Galatians 5:1-13-25

For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. (v. 14-15)

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. (v. 22-23)

"For freedom Christ has set us free." That's the bold declaration that begins Galatians 5 — and it raises a question that still matters today: what kind of freedom are we talking about? In Paul's day, as in ours, people often confused faithfulness with rule-keeping. Paul disagreed — he said freedom begins with grace, not law, and that true belonging doesn't come through obedience, but through the Spirit. This freedom is not doing whatever we please; it's about loving faithfully and becoming our true selves, shaped by the Spirit of God. And that kind of freedom bears good fruit. Not bitterness, but joy. Not division, but peace. Not control, but kindness.

So let me ask: Do you feel freer today than you did twenty years ago? Freer to speak your mind? To love openly? To live with integrity?

I've been thinking about that question a lot lately. I was born into a world where inter-racial marriage was illegal in 16 states, and gay marriage was prohibited in all of them. My mother couldn't have a bank account or credit card without my father's permission, let alone pursue reproductive health services or abortion. Stores were closed on Sundays, and you could only wear striped ties. Most of that changed by age 10, and gay marriage came along at age 48, but striped ties stuck around. I was pleased to look around the room at our son's wedding party two weeks ago. Their friends were richly diverse, including inter-racial couples, gay couples, and some inter-racial and gay couples, as well as many without striped ties. I am happy to think about the world my children are growing up in, compared to a time when people had to hide their true selves and couldn't openly love who they desired.

I celebrate the progress of freedom, but I worry about the future. Have we lost the meaning of freedom? We live in a culture where freedom often means don't tell me what to do. Too frequently, exercising our First Amendment rights of free speech means the freedom to vent, blame, attack, and threaten. Social media gave us the freedom to connect like never before. In 2008, we hoped it would usher in democracy and change. Instead, it feels more like a free-for-all than a true community. Our discourse becomes so toxic that many people opt out. When discussion is shut down, and disagreement makes us enemies, freedom deteriorates. Cultural innovation and growth become stunted, and we fight the same battles with nobody listening to each other.

I think Paul wrestled with a toxic and divided culture. The issues were different, but human nature endures. Galatians addresses what to do about cultural divides. In the first four chapters, Paul reveals the dangers of being overly legalistic and rigid. The specific issue in the church was over forcing Gentile believers to be circumcised. Thank God we don't have to fight this battle anymore. Imagine the protest signs! "No snip, no problem." "Jesus never said, cut it out." This ancient issue highlights the danger of adhering too closely to the letter of the law. God commanded Abraham to practice circumcision in Genesis 17:9-14. For one faction of the church, that settles it. God commanded it 3000 years ago, so we must do it forever.

However, in Acts 15, approximately 1,500 years after Abraham, the early church holds its first council to discuss this controversy. Peter's speech says that the law does not save us, but by grace. Following every law won't make you a better person. Love makes you a better person. We learn to love by the grace of God and walking in a faithful relationship with the divine. Peter persuaded the council to vote that circumcision and kosher dietary laws did not apply to Gentiles, and they got to join the club. Let that sink in for a moment. The church voted to change a direct command from God to Abraham. Can you do that? It's chaos! What is next? Are we dropping commandments five through eight? What truth is left once you drop circumcision?

Here in Galatians, Paul is trying to slow everyone down and lower the temperature. He argues that the starting point for all theology is love of neighbor. This commandment is the greatest. Leviticus said so. Jesus said so. Now Paul affirms that everything starts here. We must read scripture with the eyes of love. Sometimes that means changing some of the cultural norms and ideologies.

But how do we know we are doing it right? Paul makes the same argument Jesus makes in Matthew 7:20: "You will know them by their fruits." What gets produced? Paul lists the bitter fruits apart from God's Spirit, and not just about sex, but hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy. In contrast, if you are living by God's Spirit, the ripened fruit will be love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, gentleness, patience, and self-control. Which list most describes the mode of discourse in our day?

Paul makes a powerful point. It is not just what we think that matters, or what our theology, ideology, or political point of view is. How we believe it, how we live out our convictions, matters just as much. You can be on the right side of things and get it all wrong if you forgo love. We harm our deepest values when we engage each other with bitterness and strife.

Imagine a church where the fruits of the Spirit are not just personal virtues, but the marks of our public life together. What if our freedom made others feel more free—to speak, to belong, to be loved?"

It is not easy to create relationships and foster a freer community spirit. I appreciated the atmosphere at the Pride Parade in New Castle and Damariscotta yesterday. People spoke passionately, without anger, sharing stories of self-understanding and overcoming shame. Some spoke powerfully about being rejected for who they are, and how much acceptance and solidarity matter for healing. There was honesty about rights being lost, the potential threats to trans health care, and people. I didn’t hear partisan attacks or dehumanizing words; instead, I listened to peoples’ hope to live and love as they are.

As the parade began, the lead organizer gave us the route to cross the bridge from New Castle to Damariscotta. She said, 'Remember, we must keep crossing bridges to help people understand, to ask questions, and overcome stereotypes.'

Likewise, Congresswoman Sarah McBride shared in a lengthy interview with Ezra Klein last week. This sentence stuck with me:

"People are hungry for an approach that doesn't treat our fellow citizens as enemies, but rather treats them as neighbors — an approach that's filled with grace."

McBride frequently used the word "grace" in the interview. I think what she met by grace is the understanding that people constantly evolve their perspectives based on experience. So, how can we bridge the gap for people who have some openness to understand? Don't immediately assume disagreement means hatred, that questions imply rejection. People may disagree on some parts of your hopes and ideals, but you may find some agreement on others. Yes, some people are actively harming and harassing gay and trans people. Some want to take away marriage equality and deny the rights and humanity of trans people. But McBride says that we must guard against assuming disagreement on one issue means they are the enemy.

McBride took a lot of heat for this interview for saying we must meet people where they are if we want to create social change. While I don’t agree with everything she said, I offer her some grace as a trailblazer. To those who want her to be louder and bolder, she answers, "Do you really think we are not making more progress because we are not loud enough and angry enough?"

When McBride came to the US House, a bill was immediately passed to restrict bathroom access for transpeople to the gender that they had at birth. The goal was to target McBride and force her to use the men's bathroom, even though she lives and presents as a woman. Rather than protesting, McBride responded, "I am here to do the job of legislating." McBride said she didn't want to begin her career with a fight over bathrooms. She said, "The goal… was to caricature me, to turn me into something to be against." She refused to take the bait so that she could forge her own path.

How often do we take the bait? Let us not be drawn into shouting matches or defined by what we're against. Let us walk by the Spirit with love that listens, joy that lifts, peace that steadies, patience that stays. With kindness that welcomes, goodness that restores, gentleness that softens, and self-control that resists the urge to fight every battle. That is not weakness, but strength. That is how the early church made space for Gentiles. That is how love changed hearts in the civil rights movement. That is how grace continues to build bridges today.



Imagine a church where the loudest thing we say is love, where we don't treat people as enemies but as neighbors, where our freedom sets others free. For freedom Christ has set us free — not just for ourselves, but for all.