9 April 2014 - bound to succeed

9 April 2014 - bound to succeed

They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham
and have never been enslaved to anyone.
How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”

Jesus wants to make us free.  Do we realize that we need freedom? We have a lot of the type of freedom that society glamorizes, the type which doesn't matter.  We are free to be entertained how we want, when we want, and with whom we want.  But we are not free in regard to virtue.  When we are wronged, are we free to love?  When excess indulgence is set before us are we free to be temperate?   Or is it rather than the indulgence which we think ourselves free to enjoy has enslaved us?

As followers of Jesus we still allow ourselves to be content with a freedom that is less than what he wants for us.  Once we are free from mortal sin we are often content to rest on our laurels even while we are powerless to resist less grave sins.  Our complacency is similar to the Jews in today's gospel reading.  It is worth noticing that these are Jews "who believed in him" and not those openly opposed to him.  Yet they think that they already have the freedom they need, and this becomes a huge liability, threatening their walk with him.  It is an attitude of inheritance.  Because of something in the past, they think they don't need to be concerned at present.  Never mind how their reading of the past utterly disregards what actually happened.  Israel was, after all, constantly enslaved in its history.  Why would they selectively forget that?  But even without regard to the past, our response in the present is primary.

I know that you are descendants of Abraham.
But you are trying to kill me,
because my word has no room among you.

Wait, what?  Trying to kill Jesus?  But aren't these the ones "who believed in him"?  They may well be, but as they say in mutual fund commercials, 'past performance does not guarentee of future results.'  The key thing which Jesus says that starts this conversation is that we must "remain" in his word.  We can't just stop by once, or even for key life events, or even every Sunday.  His word has to be our home.  If we don't dwell in his word we will not know the truth and we won't be free.  Dwelling in his word allows him to reveal to us the places where we are not free.  It allows him to reveal the false freedoms to which we cling for what they are: empty.

Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego cling to God's word no matter what.

If our God, whom we serve,
can save us from the white-hot furnace
and from your hands, O king, may he save us!
But even if he will not, know, O king,
that we will not serve your god

Those who seem the least free in the eyes of the world, for instance, priests, cloistered religious, and hermits, are often the most free.  Because these three cling to God's word they experience extreme freedom even as they are bound and cast into the furnace:

He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual
and had some of the strongest men in his army
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
and cast them into the white-hot furnace.

Within the furnace they are "unfettered and unhurt" walking with one who "looks like a son of God."  Can freedom really be found in circumstances like this?  We can hardly deny it when we hear the song of praise they sin:

“Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.”