Courage and Faith

Yesterday was Independence Day.  We tend to refer to it as “the fourth of July”, and of course it is, but we need to remember that we’re not just celebrating because it’s the middle of summer.  It truly is Independence Day. 

I’m sure people celebrated in various ways.  There were the usual fireworks, or course.  Some places had parades.  A lot of people went to the river, camping or fishing or swimming or boating or whatever.  A lot of people, if they could, probably took today off and made it a four-day weekend. And all that’s fine.  I’m not saying a word against any of it. 

I hope, though, that everyone took some time to think about what Independence Day really is.  If you didn’t, I hope you will do that now.  It’s the celebration of what was really a huge gamble.  In 1776, the United States was not the huge, sprawling country that it is now.  It was not actually a country at all.  It was a loose collection of states, or colonies, that were taking on the biggest empire in the world.  A bunch of under-trained, under-funded, under-supplied volunteers fighting against what may have been the best-trained, best-funded, best-supplied army in the world.

Think of the courage it took to do that.  Had the United States lost, the leaders of the revolution would have lost everything, quite possibly including their lives.  Some of the signers of the Declaration of Independence believed that they might be signing their own death warrants.  And yet, they did it.  They did it willingly.  Think of the courage that took.

How did they get that courage?  They had faith.  They had faith in each other.  They had faith in their fellow Americans.  And they had faith in God.  They believed that this was what God wanted them to do.  And so, they were willing to do it.

You see, that’s the thing.  When you have faith in God, you can take chances.  When you believe you’re doing what God wants you to do, you’re willing to take risks.  And if you truly have faith, and you truly believe, you’ll be willing risk everything.  Even death. 

You’re willing to do that because you know that, for a Christian, death never gets the last word.  Never.  In fact, as the Apostle Paul said, we will not die.  We will simply be changed.  We will leave our earthly bodies behind and put on our heavenly bodies.  We will go to be in the presence of God in heaven.

That does not detract from the courage it took for those first patriots to face death.  It does not detract from the courage it takes for anyone to face death.  Death is a hard thing to deal with, no matter how strong our faith is.  If you have some fears about it, don’t feel bad.  Most people do, and it’s okay.  God understands how you feel.  It does not mean that you’re not a good Christian or anything.

But as we think about Independence Day, maybe the courage of the founders of the country can help us, too.  Maybe thinking of their courage can give us more courage.  Maybe it can help us keep our faith strong.  Maybe it can inspire us to take risks to do what God wants us to do, too.