July 2, 2025

Elizabeth and I attended the Civic Theater’s production of 1776 over the weekend. It was a rousing performance, taking the audience through the development of the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence. The Declaration says very little about “freedom.” The only reference is to the freedom of the colonies/states: “That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.” The freedoms of the people are enshrined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

How do you think of freedom? I think the preposition that follows freedom makes all the difference. Freedom from…? Or, freedom for…?

In Galatians chapter five, the apostle Paul talks about the freedom found in Christ. Paul writes, “For freedom Christ has set us free … For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become enslaved to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Freedom for… so as to love the other.

I believe the current state of our nation would be very different if we took Paul’s words a little more seriously.

Rev. Eric