My Declaration of Independence

Freedom. The very word conveys hope, joy, and excitement to the hearts of humankind. Our hearts long for liberty. Liberty from oppression, compulsion, fear, and abuse. Freedom to live life to the fullest.
 

As time strikes April 4, 2010, the nation of Senegal (land of my birth) celebrates their fiftieth anniversary of their independence received from France (via transfer of power). The green, red and yellow colors of Senegal are proudly displayed throughout the land and as this historic day is fêted, a thought remains. As Senegalese, we enjoy our sovereignty as a republic and relative peace, yet the lives of many individuals remain trapped in an endless cycle of hopelessness, desperation, and futility. We celebrate an event, but do we live in the reality of freedom?
 

Even as my Senegalese compatriots commemorate this significant Sunday, my heart is drawn to a different event where my freedom was won--being remembered on this same day. The crux of my faith lies in an event which took place nearly two thousand years ago when Jesus broke the chains of hell, death, and the grave by rising again after His crucifixion, offering eternal life to those who trust in Him.

As the letter to the Corinthians noted, “If Christ weren't raised, then all you're doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.” (I Corinthians 15:17,19-20)

How many of us are looking for hope in the wrong place? Like Mary Magdalene. On that first Easter morning, she went to the tomb to prepare the body of Jesus for proper burial. But an angel said to her, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!” (Luke 24:5-6) How often we search for truth, hope, and purpose in the wrong places. From people, success, comfort, philanthropy, money, to popularity, we stand outside the tombs of failed promises, ventures, and pursuits. What liberty to discover life has more to offer than the eighty or so years we tread on planet earth!

How easy it is to become a captive of earthly vices. We fear the opinions and words of others, our self-perception, the loss of our material accumulations or acquaintances, the lack of necessities, change itself, and ultimately death. We may define freedom as “the condition of being free from restraints,” but is this our true pursuit? Perhaps, rather, we long for a place of peace, acceptance, love, and protection.

My faith is not about a set of rules to obey. It's about a relationship God desires with His creation--available through Jesus. We were separated from God because of sin, but God sent Jesus to earth to show us what He is like, (which is why one of Jesus’ names is “Immanuel”, meaning, “God with us.”) to die in our place for our sins, AND to rise from the dead to offer us power over the grave, which is the ultimate consequence of sin. Thus, my faith is not about me trying to earn God’s favor through a series of good works, prayers, or passion. Rather, it is an acceptance of His love and an embracing of Jesus' work of salvation for my sins. Jesus didn't come to make bad people good. He came to make the dead, (spiritually) alive.That said, if my love for others, joy for life, and compassion for the hurting is absent, you have every right to question the validity of my faith.

As James put it, “faith without works is dead” (2:20) or in the words of songwriter Rich Mullins, “faith without works… it’s about as useless as a screen-door on a submarine.”Pilate nailed it when he asked Jesus on trial, “What is truth?” (John 18:38) This is the million-dollar question. We can believe something all day long, but is it merely a hobby-horse, personal opinion, cultural perception, timeless legend, good-way of living—or is it, in fact, truth?

We live in a world that seeks to make everything subjective. We attempt to modify absolutes and dilute impositions. To believe in Jesus is a personal thing, yet on this Easter Sunday, I want to spare each reader (regardless of their ethnicity, culture, religion, or nationality) one futile pursuit. That futile pursuit is, to label and patronize Jesus as merely a moral teacher, prophet, or philosopher. One who claims to be God’s Son, conqueror over death, and the way to God cannot be branded as but a “great leader.” He must either a lunatic, liar, or Lord.

Jesus said, “I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) The choice we have is to accept Him as the truth or a liar, for anything else would be a contradiction. Benedict the XVI shared with a group of young people, “Truth is not an imposition…It is a discovery of the One who never fails us; the One whom we can always trust. In seeking truth we come to live by belief because ultimately truth is a person: Jesus Christ. That is why authentic freedom is not an opting out. It is an opting in.”

My friends, I share these thoughts as my declaration of independence. That, on this Easter Sunday, you may know my joy, my heart, my hope. This same Jesus promises eternal life to those who trust Him. “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” (John 11:25) Not a mere possibility, but a guarantee.

I’m thankful to be Senegalese and for our fifty years of autonomy. Yet how much more thankful I am for freedom from the power of the grave and the promise of eternal life. Therein lies true freedom!

Each of us must answer Pilate’s question for ourselves. “What is truth?”

Happy Easter!