On January 6, 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a speech enumerating four basic freedoms to which every American is entitled. Soon afterward Norman Rockwell painted a series illustrating these freedoms. Among them was the freedom of religion. Rockwell’s painting, you may remember, has eight people, men and women, all praying in different ways. The Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths are all represented, as well as black and white, old and young people. At the top is a caption “each according to the dictates of his own conscience.”
Freedom of religion goes back to the European settlement of America. Some of the original 13 colonies were founded by those who felt restricted back in Europe. Though the Protestant Reformation led to the development of different expressions of Christianity, by and large governments held on to the notion that they should determine the religion of their people. Prussia was Protestant, France was Catholic, England’s monarch was the head of the Church of England – but the politics and the religious distinctions were messy. New groups of dissenters always popped up, and many times they were violently persecuted. We all know that the Puritans came to New England with hope that on this side of the pond they could be free to set up community life according to their understanding of the Christian faith. Maryland was founded as a refuge for Catholics. Rhode Island became a providential haven for Roger Williams and others who found themselves persecuted by the Puritans. Later when the newly constituted country produced it’s first amendments freedom of religion was at the top of the list. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
One way we can see how America’s protection of religious freedom is playing out today is by looking at the work of Harvard Professor, Diana Eck who has been the head of the Pluralism Project. This project “explores and interprets the religious dimensions of America's new immigration; the growth of Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, and Zoroastrian communities in the United States; and the new issues of religious pluralism and American civil society.” One result of her study is a fascinating book; A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation, published in 2001.
But even as the diversity of religious expression has increased in the United States, mainline Protestant and Catholic congregations have been decreasing. For decades now many other sociologists like Boston University’s Peter Berger have been tracking the growing secularism of our culture. Those of us who still attend worship regularly don’t need sociologist to tell us that our churches have been in decline for the last 40 years or more. It seems that what started out as freedom of religion, has for many become a freedom from religion. Or the freedom to dabble in different religious traditions; taking a little from here, and a little from there like a potluck supper until one has his or her own unique belief system. In the 1980s sociologist Robert Bellah dubbed this phenomena “Sheilaism” in his book Habits of the Heart. As Bellah worries, such freedom, when taken to extremes can dramatically weaken the power of faith in American culture.
Today’s reading from Acts, in contrast, shows the power faith when the world gives Christians no guarantees of freedom. It takes place just a couple of months after the first Easter. Like the punch line of a joke, we need to know what comes before it to really understand what it going on. Acts picks up where the gospel of Luke leaves off, starting in Jerusalem and then expanding out to Samaria and the ends of the earth. Robert Wall calls the first part the Jerusalem Mission. If you flip back to chapter 3 you will read how Peter and John went to the Temple to pray, and on the way they stopped and healed a lame beggar in the name of Jesus. This act caused a crowd to form, and Peter took the opportunity to preach the gospel to them. This greatly annoyed the priests, Sadducees and captain of the temple. So they arrested Peter and John and brought them before the Sanhedrin the next day. Peter started preaching again and the authorities ordered them to stop speaking in Jesus’ name. Peter responded that they could not stop speaking about what they had witnessed. The crowd was very supportive, and was still praising God for the healing, so the officials warned them again and let the apostles go.
When Peter and John returned to the others and told their story, the congregation prayed for strength to continue to witness to God’s wonderful deeds in Jesus. “And now, Lord,” they prayed, “look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” As a result they felt stronger, filled with the Holy Spirit and went out again to speak the word of God with boldness.
So the high priest took action again. This time he arrested all the apostles and put them in prison. But during the night the angel of the Lord came and let them out. Rather than running way to a safe house, the apostles went right back to the Temple and continued to preach in Jesus’ name. This bold action was not just the apostle’s bravado – for the angel gave them instructions, “Go, stand in the Temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.”
