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Let Freedom Ring
If you’ve done much study of American history you know about
Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell. Known simply as the “State House Bell” when it
was first hung in 1753, it got its present name in the early 1800s, when
abolitionists dubbed it “The Liberty Bell” as a symbol of the anti-slavery
movement.
The Bell’s large crack appeared in 1846 as it was being rung in
celebration of George Washington’s birthday. Since that day, the mute
Liberty Bell, with its inscription from Leviticus 25:10: “Proclaim
liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof,” has
been on display as a symbol of freedom.
It was the inspiration for Martin Luther King’s stirring refrain, “Let
Freedom ring!” in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.”
When I think of the crack in the Liberty Bell, I find myself drawn to the
chorus of a song called “Anthem,” by Canadian poet and songwriter Leonard
Cohen. The chorus goes like this:
Ring the bells that still can ring.
Forget your perfect offering.
There’s a crack, a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in.
I love that word picture. The line, “Ring the bells that still can ring,”
reminds me that even though the Liberty Bell can itself no longer ring, its
spirit still fuels the cause of freedom. In a similar way, Jesus did not
leave us believers alone; he sent the Holy Spirit from the Father to inspire
and empower us in the cause of the gospel.
The line, “Forget your perfect offering,” reminds me that it is not our
good works and valiant efforts that save us, but God, whose love, grace and
truth are perfectly manifest in Jesus Christ and are freely ministered to us
by the Holy Spirit.
The line, “There’s a crack in everything,” brings comfort and
encouragement with the truth that we have no righteousness on our own or of
ourselves, so we can place all our trust and hope in Jesus Christ, who alone
is our righteousness.
And the final line, “That’s how the light gets in,” – Well, it brings me
such indescribable joy to be reminded that Jesus meets us precisely in our
darkest, most sinful places, and there shines his love and forgiveness and
righteousness with a glory that surpasses the sun, making us pure and clean
and beautiful and beloved in the presence of our heavenly Father.
With Cohen’s metaphor of a crack in everything, it’s only fitting that
the Liberty Bell should have such a large one. The light that shines in the
darkness, Jesus Christ, is the author of liberty, and it is his freedom to
be who he is for us that makes us free indeed!
I’m Joseph Tkach, speaking of LIFE.
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