Reflections on Freedom, Part II: Be Excellent to Each Other!

I have always liked the version of Abraham Lincoln from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. In the first movie, Bill & Ted bring several historical characters back in hopes of passing history class so Ted will not be shipped off to military school in Alaska.

The two slackers from San Dimas High School use a time-traveling phone booth to travel through history to bring back Lincoln, Billy the Kid, Beethoven, Genghis Khan, Joan of Arc, Napoleon, Freud, and Socrates. Brilliant plan, and one I wish I had conceived of in high school.

In the movie, Lincoln is abducted from the White House in 1863. Initially confused by the modernity of San Dimas, he eventually embraces the moment and gives a rousing speech to the students gathered in the high school auditorium.

"Fourscore and ... seven minutes ago ... we, your forefathers, were brought forth upon a most excellent adventure conceived by our new friends, Bill ... and Ted. These two great gentlemen are dedicated to a proposition which was true in my time, just as it's true today. Be excellent to each other. And ... PARTY ON, DUDES."

In its simplest form, this is the message for us today, in real life - be excellent to each other and celebrate the best of life with joy.

This is the thought - in a manner of speaking - which undergirds this entire experiment that we know as America. It is also the foundation of much of the teaching of Jesus in the four gospels in the New Testament.

Here is what Jesus said, in calling His people to be people who love.

John 13:34, NLT

"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other."

Jesus loved extravagantly and in humility. Jesus did not count Himself above serving us frail and flawed humans. In fact, Jesus gave up His heavenly divinity and worship to live in earthly places with people who were outwardly - and secretly - hostile against him. (John 1:11, John 13:26, Matthew 26:4)

Paul puts muscle and flesh to this teaching with a practical application of Jesus' new commandment.

Romans 13:10, NLT

"Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God's law."

When the followers of Jesus come to the decision to do no wrong to others, we are like lights flooding the darkness. (Matthew 5:14-16)

When followers of Jesus in America bring their faith and the best of our American ideals together, it is, indeed, worth celebrating with joy.

Way back in 1793 in his inaugural address, President George Washington described America as a “republican model of government” as an “experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” (Thomas Coens Published in 'The Conversation' - History)

In his address to Congress on July 4, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln said, “Our popular Government has often been called an experiment ... Two points in it our people have already settled – the successful establishing and the successful administering of it. One still remains – its successful maintenance against a formidable internal attempt to overthrow it.”

Washington understood that it would become increasingly more difficult to maintain this great American experiment, and Lincoln - a mere 68 years later - was staring into the face of a nation already divided. What Lincoln was seeing was not a nation of people united and doing no harm to others.

America's Declaration of Independence, dated July 4, 1776, states, "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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ..." (Declaration of Independence: A Transcription | National Archives)

By the time Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address, the equality of all mankind with God-given unalienable rights was a fractured concept.

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this ... t is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." (Gettysburg Address Full Text - Text of Lincoln's Speech - Owl Eyes)

The Gettysburg Address was given on Nov. 19, 1863. Lincoln was dedicating Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. More than 3,500 United States soldiers who died at the Battle of Gettysburg are buried there. (Gettysburg National Cemetery - Gettysburg National Military Park (U.S. National Park Service)) Confederate soldiers were buried separately and have since been relocated to the south.

It did not take our country long to fall into the same abuse of liberty that we complained of at the hands of the British crown, from which we sought and fought for our "American experiment" of a republic democracy.

Our road to freedom is certainly not pure and unstained from sin.

One particular sermon stands out as a perfect example of this.

The sermon was given in 1630 by John Winthrop aboard a ship of Puritans heading to New England.

“Now the only way to … provide for our posterity, is to follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, we must be knit together, in this work, as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection. We must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of others’ necessities. We must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience and liberality. We must delight in each other; make others’ conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, as members of the same body. So shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." (John Winthrop Dreams of a City on a Hill, 1630 – U.S. History, Part I)

Sounds like a solid message. There is only one problem - John Winthrop owned slaves.

As a slave owner, it is difficult to see how Winthrop could square commerce with his sermon's exhortation to "Follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, we must be knit together, in this work, as one man." (Winthrop was referring to Micah 6:8)

What commerce?

In 1638, Massachusetts traded a shipment of Native American slaves to Barbados for a shipment of slaves from Barbados. At the time, Winthrop was governor of Massachusetts. In 1641, while still governor of Massachusetts, Winthrop helped write the first law legalizing slavery in North America.

This brings us to the question of whether we throw out our national love of America and love for the ideals that make us great because of the sins and inequities of our founders?

No.

There is much to love about America, including the ideals undergirding into our nation's early documents. Consider again the Declaration of Independence: "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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ..."

But we should not expect a group of long-dead founders to determine our ability to live up to the ideals of American republic democracy, the "we" of "we the people," or the liberality of which we understand equality and the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. We are each tasked with guarding and breathing life into these ideals each day of our lives.

For followers of Jesus, we have an even higher mandate than our Declaration of Independence or Constitution.

Followers of Jesus are called to acknowledge our moral and ethical failures and to grow to become more like Jesus. We are called to be light shining in darkness and to work for the kind of good that blesses others.

Matthew 5:1-2, 13-16, NLT

"One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, [2] and he began to teach them ...

"[13] You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. [14] "You are the light of the world-like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. [15] No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. [16] In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father."

We easily recognize what salt does for our food - it increases the taste exponentially! Think about hot French fries or a baked potato without salt. Bring on the salt!

Followers of Jesus should live with such extravagant and radical love, seeking to bless others in equally extravagant and radical ways, that the "flavor" of life is exponentially better and more joyful for others.

Jesus isn't cheap, so His people shouldn't be cheap.

Here is one small, but significant, example.

Several years ago, our church had an outreach-minded student ministry. I mean, we filled up a van and needed additional cars. Making sure each night included gospel-centered teaching was a foundational principle. But right up there was providing a high-quality snack to the kids when they arrived. Nothing like food to bring Baptists together, right? And, since many of the kids got off the school bus and onto the church van fairly close together, it was one way to meet a practical need.

We were always particular in what we served. We wanted name-brand sodas and higher-quality snacks. I don't know how many times I told the people who were donating food, "Jesus isn't cheap, so His people shouldn't be cheap."

Years later, our youth group was talking about the reasons we come together as followers of Jesus in a church setting. One of the children had graduated into youth group. She said this, "I'm not going to lie. I started coming because your church had name-brand snacks. I told all my friends to come. But I stayed because of what I was learning." (She also said the other church that tried to pick them up never offered them real food.) This kid was in church all through elementary and high school, until she left for college. She was a regular in bible study, VBS, worship, and served in various roles as she got older.

Rather than pointing fingers, dividing, and looking for problems, we are each responsible for how we are living today.

Matthew 6:19-21, NLT

"Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. [20] Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. [21] Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be."

When others observe us living our ordinary, everyday lives, are they able to conclude that our hearts are set on God? What would they conclude about us if they could know our thoughts and our motivations?

I like what Bill & Ted's Abraham Lincoln says, ""Fourscore and ... seven minutes ago ... we, your forefathers, were brought forth upon a most excellent adventure conceived by our new friends, Bill ... and Ted. These two great gentlemen are dedicated to a proposition which was true in my time, just as it's true today. Be excellent to each other. And ... PARTY ON, DUDES."

Or as Jesus puts it, "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." (John 13:34, NLT)

Treat each other with excellence. Love each other. Do no harm to each other.

And PARTY ON, DUDES! Here's to another 250 years.