October 23, 2017 Chapter 9 Freedom
There have always been wisdom figures in my life. One such figure is a man named William Schaefer, Sr. I met Bill when I was pastor at Good Shepherd Parish in Indianapolis. Once, when we were talking about a project we were planning someone said, "We just need to 'let go and let God.'" To which Bill responded with this story. There was a man working out in his garden. It was a beautiful garden. Lush plants. Well trimmed. Just magnificent. Another man walks by, sees the garden and says, "My, what a beautiful garden God put here." To which the first man replied, "Yeah? You should have seen when God had it by himself."
Mclaren writes on page 37, "In other words, God gets involved by challenging us to get involved." There is a fine line between "Let go and let God," and "God helps those who help themselves."
One of the first truths of the Bible is that God works through the human person to create a world. We are privileged to be co-creators with God. First it was Adam and Eve given the right to name all of creation. Next it was Noah who assisted in humankind's salvation by building a boat. Followed that with Sarah and Abraham, parents of a great nation. Joseph and his role as reconciler with his brothers. And now Moses who renews creation by leading God's people to freedom.
God consistently chooses to work with us. The obvious question is: Do we consistently choose to work with God?
"Name the Hebrew slaves of today's world" so many people come to mind that need to be freed from oppression-migrants,African Americans,those struggling in third world countries,those who are over worked and underpaid in this country and others,But I think we all are enslaved to something-our addictions, our sins, our need to be right all the time,our anger. We can only be free when we trust God to lead us on the journey, to surrender our ego to God's mercy .
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting to think about the world "slave" in this day and age. The common visual is to think of people oppressed by others. But, that is one branch of the entire tree.
DeleteWhat Mandela a slave when he was imprisoned for 20+ years? How about Viktor Frankl?
When I think of "slave" these days, I think of me and all the external ideals that I allow to control my life.
I think of the many times I check Facebook to see if anyone liked my post; or the keeping track of how many views my blog has today.
I think of the idea of "making money" once I choose or be forced to making a career change.
I am starting to think that we can only be free when we become aware that Who and Whos we are is not defined by what's outside of us.
I like your thought that we are all addicted to something. It is within that context that McLaren is right when he says that God is on the side of the slave and not the slave owner. I think that means God is on our side even in (especially in??) our addictions. Not to leave us in them, but to lead us out of them and into freedom.
ReplyDelete