Sermon Sunday June 29th, 2025
Rev. Norman A. Michaud
When I read this Sunday’s excerpt from Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, I can sense its influence on those who wrote our Declaration of Independence. “For freedom, Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” In this Sunday’s Epistle, Paul expands his vision of Christianity beyond last week’s reading from Galatians: “In Christ, there is no longer …“Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Paul’s understanding of Christ liberates believers from ancient Hebrew Law.
On Friday, the United States celebrates our Declaration of Independence.
Jefferson and Adams and the Colonial representatives who signed the Declaration of Independence potentially signed away their “Lives, property, and honor,” knowing that their signatures acted as the equivalent of signing their death warrants. What courage!
Eighty-four years later, the United States fought a devastating Civil War to free those who had become enslaved in this country. Just last week, we celebrated the end of slavery on Juneteenth.
To construct a union for all citizens, the Northern States sacrificed three hundred and sixty thousand men. The Confederacy shed more than three hundred thousand to keep slavery intact. The total number of deaths may be much higher, closer to eight hundred and fifty thousand, including civilians and soldiers counted as Missing who were never accounted for.
By the time Lee surrendered, Lincoln had provided forgiveness for all the Confederates for acts of treason and sedition. Formerly enslaved people and their children were given citizenship by the 14th Amendment in 1868, following the traditions of English Common Law established by the Magna Carter in 1215. The Magna Carter gave all men born in the British Empire the right to citizenship. The Magna Carta followed the Roman tradition that all people born within the Empire became citizens at birth. All Roman and British citizens were obligated to obey the laws of both Empires.
Paul and all the Apostles, and yes, Jesus, were citizens of Rome and subject to Roman Law and Roman tyranny. Britain followed this concept in its ever-expanding Empire.
Historically, in the aftermath of the American Civil War, formerly enslaved men were granted the right to vote. Men could own property as well. One hundred and five years ago, the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote. Their fight for full equality continues to this day.
As Christians, we must retain the Christian understanding of loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. In the United Church of Christ, our declarations have always reflected personal sovereignty and autonomy, and we welcome all to our Communion Table. Before the formation of the United Church of Christ, Congregational Churches supported the rights of men and women without consideration of gender and race. Congregationalists ordained the first black pastor in 1785. Rev. Lemuel Haynes served as the pastor in Rutland, Vermont, for thirty years. Congregationalists also ordained Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first female pastor in the United States, in 1853. She served as the pastor of the Congregational church of South Butler, New York.
Paul’s epistles radically called for an end to exclusion and supported justice for all who identified themselves as Christians. Speaking out against injustice, Paul sought to liberate the Spirit, not the body. The Spirit is eternal. Things, all things, return to dust, but the Spirit is infinite.
Last week, I invoked the writings of Reinhold Niebuhr in my sermon. This 20th-century American Theologian and a founder of our United Church of Christ wrote a book, The Irony of American History, in 1952, 73 years ago. Niebuhr writes in unsentimental terms regarding the shortcomings of America. However, he showed hope in progress and progressive movements.
Niebuhr concluded:
“For if we perish, the ruthlessness of the foe would be only the secondary cause of the disaster. The primary cause would be that the strength of a giant nation was directed by eyes too blind to see all the hazards of the struggle and the blindness would be introduced not by some accident of nature or history but by hatred and vainglory.” p.174. Niebuhr echoed Paul’s declaration against slavery. Freedom of the spirit in Christ counters the bondage of the flesh.
Christian Freedom does not include desires of the flesh. Paul seeks freedom from ownership and to share our bountiful grace with all, and Paul means ALL!
The execution of Jesus of Nazareth is not the end of Jesus but the beginning of the new covenant in Christ. Paul notes first that to live “In Christ” or to be “clothed in Christ,” we must, first and foremost, “… love your neighbor as yourself.” 5:14.
Our devotion to temporal things and our perverted understanding that possessions and money are gifts that we deserve keep us from living the life to which we are called. People who live in poverty, poor health, homelessness, addiction, and other afflictions are not to be looked down upon as if those who suffer are not part of God’s Creation and God’s Grace. Paul commands us to love all creation in the Name of Christ. To be freed from Death, The Way requires action.
Paul lists in today’s scripture nine “fruits of the spirit,” which are to be cultivated throughout a lifetime. Generosity, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are Paul’s reminders of the cognitive progression Christians are to show through their actions.
Virtue is not automatic or inherent. We are human; we will fail and rise again in triumph by sincerely trying while always keeping Christian goals as our ultimate destiny. Recall the hymn, “They will know we are Christians through our love.”
Each of the concepts Paul includes in his list is a key to showing love in the world. We find these echoed in 1 Corinthians: 13:4-8 (NSRV)
“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never ends.”
Christians are called to strive for the fulfillment of Christ’s teachings. Each quality only expands on our first Christian commandment, “To Love!”
The power of our actions, love in action, is what makes us whole in Christ. Such provides the ability to transcend the desires of the flesh.
Ten years ago, when I attended the UCC’s General Synod in Cleveland on June 24, 2015, John Dorhauer, the President of the UCC, announced that the Supreme Court had granted same-sex marriage. Many attendees cheered, and some wept with joy.
The UCC has declared this Sunday, the last Sunday of Pride Month, as Open and Affirming Sunday. The love that Paul and Christ ask us to live in our daily lives has become a truth for millions of Americans. Let us keep the fires of faith burning.
The United Church of Christ has a statement defining what we are to become. It’s called, “Be the church.” Protect the environment. Care for the poor. Forgive often. Reject racism. Fight for the powerless. Share earthly and spiritual resources. Embrace diversity. Love God. Enjoy this life.
The UCC offers this prayer, “Help us to pick up the mantle of those who have gone before us in this liberation movement, that their hard work and their sacrifice might not be in vain. We are, all of us, called to love, for the sake of love, to be loved in the faith community and all the world. Please continue to make us your beloved people. Amen”