Dear friends,
I give thanks to God for you.
Know, this day, that you are loved beyond measure.
Today’s worship service, in its entirety, may be viewed here:
If you’re prefer to listen to only the gospel reading & sermon, you may do so here:
Today’s sermon is based on readings chosen for this Independence Day weekend:
Deuteronomy 10:12-22
So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. Although heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord your God, the earth with all that is in it, yet the Lord set his heart in love on your ancestors alone and chose you, their descendants after them, out of all the peoples, as it is today. Do not be stubborn any longer. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen. Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons; and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in heaven.
Galatians 5:13-14
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.”
John 8:31-36
Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
Beloved of God, grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus.
Scenes from the past week are circling through my mind on this 4th of July.
Friday night, at the wedding reception for Holt and Molly Johansen, Molly’s father—as part of his toast—honored Holt, as a Navy SEAL, and all the women and men who have sacrificed so much in order to protect the freedoms we enjoy and celebrate today. His toast was interrupted by a standing ovation from the guests gathered in the room. We stood to express our gratitude, our deep appreciation, perhaps even our acknowledgment that so many us can’t begin to understand the cost of such service.
Earlier in the week, Doug and I finally watched a movie that had fallen on and off our radar for some time. The Butler, starring Forest Whitaker, tells the story of Cecil Gaines, a black man who served as a butler at the White House through the administrations of 8 presidents, beginning with Eisenhower and ending with Reagan.
The film is only loosely based on the life of Eugene Allen, and much of the film is fictionalized, but the moments in history that are chronicled—especially the fight for civil rights in this country—made me pause. Again. And wonder at the devastatingly slow progress toward building a country where everyone is on equal footing, where there is no need to fight to be seen as a whole person worthy of respect, equal pay, equal rights, equal responsibilities.
I heard this week just a bit of a news story about the Statue of Liberty’s little sister arriving at Ellis Island this week for a temporary installation. (Listen to the story on NPR here). She is only 9 ½ feet tall, as opposed to her big sister, who stands, with her pedestal, at 305 feet.
The French Ambassador, Philippe Etienne, says the Statue of Liberty was conceived at the end of the Civil War as a symbol of emancipation, but it has taken on many meanings since then. Of course, a friendship between two peoples, French and American; of course, the core value of freedom as a message of liberty; but also a lot of different messages linked with immigration, of course, and hospitality. And finally, the most important meaning of these statues is the promise of opportunities to all our citizens.
Before the little sister could even be installed, protesters gathered. We like the message of the Statue of Liberty, and we support that message. But we feel that the United States is not living up to that message.
The other news on repeat in my mind is coming out of Canada, our neighbors to the north, where the remains of countless children continue to be discovered at former residential schools for Indigenous children. Canada Day was on July 1. Sarah Bessey, one of my favorite Canadian writers, wrote this week, I’ve spent 42 years celebrating Canada Day with joy and gratitude. This year, I’m taking a step back to light a candle, hold vigil and pray. To repent, lament, and name that the genocide and generational trauma of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people is also our story…
https://twitter.com/sarahbessey/status/1410622217017184261?s=20
And yesterday, at the Pulpit to Pulpit 5K where Aidan and Keaton raced, I stood and cheered as runners crossed the finish line. I was especially taken with the race organizers, who stood at that finish line and applauded with energy and conviction for every runner—every last runner. The last were received just as joyfully as the first. And I thought to myself: this is the dream of God.
After God had freed the people from slavery in Egypt, listening to their cries and answering them with justice, God gave the people a way to live as freed people, a way to live as people called and claimed by the God who executes justice for the orphan and the widow and who loves the stranger. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall worship God alone. God is your praise.
The letter to the Galatians sums up the law in this way: Love your neighbor as yourself. The freedom to which God has called us is not to be used for self-indulgence, but rather for service and love. This freedom is not freedom to do whatever we want, but rather freedom to live with limits put in place for own well-being and for the well-being of others, limits established by God for the sake of community.
On this Independence Day we recognize our dependence on God and on one another.
The Son has made us free, and we are free indeed.
We recognize and rejoice that we are in God’s hands, that our nation is in God’s hands, that the whole world –all of creation–is waiting and hoping and praying…
…for God’s dream to become our own
…for God’s love of strangers to become our love of all those without a place to call home
…for God’s justice for the orphan and the widow to become our fierce commitment to those most marginalized, most oppressed, most at risk
…for the gift of freedom that God so freely gives us to become our desire and our determination to use our freedom for the sake of others.
Martin Luther put it this way, Although the Christian is thus free from all works, [they] ought in this liberty to empty [themselves], take upon [themselves] the form of a servant, be made in the likeness of [people], be found in human form, and to serve, help and in every way deal with [their] neighbor as [they] see that God through Christ has dealt and still deals with [them].
We are both freed from and freed for.
God is here, guiding and leading, planting seeds of freedom, hope, and love–not only in our hearts but in our land, in our nation, in the world. In this time of challenge and change, rife with uncertainty, and sometimes fear, and sometimes anger, and sometimes confusion and despair, we—freed for lives of love— hold fast to God. Amen.