As we prepare to celebrate our national Independence Day, we will hear a lot of talk about freedom, most of which assume that we have a shared meaning for that word (which has something to do with beer). In our Galatians reading this week, we are invited to be more precise. What is freedom for? Are we actually living in the freedom Christ has made possible?

These same questions applied to the people of Israel, as God led them out of bondage in Egypt. St. Paul poses them to the Galatian Christians as they are tempted to augment their salvation in Christ with other, more tangible identity-markers – namely, circumcision. And these questions come to us in our cultural moment. In a world that celebrates freedom from every form of restriction, in which we can be anyone we want to be, are we really free?

Join us this Sunday as we explore these questions with hope and expectation.