On July 4th, 2026, the United States celebrated 250 years of independence from foreign tyranny. Since then, our nation has grown from 13 to 50 stars in our flag and has become a land of immense opportunity and a strong economic and military world power. We celebrate with full hearts as we stand on the shoulders of so many who have sacrifced to give us the precious privileges of liberty in a dangerous and oppressive world which still threatens the vision of what we want to be. It is a reminder that we have a sacred responsibility to honor those sacrifices and to guard freedom for future generations.
Even though our hearts are filled with gratitude, we admit that the ideal of achieving liberty for all is elusive and that our republic needs improvements to attain its purposes. That requires vigilance and thoughtful involvement in the democratic process. There are powerful detractors skulking about attempting to completely dismantle our social and civic structure and some of the values that have made us nationally strong e.g. the importance of family, free enterprise, the democratic process, the separation of powers, the exercise of individual religious freedoms, property rights, and free speech. Maintaining these freedoms has proven to be painfully costly, multifaceted and is still a process under scrutiny and development. We are imperfect people and thus an imperfect nation. As long as earth is populated, the tension between the desire for power and the quest for liberty will be a never ending struggle.
Therein lies the crux of the problem. We espouse lofty values but have to admit our efforts are tainted by selfishness: greed, dishonesty, hypocrisy, missteps, and injustices. Furthermore, we struggle with rapidly developing, overwhelming technologies and their negative consequences as well as unhealthy desires and agendas promoted by vapid influencers and powerful people and groups. Because our backgrounds, values, ideas, and beliefs are diverse, our concepts of freedom’s meaning, and the delineation of and the guardrails necessary to preserve it vary. Even our government officials have difficulty focusing on the common good. The village square is is no longer a place for civil debate but has become a virtual, bitter battleground of bullying and a place for condescending, one-sided arrogant, uncontrolled, unrefereed speach where differences devolve into bitterness and petty retaliations.We can only wonder if we will exist as a nation in another 250 years!
So, in spite of our attempts to be people of integrity, we are flawed and held in bondage by self’s destructive tyranny; because we can be unloving, proud, envious, jealous, and exhibit bad attitudes and behaviors, we are in desperate need of grace for each other and more importantly of God’s grace, His forgiveness and redemptive power to be changed.
Broadening the powers of an already inefficient, burdensome, intrusive government bureaucracy will never release us from the dictates of our selfish natures. We have never been and will never be absolved from accountability to ourselves or to others and ultimately to our Creator. When Adam and Eve rebelled against spiritual authority, they became enslaved by selfishness, by the consequences of their sin, and by death as they proudly pursued self-exultation rather than God’s ordained goodness for a healthy life.
The rise in unhappiness, unrest, dissatisfaction, depression, anxiety, feelings of isolation, and addictions springs from the deep spiritual need to find personal meaning and the purposes intended for us. Christ explained that that is loving God above all else and our neighbor as ourselves. If we could love that way, equality would prevail; the problems of poverty, racism, discrimination, divisions, injustices and delusional thinking would vanish. In his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul exhorted his readers to be of “one” mind, the “same” mind, the “mind of Christ,” who gave up position and power to lovingly and willingly serve and die to redeem humanity. Our perspective should be that God has freely given all that is good to us; so we should live with a generous, humble spirit.
The great news is that true personal “freedom” is possible by a change in the human spirit. Christ knew that. He said that men needed a new birth, a change in their nature, and that those who followed him would know the Truth and be free (John 3; 8:31-32). He said, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice”(John 14:6 18:38). He explained who we are (sinners loved by God), why we are (to shine with God’s character), how we can become more of who we are created to be (listen and adhere to the principles designed by God) and that God’s love for us is all inclusive and does not depend upon our righteous performance.
We become children of God by faith, by belief in His provision for salvation and by submission to His will and providence (John 3:16-18). In his letter to the Church at Galatia, the Apostle Paul wrote this encouragement: “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free” (Galatians 5:1).
Chris Tomlin powerfully expressed this in the contemporary worship song “Amazing grace, My chains are gone.”
My chains are gone
I’ve been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace
In repentance and by acceptance of Jesus’ deep love as redemptive, one is totally and graciously accepted by God, forgiven, liberated from the tyranny of self and evil, no longer burdened by trying to attain God’s love by performance, released from condemnation and the eternal consequences of sins, and empowered to be the person one is created to be as one grows in understanding of God’s intended purposes for human existence .
God frees all who choose to believe. Even if living under political or oppressive circumstances, one can live with a liberated spirit. This redemption is ultimate freedom. There is no greater! It is worthy of great celebration!
Sweet Words from Maine 