March 22 - Galatians 4:28-31

March 22 - Galatians 4:28-31

Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”  Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

We are children of promise. 

We are children of promise.

We were born into freedom.

We recognize these words as truth, but rarely live them out in our lives.  The Galatians found themselves falling into bondage with regards to Jewish laws and customs.  It was easier for them to handle.  They couldn’t manage freedom.  Having someone set rules and regulations into place for them ensured that they knew when and if they made a mistake.  But, living in freedom meant that they had to take responsibility for themselves without relying on outside authority.

This morning I read Saint Benedict’s Rule.  Fifteen hundred years ago he wrote this little booklet so that monks would know what was expected of them and how to live within the community.  While much of it makes sense to us: living within God’s will, regular prayer, honoring and respecting each other; other parts of it seem ludicrous.  He set down rules for how much they could own (nothing – and could only have one change of clothing – which was only a robe and a cowl, plus a pair of shoes and a pair of sandals).  He had rules for what they could eat and how to interact with guests.  There were rules regarding the ranking of monks depending on how long they had been there, how great their devotion was, etc.  There were rules regarding excommunication and even rules that handled mistakes made while reciting scripture.  There were rules about who should work in which area and even rules regarding how much more to offer the sick and elderly.

The monks that enter (ed) these monasteries were comfortable with these rules.  They no longer had to make decisions regarding their every day lives.  While they would argue that they learn to rely fully on God, I would argue the point.  They have enslaved themselves to a system that handles everything for them.  This allows them to spend more time with God, but doesn’t actually allow them to live in the freedom we are promised.

With that freedom comes responsibility.  We have to make decisions about how to live our lives and God asks that we choose to make decisions that brings us into His will.  Too many of us choose to exercise that freedom by being bound again to sin and becoming slaves to things that will destroy us.

We are given freedom.  That freedom was bought with a great price.