Liberty

Wednesday we entered Philadelphia for a quick trip back to 1776, and the birth of our nation. We got a close up look at the Liberty Bell and how it became the symbol of freedom across the United States. We were not able to tour Liberty Hall, but we did get to see the original house of Congress, where the first congress met, and where the first and second presidents were confirmed, and the original City Hall, which housed the original Supreme Court a couple of times each year. We also visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, memorializing the sacrifices of countless soldiers of the American Revolution who died for the cause of freedom. After a while in Philly, we headed for New York to get a glimpse of Lady Liberty (the Statue of Liberty, affectionately known as the “green girl” by one member of my family). There was some ceremony at the tomb, with 3 Marines standing close by in full dress uniforms and a news crew there to document the occasion. There were also a couple of noisy protesters babbling on about some injustice or other, but they were categorically ignored by the visitors and tourists as we set out to honor those who had fallen to war and disease.

I know I have spoken a lot this trip about monuments, but in today’s fast paced and quickly changing world, we often get so focused on the immediate that we tend to forget what is important. Monuments tend to redirect us to remember how we got where we are and the struggles that we, and those who have gone before, have had to overcome. As I contemplate the Liberty Bell and the Statue of Liberty, and the freedom they represent to the entire world, I am reminded of a song I used to love to sing in my youth.

Statue of Liberty
Words and Music by Neil Enloe

In New York harbor stands a lady,

with a torch raised to the sky.

And all who see her, know she stands for

liberty for you and I.

I'm so proud to be called an American

To be named with the brave and the free

I will honor our flag and our trust in God,

and the Statue of Liberty.

On lonely Golgotha, stood a cross,

with my Lord raised to the sky.

And all who kneel there live forever,

as all the saved can testify.

I'm so glad to be called a Christian,

to be named with the ransomed and whole.

As the statue liberates the citizen,

so the cross liberates the soul.

Oh, the cross is my Statue of Liberty,

it was there that my soul was set free;

Unashamed I'll proclaim that a rugged cross

is my Statue of Liberty.

On the base of the Statue of Liberty is inscribed: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

Kind of reminds me of Jesus, who said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. “I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3.

Just as Lady Liberty beckons us to reach out to those who are less privileged, oppressed, and burdened citizens, Jesus beckons us to reach out to the wretched, the sinners, and the unlovely, and to share God’s compassion and sacrifice with them.

As the Statue of Liberty stands as a symbol of freedom from oppression, let the cross of Christ stand as our symbol of freedom from the bonds and oppression of sin.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:9-12