Having it all

Galatians 5:1, 13-25

         Perhaps I am still overcome by the joy and celebration of the Supreme Court decisions but I can't help but think of this reading and that it defines so much of the struggle of Americans and the gay community.

         While this country was not founded as a 'Christian country' as some would have you believe, the message of freedom is echoed in the Gospel message.  Respect for all of God's creation, that there is neither slave nor free, that there is neither male or female, we are all equal in God's eyes.  This has been the struggle of the America's. First as a haven for religious freedom, then a country with respect for religious freedom while maintaining a separation of church and state. Then overcoming the tyranny of slavery and realizing the equality of our black brothers and sisters. (It's interesting to me that in that horrible era in our country many religions argued from some warped Biblical standpoint that it was 'God's will" or slavery was Biblically sanctioned) Then there was the women's rights that we still struggle with and now the human rights of immigrants and of course gay rights.

        What gives the gay community the audacity and will to power that we have? Is it the Gospel message that Christ has set us free? Is it that we have no real will to power save for the respect we deserve? If you read the passage below from today and see the extensive list of things we are to avoid, is committed respectful love among them? It seems more a command to temperate living not deprivation or abstinence. The behaviors that this passage speaks against can be applied to everyone, whether you are gay or straight. The spirituality inherent in each of us is there whether we are gay or straight. We are all called. To deny our fundamental nature is wrong. Whether we are are gay trying to suppress it or stay in a closet, that is wrong. Whether we are going through life trying to find wholeness in things, toys and material goods, that too is wrong. And let me once again state, material things are not bad but simply making them your attempt at wholeness or putting them above God and our own spirituality, that is what makes materialism wrong.

          But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. When we acknowledge equality and our innate goodness we are being led by the Spirit. When we seek nothing more than to love without regard to all the material things of the world, we are set free. We will have it all. That does not mean you have to give up all, you simply will have it all.  Inner peace, God's love and the material to enjoy.   It doesn't get any better than that.      

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.

For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.

For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness,

idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions,

envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,

gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.