07/04/2025
A Prayer Litany for Independence Day
Thank you Rev. Paul Gibson
Many of us will be celebrating the freedom of our nation today. As we celebrate our freedom, reflect on how God invites us to steward that freedom. Here is a short litany to start your day with prayer.
Our forebears wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident.”
Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” He says, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Our forebears wrote that “all men are created equal.”
Our scriptures say that “God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” They say that “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.”
Our forebears wrote that men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”
Our scriptures add, “But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.”'
Our forebears wrote that we have an unalienable right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
But, just after he says, “I came that they may have life and have abundantly,” Jesus says, “and I lay down my life for the sheep.” He teaches, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”
Our forebears wrote that “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Our scriptures say that “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us,” that “while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,” and, for that reason, that we are now “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
Let us pray.
God of love, of justice, and of truth,
in these times when love of country is being twisted toward a love of power for its own sake, remind us of your self-sacrificing love for all of creation; remind us that, although we were not founded as a Christian nation, each of us enjoys the freedom to love our neighbor as ourselves and to love our enemies with Christ-like love. Help us to reject the violent and untruthful rhetoric of Christian nationalism, and guide us by your values of humble service and respect for all persons; we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Redeemer. Amen.
May you each go into the world and your Independence Say celebrations as emissaries of peace and sacrificial love. Go in peace. You are the body of Christ in and for the sake of the world.
Thanks be to God (and we will!)
