Does God care about human freedom? Can a man be saved in bondage? Now these are important questions. By way of an answer, I have an unusual Christmas story I would like to share with you.

It’s December 1776: The tattered remnants of George Washington’s Continental Army are camped in the open on the banks of the Delaware River. Where once they had been some 20,000 in number, bold and strong, now they are less than 6,000. Where once they had soundly defeated the British at Lexington and Concord, now they are a decimated band running for their lives across the frozen New Jersey landscape with the British in hot humiliating pursuit.

And now here they are, huddled around fires to keep from freezing, their rations are reduced to starvation subsistence, even living on tree bark. Their inadequate clothing is nothing more than filthy rags hanging on emaciated bodies. They are dejected and defeated, as beaten psychologically as they are physically. And yet, for all of us on this rag-tag group of men hangs all the hopes of the American Revolution. This is the army. They are all that stand between America and avowed British tyranny.

Consider, if you will, General Washington. At this time, he is about as burdened a man as ever lived. Many are calling for his resignation, even within the Continental Congress. Officers within his own command are openly murmuring against him, and positioning to replace him. Desertion[s] within the ranks of his army are rampant and daily. And here he stands on the banks of the Delaware with an army seemingly too weak to fight, feeling the weight – and carrying the blame of the American plight.

Meanwhile across the river in Trenton, safe and warm, are the Hessian mercenaries left by General Howe to hold Washington’s pitiful army at bay. He could have finished them at any time, but it is widely known that on December 31st the enlistments of Washington’s army will expire; the men will go home. The British see no need to attack and finish him off. Cold, starvation, desertion – it [they] will finish the fight for them. All the British and the Germans need [to] do is sit and watch while the American Revolution collapses upon itself, and the dream – that arrogant dream of America freedom – dies with it. I don’t need to tell you, this is a monumental historical moment.

At one of the lowest points, Thomas Paine comes into camp, talking and mingling with the soldiers. He is deeply moved by their plight, and sits down and, according to some, pens a pamphlet called “The American Crisis” on the head of a drum. These are some of those words he wrote at that critical time:

“These are the times that try men’s souls: the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country, but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered, yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: - tis dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as Freedom should not be highly rated.” (The American Crisis I, December 19, 1776)

These words cause a storm through America. To the credit of the man and the power of heaven that moved him, Washington was inspired by these words, and by the powers of Heaven. He did not lie down in defeat. He rose from his knees, gathered his ragged and beaten army, and in the face of a terrible howling blizzard crossed the Delaware on Christmas night, 1776. Several thousand men, cannon, and horses were ferried across the ice-choked black waters of the Delaware. From there, Washington marched his men 9 miles to Trenton leaving bloody footprints in the snow as he went – in weather literally so cold that men froze to death the moment they sat down. At dawn, Washington does the impossible with the incapable. He attacks Trenton and the unsuspecting Hessians, and captures the men and the city – and looses not a single man in the battle.

Inspired by that timely victory, the faltering fight for American freedom regains its momentum. Men reenlist, volunteers come, allies join, and the battle for freedom goes on to victory. Washington over the next few days captures Princeton and sufficient supplies to carry his men through the winter safely quartered at Morristown.

But oh, think about that moment! – when it would have been so easy to give up the fight and quit. Thank God for that man. Thank God for those men! Little did they know how much their sacrifice would change the course of human history, and change our lives. I tell you – with all of my soul, the cause of freedom is the cause of Christ. His birth signaled the opening of the prison doors. No man can be saved in bondage, political or spiritual. We must be free in heart and in person.

Praise be to God for an oft-forgotten Christmas gift given by humble men and women at great cost. Thanks be to God and Merry Christmas!