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Trinity Sunday Scripture:
Zechariah 9:9-12
Psalm 145:8-15
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Notes from Fr. Cathie Caimano’s sermon:
I do not do what I do want to do (and I do do what I don’t want to do!)
Paul’s ‘do-do’ chapter
I know what’s good, I want to do what’s right, but I fail at it, every day I’m held captive by this war inside myself.
This is about SIN.
Yesterday was America’s 250th birthday.
What’s America all about? FREEDOM.
I’m still not the most patriotic person - I worry about idolatry. I don’t want to put anything ahead of the cross.
Still. I’m American to my core. I have a strong sense of my own personal freedom.
I’ve been converted here, by singing verse four of hymn 717…
Our Father’s God, to Thee
Author of liberty, to Thee we sing
Long may our land be bright, with freedom’s holy light
Protect us by Thy might, great God our King.
Freedom’s holy light. there’s something sacred about yearning to live free.
Sin and freedom.
Sometimes what feels like sin to you might feel like freedom to me. (and vice versa)
I can do as I please, but so often I don’t do what I know is right (this goes for countries, too) And sometimes by doing what I please, I hurt you (or vice versa).
Both are part of our nature.: longing for freedom. But being caged in by sin.
I had an online conversation about original sin:
How can we say babies are born ‘bad’?
You might have heard - I have a granddaughter - and when I look at her I see nothing but perfection and beauty. She’s born human.
She’s born with a sense of freedom - she’s learning to crawl. And also the capacity to love and be loved. Which she will, eventually, learn to use both. and fail at both often.
We all will. we all do.
It’s hard not to get caught up in how we keep these from contradicting.
‘Wretched man that I am’ says Paul.
The beauty of America is we all have the right life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
We can get stuck in judgment, not repentance (‘YOU’ do not do what you ought to do)
Even though we (thankfully) have freedom of religion and separation of church and state .
Our founding fathers were at the same place as Paul.
They knew we could never find a ‘more perfect union’ on our own. Anymore than we can live our lives without stepping in the do-do of what we know is right, and what you have the right to do, and what we do even though we know it’s wrong..
Our true freedom is repentance of our sin.
True freedom is Jesus.
My yoke is easy, and my burden is light
It’s still a yoke! It’s still a burden.
Come to me - you who are heavy laden.Statue of liberty - bring me your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
The promise of the America is freedom from oppressive government.
The promise of Jesus is laying down our sins. The things we know are wrong.
Yes, a lot of it is not our fault - but some of it is.
Yes, so much of it is out of our control - but not all of it.
The burden of trying to free ourselves from sin - to think we can always do what’s right - is crushing us.
And it still seems too hard, too scary - even for Paul! But when we’re ready to put down all our human burdens and say, ‘Jesus, I can’t do this by myself. I’ve really screwed this up. I don’t know what to do’
That is the moment Jesus opens his arms and forgives us. and frees us. and sets us on the way of love.
It’s not make believe. it’s not magic. it’s miracle. It’s salvation.
It’s freedoms holy light.
We’re glad you’re here, and we’re already praying for you.
In fact, if you have a prayer request, you can make it right here:
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