All human beings have a deep longing in their hearts for freedom. This longing is common to all societies and cultures and one of the easiest ways of recognising this longing is to observe the elaborate celebration of this freedom by most countries in the form of their independence days and the sacrifices made in defending their freedom. Both Singapore and Malaysia both celebrated our National Day and Merdeka Day respectively in the month of August which gave us opportunities to celebrate both these special days marked with prayer and festivity within our seminary community which has seminarians and formators from both sides of the Causeway.
This has given me cause to reflect on how precious this freedom is to all of us and our countries. Indeed, this freedom is not something we should take for granted although it may be increasingly easy to do so for younger generations who may have never experienced foreign governance. Nevertheless, days like National Day and Merdeka Day are moments for us to reflect on our freedom and to give thanks to the Lord for this freedom we have enjoyed and also to reflect about areas in our life where there are still traces of slavery and bondage. The Bible tells us that sin is the greatest slavery and bondage that humanity experiences and the whole mission of Jesus was to set humanity free from the tyranny of sin in our lives.
Indeed, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and so no human person is spared from the experience of the bondage of sin. Even if we did our best to avoid sin, it is inevitable that another person’s sin will inevitably affect us because of the corporate dimension of sin and thus, we can appreciate the Church’s teaching on Original Sin which highlights that we live in a “fallen” world. However, even in the face of the painful realities of the sinful world we live in, we shall not be discourage or allow ourselves to fall into despair for we have been given hope in Christ our Saviour.
Psalm 64 says, “to you all flesh shall come with its burden of sin. Too heavy for us, our offences, but you wipe them away.” Indeed, what else can we do but to go to God with our burden of sin trusting that He alone can lead us into the true freedom of being liberated from sin which is the root of all other experiences of slavery. Psalm 64 goes on to share with us that our true freedom can only be experienced in God’s presence for He is our only guarantor of freedom – “Blessed is he whom you choose and call to dwell in your courts. We are filled with the blessings of your house, if your holy temple.”
Even as we give thanks and celebrate the freedom we have been blessed in our respective countries, let us remember that it is but a foretaste of the true freedom our hearts long for when sin shall no longer have any stronghold in our lives. This is only possible through the grace of the Living God who calls us to experience this freedom by entering into His courts where we shall be filled with the blessings of His house, His holy Temple. Let us continue to pray for the coming of His Kingdom amongst us. Amen!
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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Terence Kesavan on 14th Sep 2010.
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