Sermons
This week's sermon video is available below and on our ChatsworthUCC Facebook page, where you can also see previous sermons.
All Have Liberty or None Have Liberty
Rev. William S. Freeman
July 7, 2019
The Congregational Church of Chatsworth
An Englishman, who thinks he's smarter than Americans, goes camping with an American. They set up their tent and lay out their sleeping bags inside the tent. Then they start a campfire, have a couple beers, and eventually go to bed. In the middle of the night the American wakes up and says to the Englishman, “Wake up and look up. What do you see?” The Englishman says to the American, “I see a million stars.” The American says to the Englishman, “And what does that tell you?” The Englishman says to the American, “It tells me that God has created a beautiful universe.” Then the Englishman says to the American, “Why? What does it tell you?” The American says to the Englishman, “It tells me that somebody stole our tent!”
A couple hundred years ago, America outsmarted the English, defeating them in the Revolutionary War, and gaining our independence. Our liberty. On the Fourth of July, which is the anniversary of our independence, we celebrate our liberty. The questions for Independence Day Weekend are: Do we take our liberty for granted? And do all of us truly have liberty? Or do some of us have our liberty stifled?
We have a lot of liberty, when you think about it. We have the liberty to live where we want…pretty much. I mean I read the Hot Properties section of the Los Angeles Times on Saturdays. And I want to live in one of those 38 million dollar mansions. But I don't have that much…um…liberty. We have the liberty to travel where we want…pretty much. But we probably don't want to use our liberty to travel to war-torn Syria. We have the liberty — including since 2015, the LGBTQ community has the liberty — to marry who we want…pretty much. But when I was single a few years ago, I did not have the liberty to marry Angelina Jolie. Lucky for me I didn’t have that liberty, because then I was eventually able to marry Kathleen. (I had to say that or I’d end up in the dog house tonight.) But there are more serious topics, which might make us question how much liberty we all actually have. Do all people have the liberty to seek asylum in America? Do all people have the liberty to control their own bodies? And do all people have religious liberty? I believe: All have liberty or none have liberty. Thankfully we all have the liberty to read and to learn from the Bible.
The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians, “let us not grow weary in doing what is right,” and, “let us work for the good of all.” That pretty much sums up the entire Bible, doesn't it? “Let us not grow weary in doing what is right,” and, “let us work for the good of all.”
If we watch the news, we have a lot not to grow weary about in doing what is right, and we have a lot to do to work for the good of all. Now what I’m going to talk about this morning may sound to some like politics. But I hope instead that it sounds like justice. Because I don't talk about politics from the pulpit. But I do talk about justice. And I also talk about liberty. Specifically: All have liberty or none have liberty.
Christians should have empathy for asylum-seekers, because Mary and Joseph took baby Jesus and sought asylum in Egypt when King Herod wanted to kill baby Jesus. Fast forward a couple thousand years. People are coming to America from dangerous and deadly countries seeking asylum. Maybe because they believe the words on the Statue of Liberty: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. But America is not living up to the words on the Statue of Liberty. Children are being torn from the arms of their parents, seeking asylum at the border, and thrown in cages, where they don't have toiletries, but they do have sickness and disease, and some of them are dying in the custody of our government. The children and their parents must think they've gone from one Third World country to another Third World country. And the thing is: Seeking asylum in America from a dangerous and deadly place, is perfectly legal. As I understand it, the law says the government has to welcome them and help them in their asylum-seeking. But the government is not doing that. The government is turning them away. The government turned away a father and his little son seeking asylum at the border. So they tried to swim across the Rio Grande. Unfortunately they drowned. Maybe you saw the picture of the little boy with his arm around his father, both of them facedown in the water. Dead. What can you do to help? Well, you can work with the United Church of Christ, which is trying to end the suffering. You can write to your elected leaders to protest the treatment of people who legally seek asylum. There’s one other thing that some churches have done. They voted to be a Sanctuary Church, to say to the government: We support asylum-seekers. But it’s not easy. And while the Apostle Paul says, “let us not grow weary in doing what is right,” and, “let us work for the good of all,” I don’t know that this church is ready to take such a vote and declare: We are a Sanctuary Church. Even if I might want to declare that, and say: All have liberty or none have liberty, this is a congregational church, which means the congregation runs this church, not the pastor. So you all have to decide that. If…you want to.
