Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in dogs.
Welcome back as we continue our series God is.
We're on day 25 now.
Today we're going to focus in on the idea that God is freedom.
So as we begin,
I just invite you to take a nice deep breath in.
And out.
And as you bring your mind and your awareness fully into this moment right now.
I just want you to imagine.
What it might be like,
What it might look like.
To you.
To be free.
What does freedom look like?
And focus on how it makes you feel.
How it brings that openness.
How it brings that sense of possibility.
And then perhaps for a moment just think about what it is that stops you from embracing freedom.
Particularly thinking about what stops you from embracing freedom in your spiritual life.
Because I want to start with an interesting premise today.
And that premise is that I don't think God makes us do anything.
Which is a strange thing to think about.
When we're contemplating spiritual and religious things.
Because we're so used to thinking about a god.
In terms of commands.
Do this,
Don't do that,
Believe this,
Avoid that,
Obey,
Submit,
Follow.
And to be honest.
.
.
Religion generally,
And Christianity specifically,
Has plenty of language about obedience and commandments and all those things,
Not just within the texts of scripture.
But beyond that as well,
Think about the restrictions and the restraints.
And the feeling of this and that and do and don't that comes when we enter some of these ideas.
But notice we've spent a lot of time this month looking at God from other angles.
God is love.
God is grace,
God is relationship,
God is self-giving.
God is invitation and so on,
And if all that's true.
.
.
Then we have to ask the question,
What does love do with freedom?
And my personal thoughts.
Is that the answer to that question is,
Love makes room.
Now think for a moment about someone you genuinely love.
You can manipulate them,
Yes,
And frighten them and pressure them.
You can make that person feel guilty.
Gosh,
You could even control them,
Such is the way that some humans like to move.
But none of those things creates love.
You can make someone behave in a particular way,
But you can't make them love you.
Because love requires freedom.
Real relationship requires the possibility of saying no.
And I think this should tell us something about God.
Because if God is love.
.
.
Then God can't be coercive.
God can invite and call.
And awaken.
God can confront,
God can draw.
God can woo for want of a better term,
But God does not need to control us in order to get the outcome that God wants.
Because of the goal.
I don't think is compliance.
The goal is relationship.
Which changes the way we might read the life of Jesus.
Because Jesus certainly calls people,
But notice how he invites them.
He uses words like,
Come and see.
Follow me.
If you wish.
Let anyone who is thirsty come.
What do you want?
There's a spaciousness in these sorts of invitations that we see Jesus giving and he's not obsessed.
With forcing people into a decision.
He speaks,
He loves,
And speaks from.
Love.
He brings healing.
Yes,
There are challenges and invitations.
But then Jesus steps back and allows people to respond.
And notice the rich young man,
For instance,
Walks away.
Jesus doesn't chase him down,
Doesn't threaten him,
Just lets him go.
People misunderstand Jesus.
People reject Jesus.
They leave.
But still the invitation remains there on the table for them.
And I think this is one of the places where our image of God really needs to be reconsidered.
Because if God is imagined primarily as authority,
Then religion and spirituality becomes compliance.
The question is,
What does God require of me?
But if God is love.
Then maybe the question that should come first is what is love inviting me into?
And you can see the profound difference in those two questions.
Compliance says,
What do I have to do?
But love says,
What am I being invited to become?
Is about satisfying an external requirement that's placed upon someone,
But the other one's about responding to relationships.
Now be careful,
Because freedom doesn't mean doing whatever we want.
That's the misunderstanding.
Isn't an absence of boundaries.
In fact,
I would argue that freedom requires some boundaries.
A musician isn't free.
Because there's no notes,
And a river isn't free because it has no banks.
A person isn't free because nobody tells them what to do.
There's a deeper freedom.
The freedom to become fully alive.
The freedom to become the person we're capable of becoming.
The freedom to love.
Without needing to possess,
The freedom to forgive without needing to win.
The freedom to tell the truth,
And to let go,
And to stop living from fear,
And to stop performing an identity.
That we've created as really a mask that hides us from the truth,
Not just the truth of the world,
But the truth of ourselves.
And I think this freedom is the freedom that God desires for us.
Not you're free to do anything you want,
But you are free to become everything that you truly are.
And this is why love and freedom belong together.
Love says I'll make space for you to become.
Love's not indifferent though,
Because a loving parent will still warn and a loving friend will still challenge you.
And a loving community will still establish boundaries.
A loving employee.
Will still push back if they don't think the boss's idea is any good.
There's a difference.
Between a boundary that protects love and a control.
That possesses the other.
Jesus never seemed interested.
In producing spiritual robots.
He wants people who can see,
People who can choose,
People who can respond.
People who can truly love.
And I think God's less interested in our compliance.
Than we might have thought.
God,
I don't think,
Is keeping score of whether we've followed every instruction perfectly.
God's looking for something much more alive,
Our freely given response.
To God's love.
Which means that faith.
.
.
Might be.
About becoming increasingly free for love.
To allow ourselves to become free from fear and shame,
From the need to prove ourselves and control others and outcomes.
Free from the belief that our worth depends on how well we're performing,
On our value.
That we're free to become,
And to love,
And to say yes,
And even free to say no.
Because a yes that can't be a no.
Isn't really a yes.
And this is a difficult freedom because it means we can't blame God for every decision we make.
It means we have agency,
Responsibility,
We have to participate.
We have to discern.
We ultimately have to choose.
God can invite us,
But we have to respond.
And that's exactly what love wants.
Not puppets or subjects who have learned to obey this ogliac in the sky,
But people who are becoming capable of love themselves.
So today,
The movement is away from what does God want me to do and towards what is love inviting me to become.
And as you sit with that question,
Notice what happens.
Because I think maybe the God who is love.
.
.
Doesn't stand over.
Demanding compliance.
I think the God who is love is beside you,
Within you,
And in front of you.
Inviting.
And waiting,
Giving you freedom.
And may grace,
Peace and love hold you and guide you within that freedom today and always.
Until tomorrow,
Friends.
Peace.
Be with you.
