As we celebrate July 4th and the official beginning of summer 2007, our minds most naturally gravitate toward thinking about freedom in all of its expressions and forms. Our minds consider the freedom that summer vacation brings with escape from the press of demanding school schedules and work routines, of certain deadlines and often unreasonable expectations. As we drive to our vacation destinations and perhaps find a quiet chair on a beach somewhere, no doubt all of us will take a moment to stop and give thanks for the current and historic sacrifices made by the men and women of our Armed Forces all over the world who, even as we relax, fight hard and even pay dearly for our freedom, on some lonely hill, in an obscure land, during a time of unique conflict.
We may even pick up a book like John Ferling’s new release Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence. It’s study in contingency or, to use a more Christian term, divine providence, in the countless insurmountable battles, close-call events and life-changing decisions made by those who fought for the birth of our country over the course of years and who saw, ultimately, the purchase price of freedom deposited in the signing of the Treaty of Paris that ended the war in 1783. Knowing the close calls and unlikelihood of success, George Washington described the American victory as, “Little short of a standing miracle.” Ferling, a secular historian, paints a compelling picture that convinces his readers that, when it comes to freedom, there is no such thing as coincidence or accident and though, not obvious on a surface level, God’s hand is always at work in bringing about the realization of that most precious of gifts.
This summer, as you rest, relax and rejuvenate in preparation for the battles of life that may lie ahead, think also of this: every example of freedom won at a priceless cost (and isn’t it always priceless?) is made all the more inestimable by recognizing that each is but a powerful but incomplete echo of the battle God fought and won in Christ for each of us on that cross so many generations ago, on a lonely hill, in an obscure land, in a time of unique conflict.
Though on the surface, the traditions of the Christian faith may seem anything but miraculous, just stories and concepts, like the history of our country, that grow too familiar with repetition and rehearsal. Still in the bright summer sun and the warmth of the day, invite us to do well to remember by giving thanks for the freedom we can all enjoy in the ultimate, spiritual and eternal sense in placing our simple faith and trust in God’s sacrificial Son called the Christ: the ultimate answer to all of life’s battles and the source of all true freedom.
Jesus Christ. God’s own freedon fighter and standing miracle.
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