In his epistle to the Galatians, Paul encouraged his audience,
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage...For,
bretheren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love, serve one another.
(Galatians 5:1-13)
Liberty. It is a word that evokes so much for an American. Memories of childhood fourth of July celebrations;
moments of feeling that in America, anything was possible; times of disillusionment when we realize that sometimes we as
a nation are not living up to what we were intended to be. Yet Paul is speaking in this verse about a liberty that
transcends national borders, political parties, and embattled philosophies, and reaches out to the entirety of the human race.
It is a liberation from our baser selves into a new life, won for us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We live in a world of ever increasing uncertainty. Many are lead to ask the question, "Why would God
allow this to happen?" when they see tragedies often so common all around us. The recent news reports
of shootings in an Amish schoolhouse are, sadly, but one example of the tragic and senseless violence that appears to
be on the rise in our nation. Clearly we have drifted from our roots.
Abraham Lincoln, in a speech calling for a national day of fasting and prayer, wrote the
following resounding words that have prophetic import in our day:
We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in
peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten
God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which has preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us,
and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom
and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming
and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended
power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness." [March 30, 1863]
And so when we see our young men and women (and often children) in our inner cities having their lives
cut short by violence; when we see bad things happening to good people wherever they are, while the dishonest go free and
clear; when we see injustice of any kind, we may be led to ask, "Why is it that God does not intervene? Why does He permit
this suffering?"
The answer is Liberty. It is part of God's eternal plan of happiness for his children that
we be allowed to make choices in this life between good and evil. God values our freedom to choose enough to allow some
of his children to choose unrighteously, even when this means that the innocent sometimes fall victim to the collateral damage
of these choices. But we also have the promise that the innocent will not be abandoned in their suffering. "I will not leave
you comfortless," the Lord told his disciples, "I will come to you."(John 14:18)
We may be called to stand against oppression where we encounter it and to be an advocate for those
who have none. In describing the Law of the Fast, the Lord asked the pointed questions:
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let
the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou
seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness
shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be the rereward.
Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away
from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity,
and thy darkness be as the noon day.
And the LORD shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones : and thou shalt
be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations;
and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. (Isaiah 58:6-12)
How much good would be accomplished if more people were willing to take the counsel of Abraham Lincoln
and the prophet Isaiah, and fast and pray for our world, for our nation, for our neighbors, for our families, and for
ourselves? How much more could we as a nation accomplish if we used the tremendous freedom we have here to it's fullest
potential? There are many voices beginning to swell in our popular culture these days that say that prayer is an outdated
and foolish practice. We are truly forgetting the need for Divine help, and in such times, the concerns President Lincoln
voiced so many years ago resonate quite strongly in our ears. Now more than at any other time in the history
of our nation, we need to commune with God. Our knees need to hit the floor more frequently. Our hearts need to reach out
more fervently. Our Father in Heaven longs to guide us safely through these turbulent times.
One of the greatest gifts God has given to his children is the freedom to choose between good and
evil. From the time of Adam and Eve, this precious gift has been a part of God's plan for mortals. Alma wrote: "...therefore,
this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been
spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead." (Alma 12:24) For this reason, we are admonished by Joshua:
...choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side
of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
(Joshua 24:15)
This part of the Plan of Salvation, our moral agency, was so important to our Heavenly Father that
he permitted his only begotten Son to satisfy the demands of justice in our behalf if we would accept him as our personal
Savior. In light of so great a gift given so freely to us, we would do well to heed the words of a beloved hymn:
Come unto Jesus, ye heavy laden,
Careworn and fainting, by sin oppressed.
He値l safely guide you unto that
haven
Where all who trust him may rest.
As we exercise our free will and draw near to God, He will in turn fulfill his promise and draw near
to us. This will be, and has been countless times, the begining step toward positive change in individuals, families,
communities or nations.
Another favorite hymn of mine entitled, "Know this that Every Soul Is Free" expresses this concept
of free will most beautifully:
Know this, that ev池y soul is free
To choose his life and what he値l be;
For this eternal truth is giv地:
That
God will force no man to heav地.
He値l call, persuade, direct aright,
And bless with wisdom, love, and light,
In nameless ways be good
and kind,
But never force the human mind.
Freedom and reason make us men;
Take these away, what are we then?
Mere animals, and just as well
The
beasts may think of heav地 or hell.
May we no more our pow池s abuse,
But ways of truth and goodness choose;
Our God is pleased when we improve
His
grace and seek his perfect love.
We are blessed in the United States to live in a country where we have the priviledge of participating
in our government. We have the oportunity to voice our concerns, to stand for what we feel is right, and to vote freely
according to the dictates of our conscience. All across this nation today, many people were united in fasting and prayer.
Many of those fasting had a special prayer in their hearts as they considered the upcoming elections on Tuesday.
The reason for this prayerful concern is clear. The character and direction of a nation is determined
to a large degree by those who are called to lead it. The happiness of our children and our children's children, depends in
a large part on what we are willing to set in motion today. If we choose wisely now in what we uphold, we fulfill the promise
of the Lord through Isaiah and "raise up the foundations of many generations". If we do not, we must recognize that our
posterity will reap what we have sown.
May we all refuse to take the freedoms, both spiritual and temporal, we have been so freely given
for granted, and may we take the time to let our voices be heard.
And may we become, as much as possible, a nation that prays fervently and sincerely over its
future.
~Mark
