I know I’m going to be dating myself here, but when I was a really young boy — maybe in the first or second grade — I had one of those portable record players, you know, the ones with the handle that opened like a little box?
I used to love coming home from school and playing my record albums on that little record player. One of my favorite albums was called “Free to Be, You and Me.” How many of you remember that?
It came out in 1972, when I was in the 2nd grade, and it was an album of songs and stories for young children recorded by celebrities like Marlo Thomas, Diana Ross, and Michael Jackson, to name just a few.
There was one by the big, burly football player, Rosie Grier, entitled “It’s Alright to Cry,” and another by Alan Alda called, “William’s Doll,” about a boy who wants to play with a doll.
The whole concept of the album was to encourage young people to be free to be who they are: that boys could cry and play with dolls, that girls could play sports…that everyone should have the freedom to be who they are.
And, that’s, of course, is what we are celebrating this July 4th holiday: FREEDOM.
In today’s gospel reading for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, Jesus is also speaking with his disciples about freedom.
He is sending the out two-by-two into the neighboring towns and villages to “set the captives free.” To free people from the things that are keeping them bound.
And, that is what the word “salvation” means: freedom.
I know that when we hear the word “salvation” in Christian circles today it’s all about “ensuring our place in heaven.”
That if people are “saved” (by professing this lives to Jesus) then they will experience salvation in the next life.
But, that’s not what “salvation” in the Bible means.
It has nothing to do with the next life, and everything to do with this life.
When Jesus spoke of “salvation,” he meant “liberation”…FREEDOM!
That following his way of life would LIBERATE US…FREE US! Not in the next life, but in this one.
That following his teachings would set us free from chains that bind us. Free from fear and anger, prejudice and greed.
Jesus sent his disciples out (far and wide) to share these teachings, because was trying to establish a new Kingdom here on Earth…one in which all people would live a life of FREEDOM and ONENESS.
That’s what we’re celebrating on July 4th weekend.
It’s not just about fireworks and barbeques and parades. We’re remembering that our country was founded on those principles of LIBERTY and FREEDOM and ONENESS.
In the Declaration of Independence, we hear that all people are created EQUAL and are endowed with certain, unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
That means people are free to live how they want to live; to love how they want to love; to worship how they want to worship. To pursue whatever is that makes them happy.
We haven’t, of course, always lived up to those ideals, but we’ve always continued to fight for those freedoms.
Just in our lifetimes alone, we have made great progress.
Some of you here today were alive when Black people in our country had to drink from separate water fountains and sit at the back of the bus.
Some of you here today were alive when women in our country couldn’t have a credit card without their father or husband’s permissions.
Just in our lifetime alone, we have seen Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, Marriage Equality. More and more people have been afforded those rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
I know we have a long way to go, but I believe as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King once famously said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
And, we, of course, are called to be the ARC BENDERS.
2,000 years ago, Jesus sent the disciples out to share the “good news” of love and justice and Oneness, but he knew that there would be many people who would refuse to hear this message.
And so he tells them, “If you are refused, shake the dust off your feet in protest and keep moving forward.”
In other words, don’t be discouraged and don’t give up!
In the Jewish Scripture (which Jesus would have studied), it says, “You are not required to finish the work, but neither are free to abandon it.”
My friends, we as both Americans and as Christians, are called to continue to do the work of love and justice…and to build a land where all people truly are free and truly are One.
E Pluribus Unum.
May it be so. Amen.
Here are three follow-up questions for reflection and/or journal writing:
- Jesus describes salvation as freedom in this life. What fears, prejudices, habits, or burdens are keeping you from living the full freedom that Christ desires for you, and how might God be inviting you to let them go?
- Jesus sent the disciples out to proclaim love, justice, and oneness, even when their message was not always welcomed. Where do you feel called to be an “arc bender” for justice, compassion, or inclusion in your family, workplace, church, or community?
- Our nation and our faith both hold up the ideals of liberty, equality, and the dignity of every person. What is one practical step you can take this week to help create a world where others experience greater freedom, belonging, and love?