6acf61f29dc82ffe83e.png alt= width=166 vspace=0 hspace=0></div><p><em><strong>John P. Falcone</strong> is a practical theologian religious educator and a practitioner of Theatre of the Oppressed (PhD Boston College). He has been a Dignity member for more than 20 years with close links to Dignity NY where he met his husband Matias Wibowo in 2005. He is currently Theologian-in-Residence at St. Matthews Bethnal Green (Church of England) in Londons East End.</em></p><p style=text-align: center;><a class=btn btn-primary href=https://www.dignityusa.org/civicrm/mailing/subscribe>Subscribe to Breath of the Spirit</a></p>