Independence Day (07/04/2025)

Today we celebrate Independence Day in the United States of America. Today, across our nation individuals will gather with family, friends, and neighbors to honor what has come before us, the valor of those who fought for us and for our freedom, and to pledge our efforts to future generations. And I believe with all my heart that the LORD smiles upon us, this nation, “under God”, because our LORD so wants us to be free.

The LORD created us free; the LORD gave us free will. The two major stories of our faith tradition are the Exodus journey where the LORD set the Israelites free from the grip of Egypt and the victories of Jesus Christ, Son of God, over sin and death through His life and death and resurrection. Clearly, the LORD wants us to be free.

And the LORD wishes that we will participate freely and selflessly in fighting for that freedom for others. And today we honor those who have sacrificed so much so that we might be free and might remain free. It’s not just our military, though we are thankful to them for their individuals sacrifices, it is also the individuals who have discerned prayerfully their role in the LORD’s ongoing call for our freedom.

Today, as we celebrate with friends and families, with food and drink, with parades and fireworks, let us take time to give thanks to the LORD for our freedom and to invoke the LORD for help in discerning our own roles in maintaining that freedom for ourselves and others across this country and even across the world.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.