Jukka Paarma

IT IS FOR FREEDOM THAT CHRIST SET US FREE

Speech given in connection with the consecration of the new bishop of Oulu
Oulu Cathedral, 6th January 2001

"It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and refuse to submit again to the yoke of slavery." (Gal. 5:1)

When, exactly 150 years ago, Robert Frosterus, the first bishop of this northern diocese, started his work and was consecrated, he was, in accordance with the custom of the time, invested with a bishop's cross as the insignia of his office. You are his eleventh successor and the same cross which he then received will today be placed around your neck. Oral tradition in Oulu and Kuopio has it that at the express wish of the donor, the Emperor of Russia, this cross was made heavier than the  other bishops' crosses of the Finnish church of the time, which had been donated by the King of Sweden.

Maybe the idea was that here in the North the cross had to be heavier because the diocese was very large and difficult to oversee. It is possible that in today's diocese of Oulu, with its fells and river valleys the cross reminds its carrier about the difficulty of the task and the responsibility that goes with the office. Yet for us in the Christian church the cross is something other than a symbol of hardship and trouble. It is the sign of life, victory and freedom.

We have recently celebrated Christmas, and part of Christendom is celebrating the feast of our Lord's birth in these very days according to their calendar. The greeting of the angel on Christmas night is still fresh in our minds: "Do not be afraid: I bring you good news, news of great joy... . Today there has been born to you in the city of David a deliverer - the Messiah, the Lord."

The word used of the child of Bethlehem actually means 'saviour'. This is also how it has been translated from the source language into most languages. The translation established in the Finnish language is Vapahtaja ('Deliverer'). For us Finns, this is a cherished name for our Lord; it also conveys an important aspect of Christ's meaning to us. The message of Christianity is a message of freedom. The Deliverer came into the world in order to deliver mankind from evil. This is evident even in his manifesto:

"The spirit of the Lord is upon me
because he has anointed me;
he has sent me to announce good news to the poor,
to proclaim release for prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind;
to let the broken victims go free."
(Luke 4:18)

Religions, including Christianity, have often been misused to the extent that they have become instruments of violence and of external or psychological and spiritual oppression. And yet, the essence of Christianity is a message of freedom. The freedom in which the first Christians already rejoiced was the freedom of God's children. They knew that they were the objects of unconditional divine love.

All God's good gifts are prone to corruption and misuse in the hands of us human beings. This is true of freedom, too. There will always be people who misuse freedom, selfishly or to the detriment of others. This is exactly why some others want to impose restrictions on freedom. The history of the Christian church provides examples of this from the very beginning. Fearing the misuse of freedom, people began to impose limits and conditions. The intention was good but in practice things went too far. Laws, rules and traditions bound again people who had already been set free, and thus became fetters. Consciences were bound and conditions were specified by which a person could be called a true Christian.

The apostles had to fight for the original message of freedom. In his letter to the Galatians, St Paul exclaims: "It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and refuse to submit again to the yoke of slavery." (Gal. 5:1) The apostle was thus a guardian of the message of freedom.

A bishop is a successor to  the apostles in a special sense. We are accustomed to thinking that it is through the office of the bishop that apostolicity has been, and will be, preserved in our church. Throughout the centuries, a bishop has been consecrated so that other bishops bless him by the laying on of hands, exactly as they have been blessed by previous generations. This succession of blessing is a sign of continuity and communion across temporal and geographical boundaries.

A bishop is thus a successor to the apostles and, in this capacity, a bringer and guardian of the message of freedom.

In a diocese - or indeed any organisation - leadership is often associated with such concepts as supervision, bureaucracy, administration and acting according to rules and regulations. There is no denying that leadership involves a fair share of these elements but the most important task of a leader is of a different kind. He has to see to it that work communities develop an atmosphere of freedom which provides a natural environment for creativity and enthusiasm. Or, as people often say, the task of a leader is to release hidden resources so that they can be shared by all.

Another task of a bishop is to keep a vigilant and unprejudiced eye on the way people live and how they are coping with the various burdens of life. Bishops as the bringers of the message of freedom must be concerned, and also voice their concern, about forces which oppress people today, like the excessive emphasis on efficiency and productivity, lest those of us be robbed of human dignity who are not as clever, fast and productive as others or do not have as much skill and energy. Bishops must also warn against the excessive emphasis on the freedom of the individual, so noticeable in our time, lest this mean that others are deprived of the possibility of making choices.

In this northern diocese of fells and river valleys, people have traditionally wanted to be sure that the Saviour's gift of the freedom of God's children can freely spread in all its clarity and plenitude. The word of forgiveness, which frees us from sin, death and the powers of darkness, is the essence of our preaching. Let it spread, pure and clear, like the waters of a mountain brook.

Small brooks join to form a river. The inhabitants of the river valleys have learnt by experience that waters find their way to the most low-lying riverbeds. In the same way, the streams of God's gifts and grace have flown most powerfully where people have come down from high places, where man's strength, sanctity and his sense of being in the right are open to doubt. The message of freedom advances most freely in those places where there is a living sense of longing for inner or outer freedom, that is, for God's grace.

[Translated by Matti Kilpiö]