We begin this month by celebrating Independence Day. We remember so many who have gone before who fought hard to help achieve this independence. We remember those in military service, those in the court of the laws, those who gathered on the streets to help protest the injustices and oppression our country was living under. However, Independence Day is not just a time to remember, but it is also a time to ask yourself: What are you doing to continue the fight for independence? 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.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” Can any among us read this and say, yes, we are indeed a nation that values the equality of all people? Can we really say that our laws are set up in such a way that all have access to the same rights and privileges? We cannot. Which means we uphold the Declaration of Independence and exercise our rights as the people to alter or to abolish the laws that continue to perpetuate injustices upon many in our nation.
I know that the above will make some uncomfortable. Thoughts will range from “how in the world do we do this” to “the church is not the place to be talking about politics.” As we first read in Galatians, fighting for true freedom for all people is not a matter of politics, it is a matter of Christian duty as was given to us when Christ died for us to set us free. This freedom we have does not celebrate independence but interdependence. We are dependent on Christ and interdependent upon each other. Nothing about the freedom we fight for in our country or the freedom that Christ died for gives us the right to live selfishly. There are many ways we can “fight” for this freedom for all that is within each of our capabilities. We can get out and protest, write letters to our leaders in our community and in law, sign petitions, be vocal on social media and even in your more intimate family groups. We can also show what it means to be free. We can live for others and live for Christ. We can love each other by serving one another as Christ came and served us. We can put actions behind our words that leave all without a doubt that Christ died for them too and set them free!
Happy Independence life and eternity!
From one light to another,
Pastor Hannah Loughman