Today is July 5. Yesterday was July 4. Wow, talk about being on the ball; don't tell me, and the day before that was July 3?
The point is that July 4 is the day that America cheers for freedom. July 4, 2004 was no exception. There were the usual parades. Parks were packed with revellers and grills and children and loud music. It was a perfect day, weather-wise. Not a cloud in the sky. Nothing except on the horizon the storm crow Iraq.
Letter from a soldier
Being theoretically on vacation, we visited a church as guests yesterday. A note from a member in Iraq was read during the service. The letter said that the soldier was risking his life for the cause of freedom. An uneasy silence ensued. Later the same day (July 4 remember?), after packing for our trip back to England, we caught a few minutes of an Independence Day celebration on TV. At one point, children of military personnel were brought onto the stage and asked: 'where is your dad?' One boy, aged no more than eight, was asked to say something to his dad. He said simply: 'Hi papa'. The look on that child's face as he thought of his father that day was indescribable. It was like watching innocence crack.
As an Englishman, July 4 is a strange time to be in America, with its historical overtones of 'the British are coming'! Yet its generic message of freedom is universally appealing. Especially when, as this year, there is that cloud of cost on the horizon; at what price this freedom?
It is a question that all Christians must ask too. Our freedom in Christ cannot be taken for granted, it must be retaken every day. Paul writes to those Galatians so foolishly spending their inheritance of freedom: 'It is for freedom that Christ has set us free! Stand firm, then, and do not let yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery' (Galatians 5.1). Stand firm.
Christ, your A-Z
Stand firm, that is, not move forward. Christian freedom means remaining with Christ not adding to Christ. Stand firm, that is, not lay back. Christian freedom means following Christ not the world.
Stand firm, that is, for while July 4 celebrates political freedom, and while personal freedom may lead to philosophical freedom, which may lead to political freedom, political freedom without personal freedom is no freedom worth the name. Or, to put it without all those 'p's, if you want to be really free, Christ is your A-Z.
The freedom that Christ wins for us cannot be removed by oppressive regimes. It calms the tempest of our heart, the torrent of God's wrath and the bondage of our evil inclinations. Social freedom can lead to personal slavery for the liberty to act on our desires can increase our chains to such passions. Christ's freedom deals with all this. With the fireworks of July 4 still littering the ground from last night, today, this day, is a day I will stand firm in the freedom of Christ. How about you?
