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Thank God for Freedom
- Gethsemane Lutheran Church
- Jul 5
- 5 min read
There are a lot of voices speaking about the United States of America and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and there are plenty of celebrations. Some of you may have been awakened last night by fireworks displays. Some of you are sleeping in this morning to recover from partying, and good for you, taking the holy Sabbath seriously and doing what your mortal body needs you to do today.
As thoughtful followers of Jesus Christ, we are neither entirely caught up in the celebration nor rejecting the celebration—we still live in the world, and not of the world, as St. Paul once put it. We worship the God who created the entire earth, who exists beyond all nations.
I want to share with you some thoughts from various theologians whose ideas may be helpful to you as well, if you are feeling proud to be an American and also conflicted to be an American.
Lisa A. Dellinger is an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation and also a professor of theology. She provides this perspective as a Native America:
“…this land of Turtle Island is more than just a 250-year-old nation. The land itself is who the Indigenous are—and that relationship goes back to the very foundations of this earth. The land is our mother and sustainer. It holds the remains of our human, animal, and elemental ancestors. The living relationships that Native peoples experience with Turtle Island are ancient, enduring, and diverse. The ways in which the U.S. paints the picture of who is ‘American’ diminishes the contributions of Native peoples. To ignore our living presence here is to lie.”[1]
Pastor Angela Denker is an ELCA pastor in Minneapolis who contributed to the ELCA’s worship resources for today. You may have noticed that at the start of worship, we used a litany very much like the one spoken during worship in this very same place 50 years ago. Some of you remember 50 years ago, and Pastor Denker gives us some perspective:
“Perhaps we imagine a less complicated earlier age in our churches, when large congregations sang breezy renditions of “God Bless America” in 1976 or other patriotic hymns on earlier anniversaries. We would, of course, be wrong.
“Looking merely to 50 years ago, prior to the formation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, churches worshiping during the United States Bicentennial did so only one year removed from the tragic end of the Vietnam War, with the fall of Saigon and US draftees returning home with physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wounds that would remain with them for the rest of their lives.
“The 1976 anniversary was just eight years removed from the assassinations of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, the Democratic presidential candidate whose brother, President John F. Kennedy, had been assassinated in Dallas less than five years earlier. It was just two years removed, too, from the resignation of President Richard Nixon.”
“On this day, Lutheran preachers in particular are called to reject outright the temptations and claims of Christian nationalism. At this moment in the United States, we are faced with a political movement that has married Christianity with an embrace of hardline authoritarianism and glorification of violent masculinity, casting Jesus in the role of a warrior. We have seen a political Christian movement that has attempted to demonize empathy and love of neighbor, recasting “neighbors” as only those who share the same ethnicity and cultural background.
“Today’s gospel offers a much different vision: a Jesus who comes to all offering rest for our souls, who promises rest for all “who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens.”[2]
Oh, yeah—Jesus. The gospel reading for today was chosen not for this country’s national festival, but this is the Gospel reading for Christians all over the world who use the Revised Common Lectionary, which assigns the Scripture readings. Reverend Matt Skinner, Professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, writes this in his Gospel commentary for this week:
“…back in Jesus’s first public speech in Matthew, his Beatitudes promise blessings precisely to those who find themselves disadvantaged, outnumbered, or at risk in this predatory world. His words about providing “rest for your souls” …are not principally directed to people with comfortable lives; read them instead as restatements of the Beatitudes. Jesus is in the business of removing the heavy burdens that our societies and systems inflict on certain people.
“He isn’t telling people to run from religious devotion, and he certainly is not urging people to abandon Judaism and its high regard for Torah. Matthew includes criticisms that hyperbolically single out certain Jewish leaders (as most notoriously in chapter 23), but we must interpret those criticisms as denunciations of oppressive leadership and hypocrisy, not attacks on Judaism. Look at your own traditions and communities if you need reminders that Jesus’s complaints about oppressive leadership apply broadly.
“Jesus urges people toward accepting a “yoke” from him that is easy. Jewish teachers in the Second Temple period spoke of yokes as metaphors for obedience to God, especially with regard to Torah observance. The relief Jesus brings is not freedom from all obligations and accountability. It is a promise of a way that brings freedom—a life of connection to God that leads to liberation of oneself and one’s neighbors.”[3]
In an article written for Sojourner’s magazine, author and historian Jemar Tisby quotes Martin Luther King, Jr.’s sermon “A Knock at Midnight,” in which he said,
“The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool.” King continued, “If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club with no moral or spiritual authority.”[4]
So how is the church using its moral and spiritual authority? We are always figuring that out. In his article about how to observe this national anniversary, Adam Russell Taylor, president of Sojourners, gave thought to how we unite our Christian faith and love of neighbor with our privileges and challenges as Americans. He writes this:
“According to the Democracy for All Project, a multiyear research initiative by the Kettering Foundation in partnership with Gallup, ‘while only one in four Americans believe the people’s role in the democratic process is working well, those who get involved in their communities and have meaningful civic education feel significantly more empowered to create change.’ The project notes that ‘three in 10 (31%) have actively participated in organizations or groups aimed at improving community conditions in the past year’ while ‘another 36% indicate they haven’t participated but have wanted to do so.’ Authoritarianism gains traction when people feel powerless, exhausted, and demoralized.
“From the perspective of Christian faith, civic renewal is a way to live out the call to truth-telling and loving our neighbors as ourselves.”
“…One of the best 250th birthday presents we can give is to counter bombastic, nationalistic celebrations by practicing civic renewal. We can help our nation pursue ‘liberty and justice for all,’ an ideal still worth celebrating.”[5]
Let this national anniversary give you chances to consider how to live your faith in Jesus Christ here in this nation, with the resources and talents God has given to you. May God strengthen us to proclaim good news, here and everywhere.
Amen.
Pastor Cheryl
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