Around a month ago, I was at a meeting consisting of all pastors, where the person facilitating the conversation amongst the brothers invited us to share our favorite Bible verse. Now, some people immediately rattled off their most cherished and beloved verse, the one that had worked as a comfort in tough times or a light in the darkness to guide them. Many of you, no doubt, have a favorite verse and would be more than happy to share it with one another. I, though, have never really had what you might call a favorite verse. I think I have too many favorite verses, as soon as I think I may have found my favorite, I come across another one that seems to be more beautiful, more crucial, more defining for my life at that time. And so that one becomes my favorite. And this makes sense to me because every time I engage the Word of God, I am a different person from the last time I did so. Different struggles and joys, different experiences that shape who I am and how I understand my place and purpose in this world. To me, this is a big part of the joy and excitement of our faith.

And yet I felt a little ashamed that I couldn’t immediately come up with a favorite verse. I mean, I’m a pastor after all, this is supposed to be my thing, shouldn’t I have a favorite verse? And the more I thought about it, I realized that there was one verse that I would regularly return to, especially in conversations about my vocation, about how I understand my job and purpose. While it may not be the number one favorite, it is definitely in the top ten, one that I often share with other pastors, especially those just starting out in the ministry. It is Galatians 5:1: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

What I love about this verse is that it is a call to action. It isn’t just a comforting thought about a greater reality or sentimental remembrance that can bring assurance in a time of doubt. No, it is a call to stand firm. To stand in opposition to what turns out to be the very real lure of slavery. It is a call to press on in the freedom that you have been given in Christ. For freedom, Christ has set you free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery, the bondage of slavery, the slavery that calls to you, that longs for you, that will do whatever it takes to shackle you again. For such slavery is real and eagerly surrounds you to bring you to submission.

Now you hear these words, this call to stand firm, and at first, perhaps you think of the slavery of the law. And this makes sense. After all, St. Paul himself had said that the law imprisoned us until Christ came. Fallen man cannot keep the demands of the law; the law works to show you your sin, to reveal how far you have fallen from the grace of God, to empty you of any hope of saving yourself. You do not fear, love, and trust in God above all things. And so you are enslaved to your own failures.

And so Paul here calls for you to stand firm against this slavery, to not submit again to this yoke from which Christ alone has delivered you. For freedom Christ has set you free, why would you go back to it? But in a strange twist of fate, we do try to go back. Now, no one ever really says that your works will save you. No, they will say that the works of Christ save you, but then they will add to that some little bit that you need to take care of. It’s as if we desperately need some credit, some accounting for salvation that is within our control. So the focus becomes on the disposition of your character, an action you need to perform, or some prayer that you need to pray. It is a small thing, a little piece of the whole puzzle, but it is your piece, the thing you need to do. But here the slavery begins anew. How well did you execute your piece? How faithfully have you carried out your work? Could you have done more? Could you have been more diligent? Can you then be sure that salvation is truly yours? And once more, you feel the full weight of the yoke of slavery.

But this is not the desire and aim of the work of Christ. For freedom, Christ has set you free. Stand firm, therefore, stand against the lure to take up the law again and shackle yourself with the old slavery. For you are truly free in Christ. Live in this freedom. But then we begin to learn that there is another slavery lurking out there, not the one that binds you in the old “do’s” and “don’t do’s” of the law, but the slavery that that flows from deep within our hearts to use your freedom as license for reckless living. And so St. Paul cautions you, saying, “You were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”

This is the slavery of the desires of the flesh. The slavery of sexual immorality, of idolatry, of anger, division, and jealousy. This slavery isn’t where we seek to control one another through appeal to God’s divine law, but where we use the freedom we have in Christ as an excuse to hurt and maim one another under the pretense of freedom. But such freedom is an illusion; to live according to the flesh is to live under the yoke of slavery. Slaves to your addictions, slaves to your passions, slaves to yourselves. How many fellowships of God’s people have been torn apart by such slavery? How often do we wound one another in our empty claims of freedom?

And so the call goes forth again, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” The freedom that you have in Christ is lived out in love for one another. Love is the directive of your freedom. Love is how you stand firm against that ancient lure of slavery. You are baptized into Christ; you are then free from all the demands of the law. For Christ isn’t interested in holy and righteous saints, but in sinners who are unable to save themselves. You are free, for he has done what you could not. You are free because you are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. But such freedom in Christ isn’t to be bound to your own passions; rather, you are free to love, free to walk in the Spirit, this is the freedom for which you have been set free!

This is our struggle, this is our joy, this is our life together as we dare to stand firm against the yoke of slavery. And sure, this may not be your favorite verse, but it’s a pretty good reminder of what our life of faith looks like, what we are called to be for one another. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”