Freedom Versus Independence

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Have you ever noticed how freedom and independence are used so interchangeably? If you look up either of the words in a thesaurus, you’ll find each is suggested as synonym for the other. Freedom and independence. Are they really the same thing? Can you be independent without being free? Can you be free without being independent?

Tomorrow we’ll celebrate our nation’s independence.[1] The day is called Independence Day. We’ll light off fire crackers, enjoy cookouts with friends, and here in Orange Grove, get together for our annual Fire Department gathering. This day marks the historic anniversary of our ancestors’ refusal to succumb to British tyranny. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress of the American Colonies declared their independence from British rule. The gloves were off now. The fight was on. David McCullough, in his new book, 1776, writes:

“…from this point on, the citizen soldiers of Washington’s army were no longer fighting only for the defense of their country, or for their rightful liberties as freeborn Englishmen … It was now a proudly-proclaimed all-out war for an independent America, a new America, and thus a new day of freedom and equality.”[2]

Even as the colonies declared their independence, they weren’t really free. There was a nasty, long, drawn-out war to fight. I recently read Joseph J. Ellis’ book, His Excellency: George Washington,[3] and the picture Ellis paints of Washington was of an independent man, but not a free one. Washington longed to go back to his farm and manage his affairs there but first, there was a war to fight, and then, he became president – something that he may not have really wanted to do. Everyone expected him to do so. Was he independent? Certainly. Was he free? Well, that’s up for debate and I don’t think he really was.

In America, when we think about all we enjoy, it makes us proud to think that we are able to speak, think, travel, believe, and do as we please. We thank God for our independence. We may even call it “freedom” but are we really free? Like Washington, we might be independent, but are we truly free?

Here we are, some 229 years from July 4, 1776, and most of the folks I know are independent to differing degrees, but we’re not all that free. Expectations, sometimes our own, and sometimes those placed upon us, dictate much of how we live. Some preachers have suggested that the age we live in will not be known as the age of freedom, but the age of anxiety. We’re anxious about having enough good health, enough good grades, enough security from terrorism, enough money in our retirement accounts, enough time, and enough vacation. We may be independent to pursue all of these things … and we do … but often we’re not all that free. The anxiety that accompanies our lives is a whole new kind of tyranny.

Even the Church has fallen into this trap. The Church today is often anxious. Individually, we compare ourselves more to other churches than the teachings of Christ, and folks in the church are some of the most worn-out people I know. Does that sound like freedom to you? Jim Wallis, a well-respected voice on the workings of the Church has written: “We have forgotten we are God's people, and we have fallen into the worship of American gods. Church historians may someday describe our period as the American captivity of the church. It is no less real than the Babylonian Captivity in the history of Israel. Trapped in our false worship, we no longer experience the freedom that is our birthright in Jesus Christ.”[4] So what do you think? Personally and collectively, in our independence are we truly free?

Jesus begins our text today with some reflective words. “But to what will I compare this generation?”[5] I have often wondered about my own legacy. Especially now that I’m a parent, I wonder what will my kids remember about me? Which of my mistakes will they try and avoid? Will they seek to copy any achievements? And for our purposes today, will part of my legacy be that my kids saw me as free? Today is a good day to pause and reflect on how free we are…and how free we can be.

In this passage today, Jesus begins by telling a parable about children in the marketplace. They say to one another, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.” Jesus then goes on to say people didn’t accept John the Baptist, nor did they accept him.

Freedom is often about expectations. Let me rephrase that: freedom is often about not letting other’s expectations set standards for you that you can’t … and shouldn’t… achieve. When you’re truly free, then other’s expectations don’t govern your life.

By many people’s standards, Jesus was a failure. Yet, Jesus maintained his focus on that which gave him true freedom: his life and place in God’s heart. This was his conviction: being in step with God brings true freedom. It was a passion that carried him all the way to the cross.

So I wonder, whose expectations are steering your life? What’s your standard for comparison? Maybe a more direct and pertinent question is: What or who is the tyrant that robs you of freedom? Have you spent your way into a set of chains that will keep you indebted for years to come? Are you shackled to a bitterness against someone you won’t forgive? Are you bound to a schedule that doesn’t seem to let up? Many of us are independent. Few of us know what it’s like to be free.

Jesus says to people who long for freedom, “Come to me…” And we get excited! But then he also says, “Take my yoke…” and many of us often wonder if Christianity is simply trading one set of handcuffs for another. I hear, “There’s so many rules. It’s hard to be a Christian. You don’t know the peer pressure I face.” And to all of those frustrations, Jesus says to us, “…my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Most of us don’t get what Jesus is saying here. In the ancient world, animals carried most of the heavy loads. And for the animal to be effective, the yoke had to fit just right. It was custom made for the animal. If it didn’t fit, and rubbed the animal in the wrong way, sores would develop, the animal would resist, and the load wouldn’t be carried.

When Jesus says, “…my yoke is easy and my burden is light…” he’s saying that his call on our life fits perfectly. He doesn’t expect too much or too little. It’s just right. Yes, Jesus does have expectations, but those expectations are to lead us, not just to independence, but to true freedom – a life in step with God. If you feel like your load it too heavy these days, one thing you need to ask yourself is, “Am I carrying the right load? Does it fit me?” A life in step with God offers us freedom, and challenges we’re equipped for and that fit through Christ.

Amen.

[1] Some of these ideas come from William H. Willimon’s article, “True Freedom,” Pulpit Resource, Volume 27, Number 3, July-September 1999, pp. 3-6. My wife, Diane Lynn Janssen Hemmen, used some of Willimon’s material in her July 4, 1999 sermon at University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill, NC, and I’ve used a combination of Willimon’s and Diane’s development for parts of this sermon.

[2] David McCullough, 1776 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), pp. 136-137.

[3] Joseph J. Ellis, His Excellency: George Washington (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004).

[4] Jim Wallis, The Call To Conversion (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1992), p. 31.