May 5, 2017 - A Tribute to Cinco de Mayo

A Tribute to Cinco de Mayo

Today in Mexico, and in the USA, many will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo.  Some think it is Mexican Independence Day, but it is not.  Cinco de Mayo is one of the final battles in a long history of America’s independence from Europe.  In a bigger sense, it is man learning what freedom really is.

The Mexican independence movement began in 1810 as a reaction to Napoleon’s conquest of Spain.  Latin Americans had been observing the independence movements in the British colonies, now the United States, and in Haiti.  The age of absolute monarchs was ending.  Mexico gained full independence from Spain in 1821, but suffered devastating independence movements in their own country, causing Mexico to lose Central America, Texas, and what is now the United States Southwest.  Briefly they lost the Yucatan. 

Battle of the Pari Mural, Santa Cruz

By 1861, Mexico was bankrupt and owed a tremendous amount of money to several European powers, especially France.  Benito Juarez suspended payments of loans, which caused an invasion.  France set up a puppet monarchy to be ruled by Maximilian 1, the younger brother of the Austrian Emperor.  Europe was not fully committed to the idea of democracy, but the Mexican people were.  On May 5, 1862, the Mexicans defeated a much larger and better equipped French army.  They monarchy did not end on that date, and actually lasted five years more, but it gave the Mexican people the pride and will to defeat the European invaders.

Bolivia is one of many colonies spread throughout the Americas that rebelled from Europe in this period.  It is worth noting that there was not one independent nation from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego in 1775, with the exception of a few native tribes.  One hundred years later, America was independent, with a few small exceptions in the Caribbean.  Even Canada had gained independence.

Battle of San Sebastian Hill, Cochabamba

Living here in Bolivia, I am learning much about the desire for independence.  It is a long struggle.  I’ve learned that Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill, and Yorktown are just a few places where men have been inspired by the idea of freedom.   Some events, like the Battle of the Pari in Santa Cruz and the Battle of San Sebastian Hill in Cochabamba, are just as inspiring.  The Battle of Puebla on Cinco de Mayo, is no less inspiring. 

We must, though, be vigilant about what that freedom means.  Paul said, “It is for freedom Christ has set you free.”  We are not meant to be bound by the law. That sounds a stretch, but that is exactly what is meant.  The verse, found in Galatians 5:1, completes the thought.  “Do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”

Breaking the laws of God, and of men, binds us as slaves to that law.  We are meant to be free.  God wants us to serve Him from a place of freedom.  He wants us to understand that He has freed us from the dominion, guilt, and damnation that the law demands.  It is not freedom to sin or to do as we wish.  That places us back under the yoke of slavery.  Peter said, in 1 Peter 2:16, “don’t use your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”  He wants us to be truly free.

America, both the United States, Mexico, and Bolivia, have chosen to live free, but are binding themselves to God’s Laws.  As they break these laws, individually and as nations, they discover they are not truly free.  Could you have ever imagined what has occurred in the United States over the last year?  That is because we have chosen to bind ourselves to God’s laws and the consequences of breaking those laws, with no repentance in sight.  Do you know anyone who really cares about the sin surrounding us?

I have failed.  I am a breaker of God’s laws, choosing to fall under the wrath of laws I am supposed to be freed from.  It seems repentance is a daily, even hourly, routine for me. 

I leave you with this thought.  Walk free, not letting those laws bind you again.  Be like those willing to die for freedom.  Make that your goal in life, rather than money or leisure.  Because it is for freedom, Christ has set us free.

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