Finding the apostles back at it, the captain and the temple police arrested them again and brought them, once more, before the Sanhedrin. This is where today’s passage picks up. The high priest, probably quite annoyed by now, said, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are trying your best to blame us for the death of this man.” And Peter, rather than using legal arguments to defend himself, began to preach once again. It seems that the apostle’s mission to spread the gospel was unstoppable.
It seems to me that the legal freedom of religion, though good for us, is not as powerful as the freedom God gives followers of Jesus Christ to witness to his gospel regardless of the social/political climate. Freedom of religion can make us so relaxed about our faith that we become complacent, lukewarm, ho hum. It can lead us to feel that it doesn’t really matter if we are part of a congregation, or which one we are part of, or how committed we are to practicing our faith. Though I won’t argue that it would be better for us to live under religious persecution, it is clear that the church often grows better and faster under persecution – look at China today.
Perhaps we need to think more deeply about what freedom really means. In a culture that values the individual so highly we often assume that freedom means each one can do whatever he or she wants all the time. But such narcissistic individualistic freedom lacks any oomph or power and we find ourselves floating along in circles in our own little paddle boats in isolated little meaningless ponds.
But the freedom God gives to his people is a freedom with power and strength. It is the freedom to stand up against those who would put us down, a freedom to persist even when arrested, even when imprisoned, and sometimes even unto death. It is the freedom, which Rosa Parks and Dr. King found when they joined together with a community of believers to witness to the equality of human beings as God created us. It is the freedom of Corrie ten Boom and Deitrich Bonhoeffer to join the Christian underground opposing the Nazi party and protecting as many Jews as they could. It is the freedom of Desmond Tutu to lead South Africa to face the truth after apartheid, and move toward reconciliation. The freedom we are talking of is the freedom, which comes when we remold our individual desires to be in alignment with God’s will for our communal life. Such freedom is found in Christian community when we all get on the same boat, lift up our anchors and open our sails to the power of the Holy Spirit ready to move together in the direction that the Spirit is blowing.
The angel of the Lord didn’t free the apostles and let them run away to safety. No, the Lord instructed them to go right back to the task of bearing witness to Jesus Christ in the epicenter of the conflict – the Temple in Jerusalem. God liberates us for a purpose – to spread the gospel so that others may also know freedom in Jesus Christ.
In a nation where we are granted freedom of religion, it may be more difficult to see what is holding us back from being effective witnesses to God’s salvation in Jesus Christ. What serve as anchors to our boat? What are the ropes which bind our sails? Perhaps we don’t want to seem judgmental or self-righteous of others who have a different faith. And thus become fearful of proclaiming the good news we have found in Jesus. Perhaps our freedom tempts us to divide our time and attention, giving only a fraction to God. But I think it is safe to assume that whenever followers of Jesus Christ find ourselves just floating along, with a lack of direction or power in our ministry, there has to be something holding us back, some kind of anchor that is keeping us tethered, some kind of rope that is binding our sails, preventing us from catching the Spirit.
I stand here today offering a situation for us to ponder. We all need to work together to figure out the solution. What specifically do we need to do to receive the powerful freedom experienced by the apostles? a freedom where people experience healing, and are attracted to join the church of Jesus Christ? At the 2008 General Conference of the United Methodist Church an additional promise was added to the membership vows taken when one joins the church – to support the local congregation with our prayers, presence, gifts, service and our witness. But how do we begin to witness. What will that look like for us? Joe and I tried door hangers in the neighborhood last spring, and a praise concert. We tried International Delights last fall. We are making use of the free publicity offered in the Medford Transcript and we are working on a web site. How else could we join forces and witness to the love of God in Jesus Christ here at Wesley church?
The scriptures do give us a place to start. When Peter and John were released from prison they returned to the community. Together they remembered who God was, they sang hymns praise, and they prayed. “Lord, grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” I believe that this congregation can grow if we will only begin to witness to Jesus Christ, and Bible study, worship and prayer are the way to begin.
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