Says Who?
Sermon
Doors To God
SPECIAL OCCASION SERMONS
Freedom and Democracy Sunday
Of all God’s creatures, only humans can make free judgments. Only we can change our basic natures; only we can rebel against ourselves; only we can choose. Herein lies both our greatness and our misery. Thus, only we can question and choose our authorities. Only we can ask, 'Says who?'
Where did that idea come from -- that the consciences of human beings should be free? I suppose that the first time the words, 'Says who?' were spoken was millions of years ago as some tribal leader explained the mythology of the day. In that far-distant land and time, as the priest spoke of unchallenged truths, some youth must have shaken that authoritarianism with two words, 'Says who?'
This idea of freedom of conscience grew with the Greeks. In the thought of Plato and Aristotle the idea of personal freedom is to be found; but these thinkers believed that a caste system could not be avoided, so even for them the idea that every slave and peasant should or could be free from rule was absent.
In the Hebrew idea of social justice one of the chief roots of the idea of freedom of conscience is to be found. The concern for the underdog, which runs like a thread through the whole weave of the Old Testament, was based on the idea that God loved his children equally.
In the New Testament the idea grew in Jesus’ teachings on love for all persons. In his story of the lost sheep, we find that for Jesus every person, no matter how lowly, was important. In the First Century this idea was revolutionary.
In the Epistle to the Romans, the author notes that to be truly free is to be enslaved to God. Christian freedom, then, is the freedom to do God’s will. We are all enslaved to something; but to be truly free as Christians, we are to be enslaved to God.
With Luther and Calvin, and their break with human rules, the idea and ideal of personal freedom began to flower. Here the ideas which helped its growth were the beliefs that reason is a safe guide to truth and that each person, in the degree to which he or she has come to love God, can choose the rules he or she may trust. Among those who held this view were John Locke, John Milton, and Roger Williams.
A friend of mine at Union Theological Seminary expressed his appreciation for this heritage something like this:
Here I am one of the most free people alive, an heir to the freedom of the Jewish-Christian tradition, a Protestant living in the United States. Why should I be so privileged? All this freedom is almost frightening.
To be sure, we are heirs of a great past, but that past requires the best of our present if it is to be kept. As Bernard Shaw has reminded us, 'Liberty means responsibility.'
To be sure, personal freedom must be checked against other values. Carried to excess, personal freedom destroys itself and results in chaos. To be at its highest, it must be checked against such values as equality, justice, order, and love.
True freedom is found only through faith in God. When people commit their highest loyalty to God, they can stand in free judgment on states communistic, socialistic and capitalistic, on church organizations and dogmas, and even on the worship of the ideal of freedom.
We have the personal freedom we do because in the past women and men have dreamed and have given sweat and blood for their dreams.
The foes of freedom are always at work; but we need have no fear if we go forward with the convictions of people like Plato, Amos, Servetus, Thomas Jefferson, and the One who went to a Cross rather than compromise his conscience.
In this faith can be built the kind of world in which we, and our children, and our children’s children will dare to ask, 'Says who?'
Prayer
Our God, we thank You for the freedom inaugurated and sustained in this land by our ancestors. For Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King, Jr., and for all those less famous people who have made our freedom possible, we give You our thanks. For the freedom with responsibility that we enjoy we are grateful. For a government by, of, and for the people we are indebted.
Grant to us the ability and the desire to support the causes of freedom in our world. Prevent us from demanding so much security that we lose our liberty.
For the President of the United States and the president’s staff for the Congress, and the Supreme Court, we ask for Your direction and strength that a world in which people live together in peace and good will may be built upon the earth.
To working for the freedom of others as we work for our own we dedicate ourselves. Guide our good intentions into realistic and peaceful programs of action; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Of all God’s creatures, only humans can make free judgments. Only we can change our basic natures; only we can rebel against ourselves; only we can choose. Herein lies both our greatness and our misery. Thus, only we can question and choose our authorities. Only we can ask, 'Says who?'
Where did that idea come from -- that the consciences of human beings should be free? I suppose that the first time the words, 'Says who?' were spoken was millions of years ago as some tribal leader explained the mythology of the day. In that far-distant land and time, as the priest spoke of unchallenged truths, some youth must have shaken that authoritarianism with two words, 'Says who?'
This idea of freedom of conscience grew with the Greeks. In the thought of Plato and Aristotle the idea of personal freedom is to be found; but these thinkers believed that a caste system could not be avoided, so even for them the idea that every slave and peasant should or could be free from rule was absent.
In the Hebrew idea of social justice one of the chief roots of the idea of freedom of conscience is to be found. The concern for the underdog, which runs like a thread through the whole weave of the Old Testament, was based on the idea that God loved his children equally.
In the New Testament the idea grew in Jesus’ teachings on love for all persons. In his story of the lost sheep, we find that for Jesus every person, no matter how lowly, was important. In the First Century this idea was revolutionary.
In the Epistle to the Romans, the author notes that to be truly free is to be enslaved to God. Christian freedom, then, is the freedom to do God’s will. We are all enslaved to something; but to be truly free as Christians, we are to be enslaved to God.
With Luther and Calvin, and their break with human rules, the idea and ideal of personal freedom began to flower. Here the ideas which helped its growth were the beliefs that reason is a safe guide to truth and that each person, in the degree to which he or she has come to love God, can choose the rules he or she may trust. Among those who held this view were John Locke, John Milton, and Roger Williams.
A friend of mine at Union Theological Seminary expressed his appreciation for this heritage something like this:
Here I am one of the most free people alive, an heir to the freedom of the Jewish-Christian tradition, a Protestant living in the United States. Why should I be so privileged? All this freedom is almost frightening.
To be sure, we are heirs of a great past, but that past requires the best of our present if it is to be kept. As Bernard Shaw has reminded us, 'Liberty means responsibility.'
To be sure, personal freedom must be checked against other values. Carried to excess, personal freedom destroys itself and results in chaos. To be at its highest, it must be checked against such values as equality, justice, order, and love.
True freedom is found only through faith in God. When people commit their highest loyalty to God, they can stand in free judgment on states communistic, socialistic and capitalistic, on church organizations and dogmas, and even on the worship of the ideal of freedom.
We have the personal freedom we do because in the past women and men have dreamed and have given sweat and blood for their dreams.
The foes of freedom are always at work; but we need have no fear if we go forward with the convictions of people like Plato, Amos, Servetus, Thomas Jefferson, and the One who went to a Cross rather than compromise his conscience.
In this faith can be built the kind of world in which we, and our children, and our children’s children will dare to ask, 'Says who?'
Prayer
Our God, we thank You for the freedom inaugurated and sustained in this land by our ancestors. For Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King, Jr., and for all those less famous people who have made our freedom possible, we give You our thanks. For the freedom with responsibility that we enjoy we are grateful. For a government by, of, and for the people we are indebted.
Grant to us the ability and the desire to support the causes of freedom in our world. Prevent us from demanding so much security that we lose our liberty.
For the President of the United States and the president’s staff for the Congress, and the Supreme Court, we ask for Your direction and strength that a world in which people live together in peace and good will may be built upon the earth.
To working for the freedom of others as we work for our own we dedicate ourselves. Guide our good intentions into realistic and peaceful programs of action; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