Thomas Jefferson was not perfect. He owned slaves. He fathered a child with one of his slaves. On the other hand, Thomas Jefferson was one of the founders of our country. He was the third President of the United States. And he penned The Declaration of Independence, which was pretty close to perfect. Thomas Jefferson wrote a line that many people know. “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Of course, America is still trying to live up to those words. Do women in America really have liberty?
Several states are passing laws to restrict a woman's right to an abortion. Some states would make it illegal for women to seek an abortion after six weeks, when women may not even know that they're pregnant. Some states would throw doctors who perform an abortion in jail for 99 years. Before I talk about this topic, as far as I know, no one is pro-abortion. Abortions that I know about happen after much thought and sometimes prayer. That said…
Have those states thought through all the ramifications of their proposed laws to control a woman's body? Because if the government has the power to tell women that they cannot have an abortion, then the government has the power to tell women that they must have an abortion, as they do in China. In China, as I understand it, to keep the population down, the government tells women that they are allowed to only have one child, and that they must abort any more than their one child limit. The President says that America is full, and we don't have room for anymore people. So what if, to keep the population down, the government eventually tells women that they can only have one child, and that they must abort any more than their one child limit, because America is full, and we don't have room for anymore people? Or, what if, to keep the population down, the government tells men that they must have a vasectomy after they've fathered one child, because America is full, and we don't have room for anymore people? And what if, a doctor refuses to perform a vasectomy on a man who has fathered one child? Would that doctor be thrown in jail for 99 years? Perhaps some people who call themselves pro-life, or who others call anti-choice, would pooh-pooh these questions and concerns. Perhaps some states have not thought through all the ramifications of trying to control a woman's body. Perhaps men have not thought through all the ramifications of trying to control a woman’s body either. People may want to think about how much power the government should have in controlling people’s bodies. They may conclude: Women have liberty to control their own bodies or none have liberty to control their own bodies. This is a tough issue to ponder. But as the Apostle Paul says, “let us not grow weary in doing what is right,” and, “let us work for the good of all.”
“This Land Is Your Land,” is probably my favorite patriotic song, which is often sung around the Fourth of July. I don't love it just because it was written by Arlo Guthrie's dad, Woody Guthrie. I also love it because of the lyrics. “This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the New York Island.” It's got two of my favorite places in it: California and New York City. But there's more to it than just that.
Woody Guthrie says he wrote, “This Land Is Your Land,” in response to Kate Smith’s song, “God Bless America.” Woody Guthrie thought “God Bless America” was too nationalistic, too jingoistic, too religious, too “America love it or leave it.” So he wrote, “This Land Is Your Land.” No mention of God, perhaps for those who are not religious. The nice thing about it is that Woody Guthrie had the religious liberty to write that song.
Many people say America is a Christian nation, and it is. But America is also a Jewish nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, a Muslim nation, and an atheist nation. Recently the government tried to ban Muslims from America. But nothing could be more un-American than that. The government tried to say that all terrorists are Muslims. But that is patently false. Many terrorists in America are Christians. But that's not often reported by the news media, because the news media usually only tells us if a terrorist in America is a Muslim. And if they're not a Muslim, then they're usually not called a terrorist. Think about it. If the government can ban all Muslims from America one day, then the government could ban all Christians from America the next day. It’s not always popular to believe: All have religious liberty or none have religious liberty. But as the Apostle Paul says, “let us not grow weary in doing what is right,” and, “let us work for the good of all.” Because we can’t just make sure that no one steals our tent. On this Independence Day Weekend, we also have to make sure that no one steals our liberty.
Let us pray.
God of Love:
Help us to cherish our liberty.
Help us to never take our liberty for granted.
And help us to remember that: All have liberty or none have liberty.
Now and forever more.
By the power of the Holy Spirit.
