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In 1791, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton was seeking ways to increase the income to the federal
government so that the newly formed United States could consolidate and pay its debts. Sound familiar?
Hamilton¶s solution was to impose the first American tax on domestically produced goods, specifically, distilled
liquor, or whiskey. While some saw this as an acceptable sort of ³sin tax,´ many, particularly in the west (and
at this time, Pennsylvania was the west) felt that this was unfair for two reasons. First, since the tax could be
paid either as a flat rate or on a per gallon basis, the large eastern distilleries, which produced liquor year-round,
could afford to pay the flat rate and pay almost nothing per gallon while the smaller rural distilleries in the west
ran only part of the year, could not afford the flat rate, and therefore paid far more per gallon. Obviously, the
rural western distillers saw this as an attempt by Hamilton to drive them out of business. Second, because
transporting goods from rural western areas to the east coast was time consuming, difficult and expensive, it
was far easier and cheaper to transport whiskey that had been distilled from grain, than it was to transport the
grain itself. Grain would often spoil before it reached the east while whiskey would not and so the tax on
whiskey was also seen as an unfair tax upon westerners in general and upon western farmers specifically.

In response to this perceived unfairness, a rebellion erupted in many western areas with protests being staged,
farmers and distillers refusing to pay the taxes that the government had imposed, tax collectors were tarred and
feathered and, in 1794 when a federal marshal arrived to serve papers on the distillers who refused to pay the
excise tax, 500 armed Pennsylvanians gathered and burned down the house of General John Neville, the federal
marshal. Ultimately, President George Washington was compelled to raise a militia and send armed troops into
Pennsylvania to quash the rebellion. As the federal troops moved west the rebellion fell apart and few persons
on either side actually came to harm. This was the first time that the American government took action to quell
rebellion and to enforce compliance with its laws. Likely with this action in mind, John Adams said,

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As we celebrate Independence Day this July 4th, we remember that the Revolutionary War was fought so that
our nation might gain its freedom but we should also pause to consider what freedom means. Our children
often look forward to the day that they will be free from their parents¶ supervision and control but again, what
does freedom mean? When we consider freedom, we must always consider what purpose we desire from our
freedom. What I mean is, if we desire freedom then we must answer two questions. -
 what do we desire
to be free and 
what do we desire to be free?

Following the revolution, the farmers and distillers of western Pennsylvania had gained their freedom but
Alexander Hamilton, George Washington and the federal militia made it plain that they were

 free to do as
they chose. They lived in a nation that had agreed to live under the rule of law and not under some unruly
anarchy. Our nation was free of the oppressive government of England, free of its repressive taxation, free of
the whim of a totalitarian monarchy, free of a government and a culture where the powerful could tyrannize the
common people and abuse the poor, free of a system that chose which religion was suitable for worship and free
of any number of other abuses that European governments had heaped upon their subjects. 234 years ago, our
forefathers began a war of revolution so that we could be free, but freedom did not mean that every person

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could live as they saw fit. Freedom and independence meant (and still means) a great deal, but it did

 mean
that we would be free of rules, free of laws or free from responsibility.

Sadly, as Christians, we often make the same mistake that the distillers of Western Pennsylvania did during the
Whiskey Rebellion. All too often we mistake our freedom in Jesus Christ as license to do as we please. Not
surprisingly, this error, however common, is not new. In G



the Apostle Paul writes to remind the
people of the church in Galatia (what is now central Turkey) that freedom in Christ means a great many things,
but it does not mean that every person can live as they see fit.

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As citizens of the United States, we know that we are not free to do as we please but must instead live under the
laws of our nation and the customs of our society. We are, sort of independently dependant. We have to abide
by our laws so that we can live together in relative harmony. We believe in the right to own property so we
have houses and cars and stereos that we believe ^

 to us and our laws and our customs protect our right to
do so and punish those who would take things that did not belong to them. We all agree to live under a great
many laws that regulate our lives and even more customs and rules that give our society structure and
organization. The danger in any free society is that some individuals begin to believe that the rules don¶t apply
to them or that the rules are irrelevant. When that happens, members of our law enforcement community are
compelled to step in and correct their error.

In our scripture today, Paul reminds us of much the same thing. Paul warns us that if we misunderstand our
freedom, the freedom that we have in Jesus Christ, then we will once again fall into slavery. By following Jesus
Christ we have become free, but we are free 
 sin and not free 
sin. Paul reminds us that before we knew
Jesus, it was sin that enslaved us. Our sin, our reliable and predictable human ability to commit offenses against
God, continually sucked us down into the slimy goo. As much as we tried to drink, we desired more, as much

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as we sought after money at all costs, no amount of money was ever enough, as much as we desired sex,
pornography, immorality, impurity, idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, inappropriate anger,
selfish ambition, divisiveness, envy, drunkenness and so many others, none of them ever really satisfied us.
Even worse, as much as we sought after these things, they left us completely unsatisfied and wanting more.

Paul¶s reminder is the same message that we found in the story of the Whiskey Rebellion. Freedom is a
wonderful thing, but having been freed from one thing does not mean that we are free to do as we please.
Instead, as free people, we are called to abide by a new set of laws and rules of conduct. As Americans, we live
by the laws of our nation and the rules of our society and as citizens of heaven we are called upon to live
according to the laws set forward by our King and creator. Our calling, as followers of Jesus Christ, is to allow
the Spirit of God, the same spirit that entered into us when we accepted Jesus, to lead us. In particular, Paul
warns us that our sinful passions and desires will cause us to fight with one another and demonstrate our
sinfulness instead of our love for Jesus. Our goal is to allow the Spirit to guide us so that we demonstrate love
for one another and love for others. When we focus on Jesus Christ and when we are filled with the Holy Spirit,
then our lives will be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-
control and these things will overflow into the lives of the people around us.

Finally, we are reminded that Paul¶s letter was not written to seekers or to new believers but was written to an
established church, a church that was having problems. Paul warned them that all of their good deeds, and all
of their righteousness, and all of their love for others should not cause them to become conceited. Just because
they were the ³good church people´ they were not immune to the human desire to be the best, or to be the top
dog or to become envious of the things, or the money, or the power or the authority that other Christian brothers
and sisters had. Paul reminds the church not to feel too good about themselves or to use what God has given us
to antagonize and provoke one another.

As followers of Jesus Christ, through grace, we have been given our freedom from sin and from death. We
have been given an eternal home in an eternal kingdom but in doing so, we have sworn allegiance to a new king
and subscribed to a new law. The difference is that instead of following after uncontrolled human passions and
desires, we are now called to follow after love and mercy and grace. It is here that many of us want to cry out
that loving instead of lusting and following after human desires is too hard« and that is entirely correct.
Walking in the ways of Jesus and obeying the laws of God is a difficult path. All too often we are prone to do
our own thing, to walk our own way, to cave in to our selfish ambitions and desires but the good news is that
things don¶t end there. As followers of Jesus we 


 stand alone. As members of the church we stand
together and we are called to help one another. Even better, as followers of Jesus Christ we have been filled
with the power of the Holy Spirit and we can, at any time, ask for God¶s help to follow the right path. Yes, we
are free from sin but no, we cannot follow the example of Jesus Christ alone. We need, regularly, to ask for
God¶s help.

You see, we are« independently dependant.

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You have been reading a message presented at Barnesville First United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first
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