The American experiment is 235 years old today. Our birthday as a country is July 4, 1776. Those who signed that monumental and historic statement of liberty knew they were putting their lives on the line knowing that Britain would see them as traitors.
David McCullough speaking at Hillsdale College (2005) made this observation about the Revolution: Keep in mind that when we were founded by those people in the late 18th cent, none of them had had any prior experience in either revolutions or nation-making. They were…winging it. And they were idealistic & they were young. We see their faces in the old paintings done later in their lives or looking at us from the money in our wallets & we see the awkward teeth & the powdered hair & we think of them as elder statesmen. But George Washington, when he took command of the continental army…in 1775, was 43 yrs old & he was the oldest of them. Jefferson was 33 when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. John Adams was 40. Benjamin Rush – was 30 yrs old when he signed the Declaration. They were young people. They were feeling their way improvising, trying to do what would work. They had no money, no navy, no real army.
As most every American knows, the first part of the Declaration establishes the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thus, you could say in a real sense that Patriotism simply means love of country and calls for great sacrifices and courage to establish these rights. As Benjamin Rush said, his fellow signers knew they were signing their own “death warrants.”
One of the most famous speeches of the era was Patrick Henry’s Give Me liberty or Give me Death. The church was packed, windows open to allow more people to hear and when he finished, his colleagues like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington sat in awed silence.
In the speech Henry famously said: Gentleman many cry, peace, peace—but there is no peace. . . Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains & slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God—I know not what course others may take; but as for me give me liberty, or give me death.
To be sure, we in the free-church tradition are heirs to the sacrifice of our forefathers so that we may indeed enjoy the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. So we are beholden to them for more ways than we could ever know.
Now there are two realities that I want us to consider today on our country’s birthday: First, Our forefathers’ actions demonstrate that human beings as the image of God were not created to be under man’s tyranny or any governmental structure. We were created ultimately as God’s servants though we do serve him by serving our country and fellow men.
Second, the one thing these men couldn’t do even in their sacrificial activity is offer true life, liberty, happiness, blessedness. Because the ultimate tyranny stems from being enslaved to sin, the flesh, and the devil.
To be sure, these men through their victory offer us in America the free opportunity to worship as we choose; yet, the true victory consists in entering the victory of Christ. That is, true liberty comes through death, the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, as we remember and honor those who have gone before us whom God has graciously used to procure and maintain our freedom, let’s glorify the one God used to achieve our ultimate and eschatological freedom.
So to take off on Henry’s speech: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death, the glory of the Gospel is that, ironically, true liberty comes through death, the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 3:21-25).
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