Gratitude

Last weekend was special.  We celebrated our nations 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with fireworks, barbecue, friends, neighbors, and even a piccolo on Sunday.  There’s something about this holiday that tugs at the heart of every American.  It’s a deep gratitude for all that makes our country what it is. 

It’s gratitude for those who fought, and continue to fight, for our freedoms. 

It’s gratitude for the founders and the generations of legislative leaders who seek to advance liberties, justice, and opportunity. 

It’s gratitude for businesses that innovate and employ families and communities. 

It’s gratitude for individuals who bravely speak out for what’s right and good.

It’s gratitude for churches and faith communities that are free to worship and serve as God calls them.

This shared gratitude invites all Americans to celebrate the Fourth of July as one.  As we gather beneath the colorful flashes of fireworks, many of the things that often divide us fade into the background.  For a moment, we simply stand together as Americans. 

On Sunday we heard Jesus say,  “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”  Just as important as the last five words of that sentence are the first four words: “Come to me, all...”

In our Christian discipleship, we are called to extend that same open invitation.  We continually seek to widen our community, extending Christ’s love to the weak and the strong, the stranger and the familiar, the prisoner and the free.  The true Christian Church doesn’t merely say that all are welcome, it proclaims that all are desired.

My prayer is that we carry the gratitude we felt beneath those fireworks into every aspect of our lives.  The Fourth of July has passed, but our discipleship is never complete.  May we persevere in building a community that reflects Christ’s open invitation, loving and embracing all who come in search of his grace.