An Independence Day Reflection

How Do You Carry What Can’t Be Fixed?

In the Gospel reading appointed for Independence Day, Jesus poses a radical challenge that feels almost impossible:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you... Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43–44, 48)

These words are not easy to hear on any day, let alone a day like the Fourth of July, when we as a nation celebrate liberty, independence, and identity. But Jesus’ words reach into the places where celebration and heartbreak collide. They ask us to reflect deeply: What does it mean to seek freedom not just for ourselves, but for others; even those we struggle to understand or forgive?

The command to love our enemies is not just a moral stretch; it is a spiritual practice. It points to a lifelong journey of growing into love. In Scripture, the word translated as “perfect” (Greek: teleios) does not mean flawless. In other words, Jesus is not asking for a kind of cold perfectionism. He is inviting us to grow into the fullness of love, especially when love feels like the heaviest burden to carry.

But what if you don’t want to carry that burden?

That is a question many of us live with, especially in the face of injustice, conflict, and grief. There are wounds in our personal lives and in our national story that cannot be easily fixed. From the weight of historic inequality and colonialism to the rise of Christian nationalism that distorts the Gospel into a tool of domination rather than liberation, there is much we wish we could simply resolve or undo.

But our theology is clear: the way of Christ is not about escaping brokenness. It is about redeeming it through love. Our Baptismal Covenant calls us to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself” and to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” These are not passive hopes; they are active promises.

Love lightens the load.

Love does not make our problems disappear, but love calls us into connection. Love cannot exist in isolation, it must be shared. And when we love our neighbor, even our enemy, we are no longer carrying the burden alone. We become part of a web of grace, forgiveness, and healing that God continually weaves through the world.

This is what freedom looks like, not self-sufficiency, but mutuality. True freedom is not license to do whatever we want; it is the grace to live without fear and without diminishing others. As Paul reminds us, “For freedom Christ has set us free… do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another” (Galatians 5:1,13).

So where is God in all this?

God is present in the questions we cannot answer and the burdens we cannot fix. God is in the tension between what is and what could be. God is with us in our grief over what is broken in our country and our hope for what might yet be healed. God is present in every act of reconciliation, in every truth spoken with love, in every barrier that is dismantled by grace.

It can be disheartening when we see cruelty and corruption thrive. It can feel hollow to speak of love when hate seems louder. But the way of Jesus is clear: we do not overcome hate with more hate. We overcome it with love that refuses to quit.

So what does it mean to be Christian on Independence Day?

It means we celebrate with honesty and humility. We give thanks for the blessings we enjoy, and we work for a future where those blessings are shared more equitably. We resist any version of patriotism that excludes or oppresses. We remember that the Church does not exist to serve the interests of the nation; the Church exists to serve the mission of God.

That mission calls us to love beyond boundaries, to serve without fear, and to proclaim freedom, not as a national slogan, but as a holy promise fulfilled in Christ. When we love our enemies, pray for those who hurt us, and walk humbly with our God, we begin to see that the greatest freedom of all is the freedom to love fully, even when the world tells us not to.

May this Independence Day be a time not only of celebration, but also of spiritual reflection and renewed commitment, to Christ’s call, to the dignity of every human being, and to the hard but holy work of love.

Kevin+