From the Rector…
Petunia loves to go for walks, but she despises wearing the lead that goes over her nose which allows me to control her. This lead, called a “gentle lead,” is designed to apply slight pressure to the top of her nose—the most submissive part of a dog—much like the lead used on a horse. The principle is simple: control the nose, and you control the dog.
Although Petunia enjoys the walks, she eagerly anticipates being liberated from the lead. As soon as we reach the back door. she starts pawing at it. Once it is released, she dramatically drags her face across the floor in a bid for “Best Actress in Motion Picture -Drama” category. As comical as her behavior is, I get it—no one wants to be controlled.
Often, we associate liberation with being free from control. Yet, scripture is pretty clear that true liberation doesn’t mean freedom from all control, but rather freedom from a false god in order to serve the true God.
Take Moses for example. God commands him to set the captives free. Specifically, he tells Moses to go to Pharoah, the false god, and request that the people be allowed to embark on a three-day journey to worship YHWH. Pharoah refuses, leading to a series of escalating demands until Moses finally secures the Israelites’ release through YHWH’s devastating plagues and Pharoah’s eventual surrender. That liberation is not simply that the Israelites are now free from Pharoah’s rule—it is a shift in allegiance. The Israelites were once forced to do serve a false god, but now they are called to serve the one true God. Throughout Exodus, God emphasizes that he is liberating them not simply from slavery but to worship him.
Jesus is often referred to as the new “Moses.” His message of liberation echoes the same principle: our false gods are the sins and distractions that keep us from fully knowing and serving God. Through his sacrifice on the cross, Jesus liberates us from the power of sin and the devil that we might be reconciled to God.
The joy in being liberated to serve the true God is that this God is a God of free will and choice. He is the God who desires our well-being, not for his own glory, but for ours. When God offers liberation, it is not about escaping suffering or gaining the freedom to do whatever we want. True liberation is the freedom to trust God, to center our hopes and lives around his promises to us. This is the essence of the Good News.
When we misunderstand liberation, we become trapped in ego-driven desires. These desires skew our expectations of the world, of others, and even of God. True liberation is not self-centered or hedonistic. It is about restoring right relationships–relationships that draw us closer to God and one another, not ones that imprison us or others.
True liberation is not about what we gain or a matter of our own self-interest, but about being set free to serve. It’s about embracing a relationship of love and trust with the one true God. It is through this liberation that we are set free—not to whatever we want, but to live according to God’s will, finding peace in his promises and joy in his service. Just as Petunia finds freedom when released from her lead, no longer controlled, and with the freedom to choose to be in full relationship with me; we, too, are liberated to choose a deeper relationship with God. A relationship in which our lives are centered on his love and purpose.