The way we celebrate the 4th of July is consistent with what one of the writers of the Declaration of Independence had in mind. In a letter to his wife Abigail, John Adams wrote, " it ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."
We got the pomp and parade down. However, Adams wrote something else the prompted my reflection for today. He said, "it ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty."
On some level, I believe our concept of freedom (not just in the USA) is a little out of balance. I, for one, will not be celebrating the 4th of July to the tune of church bells tomorrow. Even more than that, I have no problem enjoying the joys of freedom, but I don't always remember the cost of freedom.
Following up with Adams' statement, what does God say about freedom?
What is God's true measure of freedom?
What symbols do we use to celebrate God's freedom?
This past Sunday we heard a portion of Paul's letter to the Galatians in church. Paul said, "For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"
Paul is making an obvious reference to the Gospel paradox--those who want to become the greatest of all must become slave to all. This Gospel paradox is intimately related to the kind of freedom God wants for us. Someone helped me sum all this up by saying, "to be free is to be free for responsibility not from responsibility."
Last summer I did a program at camp for elementary aged children called, "Let Freedom Ring." To illustrate the point above I told them that we were going to play a game and that there would be a prize at the end. As I was about to announce the prize, the first place team anxiously awaited their winnings. But to everyone's surprise, I gave the award to the last place team and simply said, "the last will be first and those who want to be greatest in God's kingdom must become slaves to all."
This did not go over too well with the first place team. Basically, I told them that freedom is not about winning.
The kind of freedom that God is talking about is discovered when we give up our life for the life of another. This practice of freedom frees us from our self-indulgent appetites, from always looking out for number one. This kind of freedom is certainly highlighted by the men and women of our armed forces who are willing to give up their life for something bigger. It is summed up in the single commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.
This single commandment is the measure of God's freedom. Any act of service that is interested in the well being of others are symbols of God's freedom.
The ultimate symbol of God's freedom is the cross where His Son our Savoir Jesus Christ died for the life of the whole world.
The kind of freedom and responsibility we are called to as Christians isn’t easy.
Jesus said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." We of course have the freedom to turn back at any time. We can turn back and say this is too hard. We can turn back and tend to other responsibilities. Nobody is stopping us, not even God himself is stopping us because that wouldn’t be freedom
And we know this promise through His Son our
Savoir Jesus Christ who gave up his power, his life, his freedom for the life
of the world.
Here's to Freedom!
