Galatians 5:1, 13-14 Freedom

My most memorable 4th of July was when Esther and I went out east to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We were in Boston on the 4th. Friends had told us to get to the Esplanade early in the morning to stake out our place so we could hear the Boston Pops play and see the fantastic fireworks display. Instead we chose to go touring around Boston. We saw the USS Constitution, Paul Revere’s house, North Church and the ever famous Cheers Bar. That evening when we tried to get into the Esplanade we were denied admission. The place was full. We asked a policeman where we could watch the fireworks. He asked where we were staying. When we pointed to a brownstone half a block away he said, Go up on your roof. When we got up there we discovered that all the neighboring rooftops were filled with people camped out to watch the fireworks. We heard the whole wonderful concert by Roberta Flack and the Boston Pops. And saw the most marvelous fireworks display choreographed to the 1812 Overture.

When we returned home and told someone about that amazing experience they pointed out how ironic it was. Here we were celebrating our independence from Great Britain by playing a Russian overture commemorating an 1812 victory over the French, who were our chief allies against the British, while watching fireworks invented by the Chinese. Don’t you just kind of hate people who know too much history?

Something that should concern us, however, is not knowing enough history. It is pretty easy to become so caught up in the parades, the back yard barbeques and the exploding fireworks on the 4th that we ignore the sacrifices our forefathers made for our freedom. When the members of the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776 it was no small thing. Those who signed the Declaration knew there were great risks involved.

Benjamin Franklin said, We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.

Patrick Henry said, Give me liberty or give me death. This Declaration of Independence was also a declaration of war and it would cost lives.

Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence. Their conviction resulted in untold sufferings for themselves and their families. Of the 56 men,

five were captured by the British and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army. Another had two sons captured.

Nine of the fifty-six fought and died from wounds or hardships of the war.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships sunk by the British navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts and died in poverty.

At the battle of Yorktown, the British General Cornwallis had taken over Thomas Nelson's home for his headquarters. Nelson quietly ordered General George Washington to open fire on his home. The home was destroyed and Nelson died bankrupt.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. His fields and mill were destroyed. For over a year, he lived in the forest and caves, returning home only to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later, he died from exhaustion. The cost of our freedom was high.

It is appropriate to thank God for our freedom today and to also be grateful to those men and women who sacrificed so much to win our freedom. Freedom is never free.

As our nation focuses the spotlight on freedom it is essential for people of faith to remember that the idea of freedom is much older than our nation. In fact, planted within every human being, and even every creature, there is a yearning for freedom.

Radio commentator Paul Harvey once told about a group of scientists who were determined to teach a chimpanzee to write. For fourteen years, the scientists labored diligently and patiently with this chimpanzee, providing things in its cage to enable it to form certain syllables. Finally the day arrived when it seemed that the chimpanzee was actually going to construct a sentence from the symbols it had been learning. Word went out, and other scientists crowded into the room and gathered around the cage. The scientists could hardly contain themselves as they pressed around the cage to read the history-making sentence. Here is what the chimpanzee wrote: “Let me out!”

We all long for freedom.

The most significant event in the Old Testament is the Exodus when God delivered the Hebrew people from slavery. For more than 400 years, they were held captive in Egypt where they labored under ridged and sometime cruel masters. But through the leadership of Moses, God led the people out of their bondage and into their own land where they could be free. They were free not only to determine their destiny, but free to worship God. This is so basic to Judaism, that the first of the 10 Commandments says, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, you shall have no other gods before me. At the core of Judaism is the belief that God is a liberating God who wants us to be free.

When Jesus launched his ministry, he announced that God had sent him to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind and to let the oppressed go free.” (Luke 4:18)

The Apostle Paul declared that Christ has set us free. However, the freedom to which Paul refers is not the freedom to do whatever we please. In his letter to the Galatians he says, 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.’

Martin Luther in his book, "On Christian Freedom" says, A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.