And in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
(This sermon was delivered without manuscript or notes,
and was based on the words in this text.)
Rev. William S. Freeman
July 7, 2019
The Congregational Church of Chatsworth
An Englishman, who thinks he's smarter than Americans, goes camping with an American. They set up their tent and lay out their sleeping bags inside the tent. Then they start a campfire, have a couple beers, and eventually go to bed. In the middle of the night the American wakes up and says to the Englishman, “Wake up and look up. What do you see?” The Englishman says to the American, “I see a million stars.” The American says to the Englishman, “And what does that tell you?” The Englishman says to the American, “It tells me that God has created a beautiful universe.” Then the Englishman says to the American, “Why? What does it tell you?” The American says to the Englishman, “It tells me that somebody stole our tent!”
A couple hundred years ago, America outsmarted the English, defeating them in the Revolutionary War, and gaining our independence. Our liberty. On the Fourth of July, which is the anniversary of our independence, we celebrate our liberty. The questions for Independence Day Weekend are: Do we take our liberty for granted? And do all of us truly have liberty? Or do some of us have our liberty stifled?
We have a lot of liberty, when you think about it. We have the liberty to live where we want…pretty much. I mean I read the Hot Properties section of the Los Angeles Times on Saturdays. And I want to live in one of those 38 million dollar mansions. But I don't have that much…um…liberty. We have the liberty to travel where we want…pretty much. But we probably don't want to use our liberty to travel to war-torn Syria. We have the liberty — including since 2015, the LGBTQ community has the liberty — to marry who we want…pretty much. But when I was single a few years ago, I did not have the liberty to marry Angelina Jolie. Lucky for me I didn’t have that liberty, because then I was eventually able to marry Kathleen. (I had to say that or I’d end up in the dog house tonight.) But there are more serious topics, which might make us question how much liberty we all actually have. Do all people have the liberty to seek asylum in America? Do all people have the liberty to control their own bodies? And do all people have religious liberty? I believe: All have liberty or none have liberty. Thankfully we all have the liberty to read and to learn from the Bible.
The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians, “let us not grow weary in doing what is right,” and, “let us work for the good of all.” That pretty much sums up the entire Bible, doesn't it? “Let us not grow weary in doing what is right,” and, “let us work for the good of all.”
If we watch the news, we have a lot not to grow weary about in doing what is right, and we have a lot to do to work for the good of all. Now what I’m going to talk about this morning may sound to some like politics. But I hope instead that it sounds like justice. Because I don't talk about politics from the pulpit. But I do talk about justice. And I also talk about liberty. Specifically: All have liberty or none have liberty.
Christians should have empathy for asylum-seekers, because Mary and Joseph took baby Jesus and sought asylum in Egypt when King Herod wanted to kill baby Jesus. Fast forward a couple thousand years. People are coming to America from dangerous and deadly countries seeking asylum. Maybe because they believe the words on the Statue of Liberty: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. But America is not living up to the words on the Statue of Liberty. Children are being torn from the arms of their parents, seeking asylum at the border, and thrown in cages, where they don't have toiletries, but they do have sickness and disease, and some of them are dying in the custody of our government. The children and their parents must think they've gone from one Third World country to another Third World country. And the thing is: Seeking asylum in America from a dangerous and deadly place, is perfectly legal. As I understand it, the law says the government has to welcome them and help them in their asylum-seeking. But the government is not doing that. The government is turning them away. The government turned away a father and his little son seeking asylum at the border. So they tried to swim across the Rio Grande. Unfortunately they drowned. Maybe you saw the picture of the little boy with his arm around his father, both of them facedown in the water. Dead. What can you do to help? Well, you can work with the United Church of Christ, which is trying to end the suffering. You can write to your elected leaders to protest the treatment of people who legally seek asylum. There’s one other thing that some churches have done. They voted to be a Sanctuary Church, to say to the government: We support asylum-seekers. But it’s not easy. And while the Apostle Paul says, “let us not grow weary in doing what is right,” and, “let us work for the good of all,” I don’t know that this church is ready to take such a vote and declare: We are a Sanctuary Church. Even if I might want to declare that, and say: All have liberty or none have liberty, this is a congregational church, which means the congregation runs this church, not the pastor. So you all have to decide that. If…you want to.
