I love reading inspirational quotes and thinking about the context that the people were in when they were inspired to write them. Eleanor Roosevelt wrote:
“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”
We are celebrating the freedom of our country, which declared its independence from the kingdom of Great Britain on July 4, 1776. So, I want to briefly consider the question: How free are we?
Are you, am I, truly free . . . when others are not? Do free and enslaved still coexist? Do I take my freedom, if I have it, as a license to do and say whatever I want, whenever I want, without any sense of responsibility or consideration simply because I can? What about people that are hurting? People that are poor? People that are struggling and living in horrendous conditions? How do I, can I, use my freedom to do good in my community, the country, or in the world?
Am I my brother’s, my sister’s keeper? Who is my neighbor? Why should I care about someone else’s well-being? What is my responsibility?
In Luke 4:18-21, Jesus quoted a Scripture from Isaiah 61:1. Jesus said:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,
because He has anointed Me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Then He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him.
He began by saying to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
The Bible teaches us that Jesus came in way that many people did not expect. When He stood up and read the Scripture from Isaiah, He upset a lot of people! He led an unconventional and innovative public ministry that began with this message in Luke (now paraphrased):
God’s Spirit is on Me!
He has anointed me to give the poor some good news!
I am here to set the prisoners free.
I am here to help the blind see again.
I am here to liberate every person that is oppressed.
I am here to declare this is the year of the Lord’s favor!
Jesus came to make us free! For every person that is oppressed, He had a message: You don’t have to live under the bondage of oppression that comes from other people! He came to liberate, to heal, to deliver and set free! He came to give us life and a more abundant one! He came to pave the way for and be THE WAY for our freedom!
But, are we free? Really free? Do we all have justice, and do we all have equal access to everything? The freedom the Lord wants for us is the freedom to do justice, love mercy, and walking humbly with our God. This is what the Lord requires. But what are we doing?
Until we are in a posture of repentance, forgiveness, and love, we will never be truly free. Until, we can place our heads on our pillows at night and know we have done what the Lord required us to do for that particular day, we will not be free. Until truth and justice for all reigns within our hearts and minds—and until we love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, we will not be free! Because when we are truly free, we will have grown up to the fact that your freedom, my freedom, is always connected to someone else’s—as I am, you are, connected to the Lord.
So, acknowledging independence, of necessity acknowledges interdependence. Juneteenth and Independence Day must coexist for every nation, every kindred, every tribe, and every tongue. This is the vision, God’s vision, for eternity. We’ve got a long way to go. Let us begin (or begin again). . . now to plant the seeds so all of us are free.
Until next time, my friend,
Selah . . .