Ethan Allen, leader of the Green Mountain Boys during the Revolutionary War, was with a group of fellow patriots at a Sunday service led by a stern Calvinist preacher. The preacher took as his text, “Many shall strive to enter in, but shall not be able.” In typical predestinarian fashion, the preacher observed that God’s grace was sufficient to include one person in 10, but not one in 20 would endeavor to avail himself of the offered salvation. Furthermore, not one man in 50 was really the object of God’s favor, and not one in 80……At this point, before the preacher was able to utter another depressing divine statistic, Allen seized his hat and left the pew, saying, “I’m off, boys. Anyone of you can take my chance.”
I don’t blame Ethan Allen for walking out on that, but most people wouldn’t have taken that liberty. Obviously, Allen was a freethinker as well as a fighter for freedom!
Today, the day before the 4th of July, we are celebrating the beginning of our United States. We remember the contributions of the original patriots who made the sacrifices necessary for us to win our independence. What is even more important, we remember those whose incredible wisdom and foresight set up a system of government of the people, by the people, and for the people, that, with all of its imperfections, has enabled us to flourish as a people for 240 years.
We remember the stories told to us as children about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ethan Allen, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, Lafayette, and the list goes on. We recall with gratitude that the freedom we enjoy today was won at great cost by our forebears. Think of the price our American forefathers and foremothers paid to win our freedom from Britain. Fifty-six who signed the Declaration of Independence didn’t survive the Revolutionary War. Five were captured and tortured before they died. Nine others died fighting in the war. Twelve had their homes sacked, looted, burned, or occupied by the enemy. Two lost their sons in battle. One had two sons captured. No doubt they knew our Lord’s admonishment, found in the Gospel appointed for Independence Day, to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, but I suspect there wasn’t much praying for the English at that time in the colonies, and there probably wasn’t much praying for the colonies by the English either. Yet, in God’s time, reconciliation took place, and today we are each other’s greatest allies.
When we recall the depth of sacrifice that was made by so many, it’s no wonder that this day was treasured as a kind of national holy day by those who survived the Revolutionary War, as well as by the generations who have been beneficiaries of their sacrifice. I don’t think it was any accident that two of the major figures of the revolutionary period died on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. At dawn, on July the 4th, 1826, John Adams was wakened by a servant, who asked if he knew what day it was. He replied, “Oh yes, it is the glorious 4th of July. God bless it. God bless you all.” He then went into a coma. In the afternoon he recovered consciousness briefly to murmur, “Thomas Jefferson lives.” These were his last words.
Unknown to him, Thomas Jefferson had died earlier that same day, his last words being the question, “This is the fourth?,” to which the friend at his bedside nodded assent. A deep satisfaction came over Jefferson’s face, he sighed deeply, laid-back, sank into a deep sleep, and died shortly after noon on the fourth.
The cost of freedom was great. Those who made the sacrifice believed their cause was just and their principles worth dying for. The question we must ask ourselves is, “How can we best use the freedom that they won for us?” Did men fight and die just so that we can lead lives of self-indulgence? Is that what freedom is about? Not really caring for those in our midst who are in need physically, emotionally, or spiritually? Or do we use our freedom to work for the common good, making daily sacrifices that this world may be a better place in which to live as a result of our toil?
Another great patriot, Lafayette, was a man who knew how best to use his freedom. The harvest of 1783 was a poor one in France, but the farmers on his estates had managed to fill his barns with wheat. “The bad harvest has raised the price of wheat,” his overseers told him. “This is the time to sell.”
Lafayette thought about the hungry peasants in the surrounding villages. “No,” he replied. “This is the time to give.”
While this is the 4th of July weekend, we’re still worshiping, and the major focus of that worship is God as he has revealed himself most fully in Jesus Christ, and I haven’t talked much about God at all. Yet the principle about which I’m speaking has everything to do with our faith as followers of Jesus Christ. We have unlimited freedom to live sacrificially loving live in this country. If our freedom is to count for anything, if our faith is to bear fruit, then we of all people must lead lives of loving service to others. That is to make our freedom count, to the glory of God.
Sermon preached by the Very Reverend Fredrick A. Robinson
The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
7th Sunday after Pentecost
3 July 2016