Independence Day

After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town. And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven." At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, "Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"– he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this, they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to men. (Matthew 9:1-8)

Today is the 4th of July and a time to celebrate our nation and remind ourselves of our history.  (begin) On July 4, 1776, the United States officially declared its independence from the British Empire when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.  The Declaration was authored by a “Committee of Five”—John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman—with Jefferson as the main drafter.  But Jefferson himself later admitted that he was merely looking to reflect the “mind of Americans”—bringing together the core principles at the heart of the American Revolution.  The Declaration also included a list of grievances against King George III, explaining to the world why the American colonies were separating from Great Britain.  The American Revolution ended with the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 and the Treaty of Paris in 1783.  A little over two decades after King George III took the throne, the American people had broken from Great Britain and begun a new experiment in republican government. (end)

The Declaration of Independence reads in part: (begin) The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.—Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. (end)

Let’s remember the oppression of tyranny and the threats of authoritarian rule.  For those of us who have never experienced tyranny, it’s time to read up and to properly prepare to defend what we have - precious freedom and rights including the right to vote and pick wise leaders with strong core values focused on truth and integrity. We don’t want another king to rule us.

Many of us are like paralytics lying on a stretcher.  We make goats cry. Jesus tells us to rise, pick up our stretchers, and go home that for us today means “be awake,” and never select a Caesar to rule us.  Jesus knew a Caesar and the consequence of defiance.  We must go to school with Jesus as our teacher.  Our experiment must continue.  

Deacon David Pierce