“Independence at 250: Living by the Spirit?” by the Rev. Dr. Don Wahlig, July 5^th, 2026, Year A / Proper 9 – Psalm 33:8-18  ¨  Galatians 5:1, 13-16, 22-25

THEME:  True freedom and lasting peace only come from living in the Spirit.

This Spring, Beth and I had the good fortune to see the musical “1776” at the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia. Have any of you see it? If so, then you know just how wonderful it is. It is the story of how the Declaration of Independence came to be. It makes the characters come alive, especially John Adams, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. It also gives color to the various delegations from other states, including my home state of Delaware.

We Delawareans are rightly proud of Caesar Rodney.  He rode 80 miles overnight in a thunderstorm to arrive in Philadelphia just in time to break a deadlocked vote and cast Delaware’s ballot in favor of Independence. But the character who most interested me was the Reverend John Witherspoon. Witherspoon was born in Scotland and ordained in the Church of Scotland.  In 1768, he was recruited to be the President of what is now Princeton University. There he taught courses in history and moral philosophy, which included politics. So, it was no surprise when he was elected to be a member of the New Jersey delegation to the Continental Congress. Nor was it a surprise when John Hancock appointed him chaplain of the Congress. 

Witherspoon arrived just in time to influence the debate on the resolution for Independence. When Congress hesitated to adopt it, Witherspoon famously declared that the American colonies were, in his words, "not only ripe for the measure, but in danger of rotting for the want of it."  Swayed by his strong advocacy, Congress passed the resolution to sever ties with England on July 2^nd, 1776. Two days later, on July 4^th, the Declaration of Independence was formally ratified. The Reverend John Witherspoon was the only active clergyman to sign it.

Many of you know this story. What you may not know is the critical role that John Witherspoon played in keeping the colonies united in the push for independence. It was a Herculean task. With the help of others, Witherspoon did it. He did it by emphasizing the same concern for our neighbors that Paul urges in his letter to the Galatians. A decade before Galatians was written, Paul founded a series of churches in what is now southern Turkey. Over the years, other evangelists worked in these Gentile congregations. Some of them distorted Paul’s teaching of the gospel. Jewish Christian evangelists who came in Paul’s wake insisted that Jesus was Israel’s Messiah. So, in their view, to enjoy the benefits of God’s salvation, Gentiles must become Jewish. That meant they would have to be circumcised and obey the Jewish law. Paul could not disagree more.

Paul is himself a circumcised Jew. In addition, he is a Pharisee, an expert in the Jewish Law. Before he came to faith in Christ, no one was more zealous than Paul when it came to obeying the Jewish Law. That is what drove him to persecute Christians in synagogues from Jerusalem to Damascus. When Christ converted him to faith, Paul was forced to rethink everything he thought he knew. He came to realize that the law was helpful in distinguishing right from wrong, but it was never intended to justify humanity in God’s eyes. Only faith in Christ could do that. So, Paul writes to the Galatians that everyone – Jews and Gentiles alike – are justified before God not by doing the works of the Law, but only by God’s grace through faith in Christ.  As Christians, they are no longer subject to the requirements of the law.   

They are now led by the Spirit. The Spirit enables believers to follow Christ’s love commandment, which is the fulfillment of all the requirements of the Law.  As Paul says, “Circumcision counts for nothing. Faith working through love is everything.” He knows this firsthand.  He is living this new life in Christ. He tells the Galatians, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” The distinctions of the old life are no longer important. As Paul puts it, “There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” 

To drive his point home, Paul gives the Galatians a picture of two diametrically opposed ways of living. The first is to live according to the flesh. Life in the flesh is all about self-indulgence. It is centered on the gratification of our own desires, without considering the well-being of others. The second way of life is to live according to the Spirit. Life in the Spirit is all about living with others, and for others. It is motivated and measured by God’s love for us in Christ. It is empowered and guided by God’s Holy Spirit. The fruit of life in the Spirit is obvious: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In a word, the hallmark of this new life that Paul wants for the Galatians is unity. 

Does living in the Spirit eliminate conflict? Absolutely not. Conflict is part and parcel of all human relationships. It is inevitable.  But for those living in the Spirit, conflict will be resolved in a way that keeps relationships intact. That is how the Spirit makes lasting unity possible. Few have ever understood the power of the Spirit to create unity better than John Witherspoon. This is clear from his preaching. He was both a prominent pastor and educator. His sermons carried great weight. They were distributed throughout the colonies and even across the ocean in Great Britain. 

In May 1776, Witherspoon preached what many regard as his most influential sermon. The title was “The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men.”  In this sermon, Witherspoon made the compelling case that true Christian faith and human rights are inseparable.  The new life in Christ that believers experience leads them to work for the well-being of all citizens. For Witherspoon, the formation of a centralized republic by and for the people was an exercise in loving our neighbor.  This is why he worked so diligently to unify the 13 colonies. What he called a "well planned confederacy among the states of America" would guarantee peace and public order for the new nation, as well as its prosperity. 

The strength of such a united confederation of colonies was dependent on its government and its people living in the Spirit. Only by living in the Spirit, would they care for the needs of others as if they were their own. The rest of the founders agreed with him. This is why Thomas Jefferson crafted the final sentence of the Declaration of Independence as he did.  It reads “We pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” All those who placed their signature below those words were promising to live not for themselves and their constituents alone, but for the well-being of all Americans. Ben Franklin, with his typical whit expressed this differently. He said, “We must all hang together, or most assuredly, we will all hang separately.”

250 years later, we Americans still seek unity. Our life experience has taught us that, as a nation, we are strongest when we are unified. We are unified when we are most faithful. In recent years, however, unity has been difficult to reach. So much so, that some on both ends of the political spectrum have become skeptical of the feasibility of our Democratic Republic. Commentators from all sides are quick to reasons for that. Most of them just blame the other side without considering the shortcomings of their own views. You and I look at this challenge to our democracy through the lens of Christian faith, the same way John Witherspoon did. We see clearly that our society lacks the fruit of the Spirit that Paul commends. In both public and private life, there is a shortage of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

Not surprisingly, there is a lack of unity. In Paul’s terms, we live too much in the flesh, and not enough in the Spirit. In other words, we are living too much for ourselves, and not enough for our neighbors. John Witherspoon would be quick to point out the remedy for that. He would urge us to reconsider our way of living. He would demand that we take seriously Christ’s call to embrace the well-being of all our neighbors, even those with whom we disagree.  This is the only reliable path to unity, and the peace and prosperity we crave.  And that is what Jesus wants for all of us.

So, as you are lighting off your remaining bottle rockets and Roman Candles and firecrackers tonight, let it be a reminder to reignite your passion for living for others, especially those with whom you disagree.

May it be so.