Interior Freedom

Freedom is an interesting word. Growing up in the United States we hear of our Freedoms (speech, religion, …), we hear of the many who have paid the ultimate price to enable our Freedom. Freedom seems foundational to who we are as Americans.

That said, we can see in our culture how our perception of rights and freedoms can be taken too far, by either imposing our rights upon others or being so self-centered that we view everyone and everything from the perspective of consumerism and entitlement.

These are topics for another sharing. What I want to reflect on this afternoon is a different type of Freedom…Interior Freedom. This freedom is the subject of the Jacque Phillipe’s book that we will use during the Lent and Easter time to hear a particular message to us as a Community.

When preparing a sharing I always like to start with God’s Word on the subject:

- John 8:32 – “The truth will set you free”

- Gal 5:1 – “For freedom Christ set us free”

- 2 Cor 3:17 – “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”

It is clear from these scriptures that our Lord wants us to be free. As I reflected on this, I thought of the millions of people in our world today, and through the centuries, that probably would not say that they are free.

This led me to explore what Jacque Phillipe said on the subject and I was struck by the statement “True freedom is a gift of God, a gift of the Holy Spirit, received in the measure in which we place ourselves in a relationship of loving dependence on our creator and savior.” Thinking about this statement I had to admit some confusion. Freedom coming proportionate to a loving dependence on our creator…and he also says it is proportionate to the love and childlike trust we have for our Heavenly Father. This was somewhat counter intuitive. Freedom coming from dependence, coming from our trust of our Heavenly Father...

This seems exactly opposite to my understanding of the American Freedom with its desire for independence, health, wealth, a total lack of dependence on anyone.

Was this another biblical paradox such as “The first shall be last and the last shall be first”?

I read on. Next he states that Freedom comes proportionate to our growth in faith, hope, and love.

As I quieted my spirit and pondered the concept of Interior Freedom, the word Peace came to mind. How would I approach embracing Peace, deep within? I reflected on when I have been the most at Peace. It turns out that it was not times where I was successful, making choices, having thing work out the way that I wanted…no I experienced the most interior freedom, when I let go of a situation with the confidence that God was in control.

Now, it was starting to make sense. Freedom is a gift of the Holy Spirt, free for our asking, that will grow as we let go of our own agendas, desires, wants, needs… focusing on ourselves only trap us into attention on what we do not have and not upon our loving Father who abundantly loves and cares for us. My interior freedom can grow as I continue to mature in abandoning myself to Him with faith and confidence in His love for me. So, the more I love Him, the more I put my hope in Him, the more I put my faith and trust in Him, the less I am focusing on the rat race the world temps me with, and the more I can focus on peace and the gift of interior freedom.

Testing this I thought of the saints and the books I have read about their lives. These are clearly men and women who were free. They didn’t care what the world thought of them. They were hopelessly in love with our Lord and this love powered their ability to act freely. To ignore the image of success the world would paint and love God passionately and give themselves completely to Him and serve Him. The saints were courageous for Christ. They were truly free inside.

Brothers and Sisters, standing here before you I can testify to this truth. I have been overwhelmingly blessed by God and, blessed by your witness and example. Your witness and example have shown me first hand that I don’t need to pursue the things that our culture pushes upon me. I can follow the example of God’s Word, His Saints, and your example and live free. I can continue to develop my sense of freedom by my daily surrender, by growing in faith, hope and love for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I also want to give testimony to a few who have particularly helped me grow in interior freedom.

The first was when I was young, before cell phones, Neil Coward was attending an event at St. Rita, and we, because we lived close, got the call that his home had caught fire and burned. His reaction? He responded without anger or angst and simply said the words “Praise the Lord!” His response left a lasting impression on me. This was a man that was in love with the Lord, who had full faith and trust that everything would work out, and was free to respond to a terrible situation with Praise.

Another example was Vi Bezner as we talked about her health and God calling her home. She was not afraid. She had served our Lord and you and me for her entire life, and as her health started to fail, she was not mad or anxious. She was free to welcome her own passing through the veil. She was a witness to me of interior freedom.

A third example came not from a specific person but from observing the life of so many Community brothers and sisters who have gone before us. One blessing of Community is that we come from all walks of life and socioeconomic backgrounds. The world would have us believe we have to be wealthy to be free and happy, but what I learned from Community is that the freest, happiest people seemed to be those who had rejected the world’s agendas and lived simply and humbly.

I could go on and on but simply put I believe my interior freedom, my ability to not worry or chase the world’s agendas is directly a result of your witness, your example of surrender and your lives trying daily to grow in faith, hope and love for our Lord.

Brothers and Sisters, my hope and prayer is that each of us say Yes to our Lord a little more each day, growing in Faith, Hope, and Love of Him, so that we are free, truly free, from the inside out, to welcome whatever our day brings, with all the love that we can muster, regardless of our circumstance, so that we can witness the JOY of Interior Freedom. Amen