We are blessed to live in a nation that values religious freedom. It allows us to serve and to support our country while still giving ultimate allegiance to God. It also affords us the opportunity to influence the polices of our government according to our religious principles.

When the representatives to the Continental Congress met to hammer out the relationship of the colonies to Great Britain, the established tradition was state supported religion. It was prevalent in Europe and many of the colonies had already adopted this practice. Several colonies supported the Anglican Church. In Massachusetts, the state supported the Puritan Church and persecuted Quakers and Baptists.

Many believed that that church would collapse without the state providing financial support and enforcing religious doctrines. They also thought that the state would deteriorate without the moral and spiritual support of the church. The amazing result was that the Founding Fathers came up with something entirely new: freedom of religion.

In his book, Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America, Steven Waldman says, The founding faith was not Christianity and it was not secularism. It was religious liberty, a revolutionary formula for promoting faith by leaving it alone.

In the United States we may worship as we choose. This frees us to make God our ultimate commitment. And when God is paramount, there will be times when we will oppose polices of our government. Totalitarian governments cannot allow their citizens to put God before the state because they will not tolerate dissent. In the U.S., not only can we voice our protest, but we can influence the policies of our nation, which can make us an ever better country.

We must never shy away form declaring the American ideals whose roots derive from our religious faith: freedom and fairness, courage and kindness, justice and generosity, equality and empathy, sacrifice and sincerity, hope and hospitality. As St. Paul reminds us in our Galatians text, we are free to become slaves to one another. We are free to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We are set free from the tyranny of the law and able to commit ourselves to following Christ.

Leith Anderson tells this story about Abraham Lincoln in his book "A Church for the 21st Century." Lincoln went to visit a slave auction one day and was appalled at the sights and sounds of buying and selling human beings. His heart was especially drawn to a young woman on the block whose story seemed to be told in her eyes. She had been used and abused all her life, and this was but one more cruel humiliation. The bidding began, and Lincoln offered a bid and he kept bidding until he won. When he paid the auctioneer and took title to the young woman, she stared at him with vicious contempt. She asked him what he was going to do with her, and he said, I'm going to set you free.

Free? she asked. Free for what?

Lincoln replied, Just free - completely free.

She asked, Free to do whatever I want to do?

Yes, he said. free to do whatever you want to do.

Free to say whatever I want to say?

Yes, free to say whatever you want say.

Free to go wherever I want to go? she asked with skepticism.

Lincoln answered, You are free to go anywhere you want to go.

With a smile she said, Then I'm going with you!

God has purchased us at the price of Christ’s life. He has set us free from our bondage to sin and death. We are free – free to commit ourselves to following Jesus and serving one another in love.

In the folklore of the Slavic people there is a tale about how the devil scratched the surface of the earth with long fingernails in order to separate people and to disrupt unity. And so a bridge is a very powerful symbol for them. They see bridges as links between people. Bridges link people who are otherwise separated by race or culture or wealth or religion or politics. In their mind to build a bridge is a great blessing. To destroy a bridge is the greatest sin.

Our nation, great as it may be, has far too many chasms today. People are still to often separated black from white, rich from poor, young from old, liberal from conservative. The old devil has scratched the surface in many places. However, we do not have to passively accept the status quo because we have the freedom to do something about it. We have the freedom to build bridges of understanding, bridges of compassion and bridges of justice. If we are faithful to God and good citizens of this nation, we will use our freedom to build bridges – bridges that will unite us as a people and enhance the lives of all.

On this 4th of July may we give thanks to God and to our forefathers for the freedom we enjoy. May we thank God for the freedom we have in Christ, for we have been set free from sin, death and the power o the devil. We have been set free to follow Jesus – free to become servants of all, loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. In that love may we build bridges of understanding and acceptance so that our nation may truly be a place of liberty and justice for all. Amen.

GUIDED BY THE GOSPEL: GATHERING • GROWING • GIVING