For what (or whom) has God freed me today?

     The Romans texts continue this Sunday with Romans 8.1-11 and Paul's discussion of life in the Spirit.  Paul's argument of life in the flesh versus life in the Spirit is founded on the assertion that we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit (v9).  We know that the Spirit of God dwells in us because of the promises God made to us in the waters of baptism, namely that after baptism in the name of the Triune God we are sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ.  God is faithful to God's promises, and because we are in the Spirit (not in the flesh) we are free from the law of sin and death.
     Free from the law of sin and death is certainly not a freedom from the struggle with sin, as all of us know every moment of every day!  It is, however, a freedom from the sentence of death and judgment on the last day.  So it is clear that in Christ we are freed from our sin and the death that certainly arises as a result of it, and that instead we are given in exchange the gift of forgiveness, peace, freedom, and eternal life.  It is pretty clear what we are freed from.  It is not so clear, however, just what we are freed for.
     One of my professors at seminary had a favorite saying: freed from and freed for.  We are freed from our sin and freed for service to neighbor.  Knowing that we no longer need to worry about the wrongs we have done, we live in the freedom of Christ so that we can continue to carry out Christ's mission to the world: bringing God's love to all.  Christ brought God's love through proclaiming the good news of God's kingdom and by serving.  Six of our high schoolers and two adults will travel this next week to Cincinnati in order to serve the neighbor.  We will sleep at a church in Batavia, Ohio, and travel from there to different service sites.  We know that God goes before us and that we will meet Christ in those we serve just as much (if not more) than we will bring Christ to others.  We will serve and be served, free from all that binds us in our daily lives. 
     Even knowing that we are freed from sin in order to serve others, I continue to daily live the mystery: for what (or whom) has God freed me today?