freedom for what?

so, it's almost the fourth of july, that time when we pull out the old navy flag t-shirts, dust off the bbq, get the parade chairs out of storage, and try to remember how to light m-60s with out blowing off our fingers.

i don't know about you, but the fourth of july has always a favorite holiday of mine. family and friends would gather at our house (which was on an island and which had cool places to camp, hang out, etc), we'd watch our little (and i mean little) local parade, eat bbq salmon and tons of berries and ice cream, and then gear up for the second largest fireworks display in western washington (after the lake union one in seattle).

there's more. something about the fourth of july seems less stressful than christmas (another favorite). maybe it's because that' there's less commercialism surrounding it and thus i don't feel "advertised at" for the three months preceding the holiday. maybe it's that there's no pressure to find the "perfect gift" for like 20 people (or more). maybe it's that the weather in december around here is generally cold, but in july tends to be warm and the revelry taken outdoors. who can't feel at least a little relaxed sitting outside wearing shorts and flip flops, right?

while there are major and obvious differences between the fourth of july and christmas, i see at least one major similarity: both holidays are about FREEDOM. christmas, of course, is when we celebrate the coming of christ into our world as a human being. christmas is a "big chapter" in the god's story of redemption (with the final one being the second coming and the middle one being easter). when christ came, we got a tangible message from god: i love you so much that i am making a way to secure your freedom. christ will grow up among you, live a sinless life, embody love and justice and then die a very unjust death. but don't worry, at easter i will raise him up and then show you how to follow him all the way to the new world--the kindgom--i am setting up for you.

the fourth of july, it must be stressed, is NOT a christian holiday, per se. it is not a christian symbol, or a "religious" remembrance at all, at least not in the way that christmas and easter are for christians (or ramadan is for muslims and yom kippur is for jews, for that matter). at the same time, the fourth of july touches all americans deeply because it is about freedom. and freedom is a fundamental human longing, a key civil concept, and a bedrock western value. put another way, freedom is so personal and so deep to most people, especially americans, it's hard to image life without it.

but, that's the thing. the fourth of july is when we celebrate that our country GAINED political freedom from another nation (england). this country exists as a country because of it; otherwise we'd be calling ourselves something like the united colonies of america, drink tea everyday at 4 pm and use the british pound (or the euro) for our money. (it's a lot deeper than that, but those are just some everyday realities that would be different for us). the point is, freedom for americans is a part of us, part of our national identity.

so what's the connection between christmas and the fourth of july? both are times when we celebrate aspects of our freedom. at christmas we celebrate the one who came to set us spiritually free from the law of sin and death that formerly reigned over us (Gal 5:1). without christ--without believing in him and his perfect sacrifice for us--we're spiritually chained up, enslaved. at the fourth of july, we celebrate our national or civil freedom, our ability to assemble ourselves as a particular nation with certain laws, freedoms, rights and so forth.

the challenge, in both cases but for different reasons, is to remember what our freedom means, how precious it is and which responsibilities it requires. spiritually we are now free to obey god and love others. civically we are free to live responsibly by the laws that we ourselves (or people representing us) have chosen to live by. in both cases (again in different respects), freedom is linked with responsibility. something to think about.