OUR LIBERTY IN CHRIST

Solemnity of INDEPENDENCE DAY

5 July, AD 2009

TEXT:  Collect for Grace at Morning Prayer and Propers of the Day

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1)

On this Fourth of July weekend, I think it is important for us to not that no government official neither read this homily in order to approve its being delivered to you nor are there officers of the State standing at the doors of this Church writing down the names of those who have come to worship this morning.  That’s because, in this country, we live in a free society; we have our freedom and all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that go along with that freedom.  But let us never forget that our freedom comes with a price and that not all Christians everywhere in the world enjoy such freedom as do we.  Nevertheless, we do enjoy this freedom because our government is founded, in part, on the idea that we should have liberty as a part of our common humanity as citizens of this great country.  It’s part of our commonality; who we are as human beings.  As the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  Liberty or freedom is at the core of our very being.  We are granted that freedom on the premises of which and by which this country was founded and still operates.  And we can’t forget for even one moment that men and women have been wiling to die in order to perpetuate our independence.  So let us all be properly grateful for the freedom we have, for those who fought and died for it, and let us dedicate ourselves to do whatever we can to promote that freedom and justice among ourselves and with peoples of other nations and countries for that entire concept of freedom is what we celebrate, honor, and commemorate in our nation this weekend!

But the founders of our nation didn’t just wake up one morning and decide that it might be a good idea to be free.  This notion of freedom and independence didn’t just “boing into is-ness” as a friend of mine once said to me.  Freedom, independence, individual human rights – those concepts have been with us for a long time.  We study the annals of Canon Law and Roman Law and we see within them that these were issues with which ancient societies struggled and won.  Further back still within the pages of Holy Scripture we find that the approach to our freedom in this country is molded and modeled in a distinctively Christian framework, to which the Declaration of Independence attests!  The freedom we have as individual human beings stems from whom?  Our Creator – God the Father Almighty!  It is He who frees us from the tyranny and enslavement of sin, death, and hell into whose bondage we became entangled at our first disobedience to His law!  It is His Son, Jesus Christ, who gave us our freedom in His atoning Death on the Cross!  And it is the power of the Holy Ghost who dwells with us constantly who reminds, empowers, and guides us into the love, hope, and joy that is ours as Christians and guards us and keeps us when tyrannical evil forces try diligently to enslave and ensnare us once again.  We live in a free society to be sure, but that visible, external freedom is fashioned upon a deeper, truer, more eternal freedom that is ours as sons and daughters of Christ our King!

But as sure as the ultimate war for our soul is over, there are still fresh battles and skirmishes that rage.  The words of the Psalmist are as true as ever; – “Why do the nations so furiously rage together and why do the people imagine (or believe) a vain thing?”  This seemingly external question is just as potent when we consider it internally and spiritually.          

When we were under the domination of a foreign power, we were not free to govern ourselves, to make our own laws, or to fashion society in the ways we saw fit and just.  The same held true when we knew not Jesus Christ.  But the freedom into which we entered through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism made us new creatures.  It gave us freedom to call upon the Name of the Lord our God and revealed to us the reality that the truest and most essential form of freedom is that of serving Christ, clinging to Him every moment of your life and dedicating yourself, body and soul to His Love, Grace, and Will for your life.  This freedom is not the ability to do whatever we like whenever we like, that is selfishness.  This freedom, our Christian freedom begins with what God requires of us and then is about becoming the people God created and desires us to become.  To have the ability, the freedom, to do that spiritually and to live in a free society as well is nothing less than providence and Love of God towards us!    

So I ask you – How are you imprisoned or oppressed this day?  We all are to some extent or in some way.  More often than not it is spiritual bondage or oppression.  Do you want to be free of those gnawing feelings that life has no purpose, meaning, or direction for you, that you’re spinning your wheels and going no where fast?  Then don’t read a psycho-babble book on self-esteem.  Read God’s Word.  The best way to do that is by praying the Daily Offices and reading the lessons.  Embrace the living Christ who comes to you in His Word and Sacraments and in His service you will find perfect freedom!  For true freedom comes only after we align ourselves with the reality of God’s will for our lives as revealed in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost.  Then, as we begin to serve the only true Lord, we will begin to be liberated from the many spiritual tyrants who seek to rule our lives from within and then you will know what true freedom in Christ is all about!

And now, unto God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost be ascribed all might, majesty, power, and dominion as is most justly due this day both now and forever; world without end.  Amen.

SOLI DEO GLORIA – JEU+