Two hundred and forty-five years ago, the founders of this great nation signed the famous Declaration of Independence. It was an act against a tyrant, King George—an act, which the founders argued, was supported by the logic inherent in all men being created equal by God and given inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The founders argued that men, when their governments, which by nature are to support these basic truths, no longer support these rights, are given the power to change or even abolish that government.
It is really quite an amazing founding document and I hope that our children and grandchildren know of it and the circumstances that surround it; to appreciate its significance and also to understand that when these men signed the document, they were putting their life on the line. Indeed, on July 4th, 1776, there did not begin barbeque and celebrations with beverages and family. There began the eight long years of the Revolutionary War. The War of Independence.
Ever since, one may rightly say that Americans have an independent streak to us. We have enshrined it not only in law, but we have fought for it at home and abroad. We even enshrine it in our movies: General George Patton fighting the Nazis; Rocky Balboa in Rocky IV, fighting the Russians; Will Smith in Independence Day… fighting aliens.
It makes me think: of any people on earth, it would seem to me that we are the ones most oriented to engage in the Ultimate declaration of independence, the wage war against the ultimate tyrant: that is, against sin and the devil.
Of course, you start talking about sin and the devil and some roll their eyes or begin to tune out—just as I’m sure many colonists in the early days rolled their eyes and began to tune out when some crazy prophets started dumping tea in a harbor, talking about how King George was a tyrant. But all, eventually, had to engage their intellect in that moment when things began to become desperate. For, it was from there that Independence was born: from the grace of the light of intellect—and desperation.
In the Garden of Eden, the devil swayed the intellect of Adam and Eve by saying: “If you eat from this, you will become like gods.” What the devil was doing there was sowing doubt—doubt through the implication that God was holding something back—doubt of God the Father’s goodness. What Adam and Eve didn’t know, we do: that the devil is a tyrant. And all we need to do to come to such a clear conclusion is to place him in the scales of judgment with the Heavenly Father.
Where did all the death, disease, disorder, doubt, and despair come from? The darkness? Did it not all come from the prince of darkness, which is the devil? Yes, he is the bringer of anger and envy and ingratitude and discord and discouragement. He would drive you to the desert of isolation through suggestion and lie and deceit and duplicity, offering you friendship and—when he got you there—throw the trap and accuse you of being wretched, where he would leave you forever.
But our heavenly Father: he is the creator of all life. And who could have eternal life in heaven but through Him? He is Truth and clarity and light and that breath of fresh air that brings order and peace. He offers joy, deep joy, and establishes community through mercy and the embrace of love. Does He convict us so that we do not go astray and into the hands of the destroyer? Absolutely. But should we go astray, He sends His Son—not a foreigner or a low-ranking nobody—He sends His Son. And He sends Him as a Good Shepherd who goes in search and, when He finds us (and He always does if we should let Him), He carries us out of that desert and brings us lovingly home.
So, who is the tyrant?
When you and I were baptized, our parents and godparents entered into that ultimate declaration of independence. “Do you reject Satan?” asked the priest. “I do,” they said. It was a moment of rebellion against the tyrant. Then came the war. The spiritual battle, as Paul says: “I have fought the good fight.”
Would you say that your spiritual life is characterized by a fight against the devil? When a prophet rose in your midst—whether recently or in the long-ago past—whether a priest or a friend or a family member or a stranger—when a prophet rose in your midst and called you on to a higher way of life, did you embrace that call like that of Paul Revere, or did you get angry and feel the prick of pride like the home-folk of Nazareth?
“Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith,” Sacred Scripture recalls to us. Which is another way of saying, “Jesus was amazed at the lack of fight in them.” The Messiah had come to lead the battle—and it was a battle, one kingdom against another, the Kingdom of Light verses the powers of darkness—the Messiah had come and where were his soldiers?
In many ways, the devil often retards the battle before it even begins in our hearts. The evil one says: “If you give yourself so whole-heartedly to God, you won’t be able to do whatever you want.”
Punch that temptation in the nose.
Because, you see, independence is not about getting to do whatever you want. Independence and freedom are about doing what is right and good and what we ought to do.
So, yes, independence does bring dependence. The founders of this nation knew this. After the Declaration, they would have to depend on one another. Independence would depend on the rallying together of community and good will and a universal vision. But that’s how life and liberty and freedom would be preserved.
The devil would have you think that depending on God would limit your freedom—when, really, depending on God is the very thing that protects your freedom. And your happiness. And your life.
To rebel against Him, to sin, therefore, would not only
be contrary to reason and our very existence, but it would even be against being
American. For at the heart of who we are is a declaration that recognizes God. And
that upon Him our life and our liberty, our happiness, and even our nation are
entirely dependent.
No comments:
Post a Comment