2025.06.01 | Freedom to Open

“Freedom To Open To The Spirit
(Especially In Hard Times)”
A sermon preached at Eden United Church of Christ

in Hayward, California,

on Sunday, June 1, 2025, 
by the Ashley Wai'olu Moore
Seventh Sunday of Eastertide
Scripture: Ephesians 1:15-23 + Luke 24:44 – 49

Good morning, Beloveds!

We’ve been talking about Freedom through this Easter season about the freedom that comes to us through the risen Christ. We’ve talked about the freedom to heal, to sing, to follow, to move forward, to rise again and to love. We’ve talked about Martin Luther’s, “Freedom of a Christian” whereby the love that opens in us through Jesus should also motivate us to serve one another because of that love. 

Today’s theme is the “Freedom to Open” and in any normal liturgical year, I would find this phrase appropriate and inspiring in the week leading up to Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost, the disciples will experience a move of the Holy Spirit that removes barriers, unifies, and imbues them with a new perspective on the power and purpose Jesus gave them. This freedom will utterly transform them and birth the church. But in the challenging times in which WE are living, both freedom and openness feel like really challenging prospects.

The world has become a much scarier place in the last four months, the changes we have seen already have far exceeded the predictions being made prior to the election. The future feels really uncertain and unsafe right now. 

Every day brings news of more selfishness, more cruelty, abuses of power, loss of freedoms and protections and the breaking of our systems of justice. There are heartbreaking horrors on the evening news every night. People are still trying to figure out how to respond. Many of my friends leap to activism, litigation, protest, and fighting back. While others feel it’s all too much to take in and too complicated to fix, they are so overwhelmed that it seems easier to give up and just look to protecting their own interests.

How can we be open to Hope despite this reality? How can we discern the ways God would have us respond? How can we establish God’s Shalom amidst all the noise and chaos? What would Jesus have us do?

I was drawn to this scripture because it felt very resonant for me in this time. Although the author is addressing the churches in Ephesus long ago, it reminded me of the prayers I say for this congregation and the members of our community every day. I give thanks and pray for the Holy Spirit to move in the lives of the people of this church, to bring wisdom, clarity of purpose, and discernment about who God is calling us to be, to bless all the good each of us is trying to do. Of course, I pray for those who are facing personal challenges, praying for the goodness of God to touch them, to bring healing, to bring clarity, assistance, resolution or peace of mind. I pray that the Holy Spirit will move in us and through us, fortify our faith and renew our hope. For change can only come through people who have hope. And being open to Hope is a radical act in these times. As the author says “with the eyes of your heart enlightened, may you perceive...the hope to which [God] has called you.”

I also appreciated the reminder that the wonder working power of God in Christ is alive and vibrant “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.” In the midst of uncertainty, I find comfort in praising God and remembering that the ground of our being rests firmly in the Almighty One who is above all. (We’ll sing more about that in a few minutes). It restores my hope.

And I need to bolster my hope right now because I suddenly find myself in one of the most challenging seasons of my life. Most of you know that my mom has begun aggressive radiation, and chemotherapy treatments for her throat cancer. What you don’t know is that my brother (who has chosen to cut me out of his life because I am a non-binary, two spirit being) was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and didn’t want me to know. In addition to this, on Friday my mother-in-law was diagnosed with stage four bone cancer. Now I have experienced a great deal of pain and death in my life, but this is different. I am experiencing deep existential sadness and grief. I am telling you this because I want to be transparent and real with you. Because I want you to understand the ramifications of what I have to say to you today.

What I have learned on my faith journey is to look to the Holy Spirit at all times, but especially in times of trouble. Despite my deep sadness, I still have an abiding hope. I have peace like a river. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit working within me. The Holy Spirit is our advocate, the Paraclete, the one who answers our calls. The Spirit is always present, the Spirit is always with us.

She seeks to counsel us and encourage us to act according to God‘s plans so that we will take the path that she has been preparing. She is constantly speaking to us, trying to impart her wisdom, patiently waiting for us to respond and move in the flow of the Divine. God wants us to lean entirely on them. Doing so seems foolish in the eyes of the world; but we know that God is continually turning the wisdom of the world on its head.

It is so hard to stay open to the move of the Spirit when all the messages we get from the world encourage us to do the opposite. We have been conditioned since childhood to strive to be self-sufficient, to be strong and show no weakness, to plan and prepare so that we won’t be caught off guard and fall apart. We seek certainty and predictability. We want God to do things according to the way that we see fit, according to our priorities. We often place our cares on God‘s altar, but come back and try to take control of it ourselves. But the spirit moves differently and all of these actions only impede the movement of the spirit in our lives.

And yet I can testify that it is the most powerful thing that one can do in one’s life. It requires trusting in the spirit to guide us,consulting her along the way, throughout the day in big things and small. It requires learning to perceive her still small voice. Learning to pay attention to the decisions that result in a deep, seated sense of peace, that bring a perceptible sense of alignment and stillness where there had been turmoil. It is a practice that requires constant engagement. And the more we develop the practice, the better we are able to perceive what God would have us to do.

And that’s exactly why it’s so important in these times when we can no longer trust our news, when every opinion is granted false equivalence and consideration, and our Felon In Chief gaslights us on a daily basis. Fascism thrives on confusion and division, distortion and disagreement. But the spirit brings Truth, hope and purpose. Our own wisdom is limited and fallible, but God’s wisdom is eternal. Paying attention to where spirit is leading us will help us be where we are needed. Doing so can bless others in ways that we cannot fathom. Sometimes what seems like a small interaction can have profound, rippling repercussions that deeply affect people’s lives.

If we are listening and responding to Spirit as a community, then we can collectively be working and co-creating with God, rebuilding SHALOM and being agents of good and healing against the powers of evil. Walking in the Spirit and trusting in Spirit’s guidance and goodness is THE way to combat the fear we face. And while I generally don’t like military metaphors, in these dire times I think it’s appropriate to find myself wanting to be a soldier in the army of the Lord.

Jesus said that he came that we might have life and life more abundantly, and the Spirit leads us in this way. Scripture says that “where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” The energy and influence of God’s Spirit, is life giving and sustaining. This is the freedom and strength we need to open to what God would have us do. By leaning on the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. We learn to trust in God‘s designs - for us, our families, our communities and for the world. It creates a deep and abiding peace in our spirits that helps us stay centered and unafraid no matter our circumstances, and despite the chaos that may come when times get rough. It is the blessed assurance of leaning on the everlasting arms. It imparts the peace that “the world didn’t give and the world can’t take away.” That is the anchor that we need in these times. This is the wisdom we collectively need to know how to respond in these times.

The first time I preached after the election, I said that although it looks bleak right now, the future is taking shape in the present. The Spirit of God is moving at this very moment. Moving through everyday people, creating that future through individual and collective acts. By being open to and tuned into the Holy Spirit, we can be part of the NEW thing God is doing, and be part of the beautiful response that is rising up in ordinary people against the injustice and inhumanity of this moment. There are many ways to respond, but all of us being tuned into the frequency of the Eternal Spirit of the living God is going to have the greatest impact. So I encourage us all to engage in the practice of being open to the life-giving wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Not only will it empower us to combat the evil of our times, it will carry us through the hard moments of our lives. May it be so. Amen.