The End of Freedom

Seeking the freedom of sons not slaves

03/24/2021

John 8:31-42 Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free. I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence; then do what you have heard from the Father.”

If there is one thing we Americans are avid about, almost to the point of an addiction, is our fervor for freedom. We love our freedom! In 1775 Patrick Henry defiantly declared: “Give me liberty or give me death!” In 1776, Thomas Jefferson delivered the “Declaration of Independence,” or better, the “Declaration of Freedom.” In 1863, Abraham Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg and said our nation was “conceived in liberty” and yet we still needed “a new birth of freedom" by overcoming slavery. In 1886 the Statue of Liberty was erected in Staten Island as a gift from the French to their freedom-loving friends across the pond. And the long list of our love for liberty goes on and on.

The tipping point, however, where our love for liberty goes from being “avid” to being “addictive” is when people put limits to our freedom. We don’t like that. Unborn babies limit the liberty of their mothers to do whatever they want with their bodies. Therefore, we legalize abortion rather than lose our liberty. Churches put limits to our liberty to marry whomever we choose. Therefore, we prefer to leave our church rather than leave behind our liberty. The needs of the world community put limits to our liberty on how we make money. Therefore, we make laws to protect and promote our national interests at the expense of poor nations. In other words, unborn babies and religious organizations and poorer nations remind us that freedom is not an end in itself. The real “end” of freedom is not license but rather love.

In the gospel today, Jesus teaches the Jews the real end for which they enjoy freedom, namely, to be children of God, to love like Jesus loves. Jesus explains: “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin…[But] if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.” Jesus contrasts two kinds of freedom: the freedom that slaves desire and the freedom that sons desire. What’s the difference? Slaves desire freedom for the sake of license, to do whatever they want, liberty without limits.

That is a sort of adolescent attitude toward freedom because teenagers cannot wait to get out of the house and finally be free. We see some of that limitless liberty on spring break beach pictures. When all we desire is a liberty without limits, we only become slaves to our deeper passions and unruly desires. We become addicted to freedom as license instead of being avid about freedom.

By contrast Jesus calls us to a freedom for love, indeed a freedom in the truth. He said: “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” What kind of freedom will Jesus’ truth set us free for: to run around on the beach naked? No. Rather, Jesus’ truth teaches us that liberty has limits, like those limits imposed upon us by unborn babies, houses of worship, and poorer countries. In this way we can be avid for freedom without being addicted to freedom. We can grow beyond an adolescent approach to freedom to enjoy the freedom of children of God, a freedom to love, and even lay down our life for others. We discover that the end of freedom is not license but love.

The season of Lent helps us to see liberty in a new light. How so? During Lent we sacrifice some of our freedom, we impose limits to our freedom, so we can learn how freedom should be used for love. Lent invites us to ask ourselves what kind of freedom we are pursuing: the freedom of slaves or the freedom of sons? How providential that Spring Break often overlaps with Lent, where we can see how people really feel about freedom.

St. Paul put the purpose of freedom perfectly in Galatians 5:1: “For freedom Christ has set us free, so do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” In other words, seek the freedom of sons not slaves. Abraham Lincoln was absolutely right when he urged Americans at Gettysburg that our nation was “conceived” in freedom but we still need a "new birth” of freedom. We Americans need to be “born again” with a freedom that exists for the sake of love. Why? Because love is the true end of freedom.

Praised be Jesus Christ!