Thomas Jefferson was not perfect. He owned slaves. He fathered a child with one of his slaves. On the other hand, Thomas Jefferson was one of the founders of our country. He was the third President of the United States. And he penned The Declaration of Independence, which was pretty close to perfect. Thomas Jefferson wrote a line that many people know. “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Of course, America is still trying to live up to those words. Do women in America really have liberty?
Several states are passing laws to restrict a woman's right to an abortion. Some states would make it illegal for women to seek an abortion after six weeks, when women may not even know that they're pregnant. Some states would throw doctors who perform an abortion in jail for 99 years. Before I talk about this topic, as far as I know, no one is pro-abortion. Abortions that I know about happen after much thought and sometimes prayer. That said…
Have those states thought through all the ramifications of their proposed laws to control a woman's body? Because if the government has the power to tell women that they cannot have an abortion, then the government has the power to tell women that they must have an abortion, as they do in China. In China, as I understand it, to keep the population down, the government tells women that they are allowed to only have one child, and that they must abort any more than their one child limit. The President says that America is full, and we don't have room for anymore people. So what if, to keep the population down, the government eventually tells women that they can only have one child, and that they must abort any more than their one child limit, because America is full, and we don't have room for anymore people? Or, what if, to keep the population down, the government tells men that they must have a vasectomy after they've fathered one child, because America is full, and we don't have room for anymore people? And what if, a doctor refuses to perform a vasectomy on a man who has fathered one child? Would that doctor be thrown in jail for 99 years? Perhaps some people who call themselves pro-life, or who others call anti-choice, would pooh-pooh these questions and concerns. Perhaps some states have not thought through all the ramifications of trying to control a woman's body. Perhaps men have not thought through all the ramifications of trying to control a woman’s body either. People may want to think about how much power the government should have in controlling people’s bodies. They may conclude: Women have liberty to control their own bodies or none have liberty to control their own bodies. This is a tough issue to ponder. But as the Apostle Paul says, “let us not grow weary in doing what is right,” and, “let us work for the good of all.”
“This Land Is Your Land,” is probably my favorite patriotic song, which is often sung around the Fourth of July. I don't love it just because it was written by Arlo Guthrie's dad, Woody Guthrie. I also love it because of the lyrics. “This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the New York Island.” It's got two of my favorite places in it: California and New York City. But there's more to it than just that.
Woody Guthrie says he wrote, “This Land Is Your Land,” in response to Kate Smith’s song, “God Bless America.” Woody Guthrie thought “God Bless America” was too nationalistic, too jingoistic, too religious, too “America love it or leave it.” So he wrote, “This Land Is Your Land.” No mention of God, perhaps for those who are not religious. The nice thing about it is that Woody Guthrie had the religious liberty to write that song.
Many people say America is a Christian nation, and it is. But America is also a Jewish nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, a Muslim nation, and an atheist nation. Recently the government tried to ban Muslims from America. But nothing could be more un-American than that. The government tried to say that all terrorists are Muslims. But that is patently false. Many terrorists in America are Christians. But that's not often reported by the news media, because the news media usually only tells us if a terrorist in America is a Muslim. And if they're not a Muslim, then they're usually not called a terrorist. Think about it. If the government can ban all Muslims from America one day, then the government could ban all Christians from America the next day. It’s not always popular to believe: All have religious liberty or none have religious liberty. But as the Apostle Paul says, “let us not grow weary in doing what is right,” and, “let us work for the good of all.” Because we can’t just make sure that no one steals our tent. On this Independence Day Weekend, we also have to make sure that no one steals our liberty.
Let us pray.
God of Love:
Help us to cherish our liberty.
Help us to never take our liberty for granted.
And help us to remember that: All have liberty or none have liberty.
Now and forever more.
By the power of the Holy Spirit.
And in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
(This sermon was delivered without manuscript or notes,
and was based on the words in this text.)