Monday of the Third Week of Lent

 Lectionary: 237

Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury.

We have several particular advantages over our enemies. We have the favor of our God and they don't. We live righteously and they do not. We are free and they are not.  

Should someone loudly challenge those doctrines of our faith, we get very upset; and should he persist we'll run him out of town. 

Naaman the Syrian was an enemy. Though that particular Syrian had praised the God of Israel and was long dead, the Nazarenes might have forgotten that when Jesus taunted them with his story. They were sure of God's particular favor and would not have a Syrian's good fortune thrown in their faces. 

I suppose most American Christians, trained by their religious practices, would politely disagree with the first two sentences about "us." They would say God loves everybody equally and we're not especially righteous. But very few would agree that Russians, North Koreans, or Afghans are free. If we see them loudly chanting the word in their streets and mosques we're sure they have no idea what freedom really is. If there are limits on our freedom, it's because of that America-hating Other Party which wants to curtail our freedom even more. 

As a chaplain at the Louisville VA hospital, I often heard about the freedom they defended by their service. Only in conversation with Veterans struggling with addictions did I raise the issue and challenge that ideology. 

I asked them two question, "You want freedom from what?" and "You want freedom for what?" Although they were sure they wanted freedom from their addictions, few could answer the second question. Not many had thought about it. 

Freedom, like our God, is demanding and jealous. It doesn't suffer abuse. It has no patience with fools and severely punishes stupid. And if our enemies are fighting us for their freedom we might ask what what they mean by the word. 

Sure, we can say they've accepted their leaders' propaganda but their protests only throw the accusation back at us. We also consume propaganda; we also flatter ourselves with our particular style of freedom. 

What is our freedom for? What does it cost and are we willing to pay the price? If security is the price of freedom how much security are we willing to lose to maintain our freedom? Should our children fear for their lives when they attend school? And our teachers when they stand before their classes? How much can one person own, and at what price to the poor? How much should we spend on everyone's health care, and how much of that care is offered only to the wealthiest? How much of my freedom am I willing to surrender to the nanny state? 

Should we provide equal schooling and opportunity for advancement to everyone? Should we make reparation for the sins and miscalculations of our ancestors and at what cost? Should the government oversee building and maintenance projects of our industries, shops, and homes? Can't we decide for ourselves what kind of light bulbs we use? 

Freedom is a jealous god and it has innumerable questions to trouble our sleep. Those questions we're not willing to address will be answered by others.

When I hear Marjorie Taylor Green promoting a "national divorce" I also hear catcalls against her. Her critics assume the worst about her without acknowledging she is asking a question that is built into our federal system. How much independence can any one state enjoy within a federation? It's certain that we will never agree on the conundrum, there will always be disagreement. But we can hope for, build, and agree to a consensus. 

Freedom is not free; it is like our God, jealous and demanding. It does not suffer stupid and has little patience with propaganda. During Lent, when we curtail many of our freedoms, we should ask God for guidance.