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I love this country and I know you do too. And on this
weekend, if we never think of it on any other, our prayer is "God
bless America."
God HAS blessed America...especially as compared to other
civilizations this world has seen. Pericles built a civilization
on culture, and it failed. Caesar developed one based on power,
and it TOO failed. But those who founded our nation built on the
solid foundation of a trust in the abiding presence and power of
the Almighty.
Before the 41 men who survived the trip from England on the
Mayflower ever reached these shores, they affirmed their beliefs
in a Compact among themselves. When they landed at Plymouth,
their first act in this new land was to kneel in a prayer of
thanksgiving to the one who had protected them on their journey.
As time went on and the colonies grew, it became evident
that a nation was to evolve. A Continental Congress was called
to forge a Federal Republic out of thirteen unique sets of
interests. The debates were long and sometimes bitter, even to
the point where some would have been content to abandon the
dream. But others would not. Benjamin Franklin called on the
delegates to fall on their knees in prayer, and a new nation was
born...a nation that affirmed in the Declaration of Independence
"with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we
mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our
sacred honor."
The relationship between America and her Creator was made
plain for all to see from the beginning. The first coin minted
on these shores bore the likeness of Moses. Even today, our
money is still inscribed, "In God We Trust." In our pledge of
allegiance to the flag, we say, "One nation, under God." We
sing, "God bless America," and God has. God has indeed!
God has blessed us with abundant natural resources.
Practically every commodity that we desire and can make use of is
found in abundance. We have fertile lands for crops and
livestock. We have ample water. This nation has never known
famine. We go down under the earth into our mines and find every
mineral we could ever need.
If that were not enough, God has given us a feast for the
eyes. Just here in the Carolinas, we can enjoy the beauties of
the Atlantic seashore while just a few hours away are the glories
of the mountains. "America, America, God shed His grace on thee."
God has made this a land of opportunity. Edison was a poor
boy, but all the world today uses the 1100 inventions that were
born in his mind. He became an inventor because he lived in a
land where even a poor boy could have a chance. Henry Ford was a
simple mechanic, but he became the world's greatest industrialist
because America gave him his chance. Abraham Lincoln - from log
cabin to studies by firelight to the highest office in the land.
Our history is full of Horatio Alger stories. The land of
opportunity. America, America.
But God gave us even more. A half century ago, in his 1941
State of the Union address, Franklin Roosevelt enunciated what
every American has a right to expect. They were called the Four
Freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom from fear, freedom from
want, and freedom of worship. And if we are tempted to take them
for granted, and not to think of them as the magnificent gifts of
a gracious God, all we need do is count the other nations of this
world that enjoy the same things. Painfully few, painfully few.
Is it perfect? We know better. We look at those
magnificent natural resources with which God has blessed us and
see them despoiled and depleted - we are working to retore them,
but we have a long way to go. Our good government, this free
democracy, is SO free that it can grind to a halt in mean-spirited partisan politics. This so-called "Land of Opportunity"
offers more opportunity to some folks than to others. I recall a
conversation I had with a young friend of mine one day just
before July 4th a few years ago. He had asked me what I was
planning to preach on the Sunday just before the holiday, and I
told him that it would be something appropos to the celebration.
He responded by saying that he had never thought of the Fourth in
terms of much to celebrate. I did not pursue the matter because
I knew what he was saying. You see, he is black...and this
nation has never done for him what it has done for me. He does
not have nearly the reason to celebrate. No, this nation is not
perfect.
The list of our national woes could go on and on...but it
does not have to. As we read the Old Testament accounts of the
history of Israel, we find that they too were a people truly
blessed. But they also strayed and they paid the price. They
suffered the ravages of conquering armies and natural disasters.
God gave them a way back: II Chronicles - "If my people who are
called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn
from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will
forgive their sin and heal their land."(2)
America would do well to listen to that. The Psalmist says,
"Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord." We are a
pluralistic society with a variety of approaches to God, and
despite what we hear from some quarters, we are a better society
when that variety is constitutionally protected. But each of
those expressions have moral standards, and we will be a better
people when those shared standards are taken seriously.
In his 1961 Inaugural, President Kennedy challenged us to
"Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for
your country." Perhaps the BEST thing we can do is make that
personal commitment to lives lives that are pleasing to our Lord,
then demonstrating that commitment in the unselfish management of
our resources, the prayerful support of our leaders, and a loving
reaffirmation of the principles of "liberty and justice for all."
Then with a full heart, we can truly pray:
Amen!
1. Sir Walter Scott, "The Lay of the Last Minstrel," Canto VI, Stanza I 2. 7:14 3. Copyright 1938, 1939 by Irving Berlin renewed 1965, 1966. Copyright assigned to
Winthrop Rutherfurd, Jr., Anne Phipps Sidamon-Eristoff, and Theodore R. Jackson as Trustees
of the God Bless America Fund. International copyright secured. All rights reserved.
Who never to himself has said,
This is my own, my native land.(1)
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above.
From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans, white with foam,
God bless America, my home sweet home;
God bless America, my home sweet home.(3)
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