Remembering the God of Our Nation
Tuesday, July 6, 2010 Here is the sermon I preached on Independence Day. Several of the illustrations were left out due to time constraints but the full message is printed here.
Remembering the God of Our Nation
2 Chronicles 7:11-15
The United States of America is 234 years old today. That's a long time for a nation to remain free. But, when you look at our history in the context of world history America is just a CHILD among the nations. Egypt, China, Japan, Rome, Greece all make America's history seem so short.
Consider what a brief time we've really been here as a nation: When Thomas Jefferson died, Abraham Lincoln was a young man of 17. When Lincoln was assassinated, Woodrow Wilson was a boy of 8. By the time he died Ronald Reagan was a boy of 12. Reagan died only 4 years ago.
There you have it. The lives of four men can take you all the way back to the beginning of our country, 234 years ago. We are so young.
And yet we stand tall among all nations because of the principles on which we were established: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights that among these are Life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Thus begins the Declaration of Independence, which we celebrate today. Don’t let anyone fool you. Freedom ought to be and needs to be celebrated.
While the scripture from 2 Chronicles is about God blessing and dwelling in the OT temple that King Solomon built – it can also teach us about God dwelling and residing in America –and having blessed it. And with that blessing comes also a strong word of caution – even judgment if the people fail to keep God as God.
Let’s look at the scripture: 12 “Then one night the Lord appeared to Solomon and said, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place for making sacrifices.”
Note something – God can choose any place he wants to exhibit his presence and power. For years the Jews believed that God lived in the Templ, for his presence was powerfully visible there – They recognized also that he had been with them in the parting of the Red Sea, and the manna each day out in the wilderness, to mention just a few.
We Christians realize that God can be and is everywhere – and that there are times when he exhibits his presence and power, and blesses an event or people. We have seen it in history time after time. For Solomon it was at the Temple in Jerusalem. For our founding fathers it was in the Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia.
As we look at the founding of our nation it is easy to recognize God’s hand in it – directing the thoughts and actions of many in the 18th century to proceed with courage in developing the “Great Experiment” they called the Republic of the United States of America.
Take a look at this: In January of 2009 President Barak Obama was sworn into office. He chose to use Abraham Lincoln’s Bible from his first inauguration. An interesting thing – Lincoln had borrowed that Bible also. (All presidents have been sworn in using the Christian Bible.)
Before that -- Congress, declared 1983 to be the “Year of the Bible” — stating that the Bible, the Word of God, has made a unique contribution in shaping the US as a distinctive and blessed nation....Biblical teaching inspired concepts of civil government that are contained in our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the US (Public Law 97-280, Stat. 1211).
Before that -- Former Chief Justice Earl Warren, 1954, said, the history of our country and its documents/charter exhibit the same objective: “A Christian land governed by Christian principles...”
Before that -- Abraham Lincoln, April 30, 1863, appointed a National Fast Day and declared, “It is the duty of nations as well as men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God… to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history: that nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”.
Before that -- George Washington Oct 3, 1789, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly implore his protection and favor.”
Before that -- Mayflower Compact 1620 was a covenant written “in the presence of God,” “In the name of God,...by the Grace of God... undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith.”
But long before that Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.” We were blessed as a nation early on because we chose the Lord to be our God.
In the days of King Solomon, God came down to bless that nation. And in our history, some 234 plus years ago he came down to direct and bless ours. Let us never forget that. But we must also acknowledge that with such a blessing comes the responsibility to live faithfully as the people of that blessing.
French writer Alexis de Tocqueville, after visiting America in 1831, said: "I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!"
Faithfulness to God as the Almighty is the only foundation that can keep this nation from failure. When the Statue of Liberty was remodeled in 1984, it was discovered that the entire inside support system had to be replaced. The outside copper skin of the statue was okay; it only had to be cleaned. Rust and corrosion had ruined the inner iron supports. If repairs had not been made, the statue by now would have fallen over. The iron supports were replaced with stainless steel. Now it can withstand 125 mph winds and will last for hundreds of years. There’s a moral here. A nation without the inner supports of faithfulness to God and moral integrity is doomed to collapse also.
Note the warning God offers to Solomon: 13 “At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops, or send plagues among you.” God warns that he will punish the nation that fails to honor his blessing. Later in the text he speaks even more clearly. 19 “But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the decrees and commands I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, 20 then I will uproot the people from this land that I have given them.”
It would be very hard for anyone to deny that the moral structure of America hasn’t deteriorated over the past 30 years. We might debate the effect that will have on our future as a nation, but many will agree that it has deteriorated, as has our faithfulness to God.
General Omar Bradley was one of our most esteemed commanding generals – in WWII and Korea. He was also the advisor to presidents in the Vietnam War. He is quoted as having said, "America today is running on the momentum of a godly ancestry, and when that momentum runs down, God help America."
Bradley also said, "We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants."
I have a book sitting on my desk – written in 1986 – titled “The Rebirth of America”. It calls America today, a nation adrift. It gives evidence that the great American dream is turning into a nightmare. Its 257 pages are a prophetic outlook on a nation in decay. That was written 24 years ago. The cry is still the same today, only louder.
While that may be the case, it need not be our destiny. God’s conversation with Solomon continues with an incredible thread of hope. “14 But if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”
God is saying to Solomon, AND to every generation – including ours – that he is a God of forgiveness and restoration. All we need to do is humble ourselves, seek him, pray for forgiveness, and turn from our wicked ways. It is an incredible formula for awesome success! It’s time we try it - again!
Try this experiment when you get home today. Take a trash can lid and lay it on a healthy portion of your lawn. Leave it there for a week. Afterward, lift the lid and look under it. See the pale, sickly grass? See the roaches and worms nesting in the dark decay of the withered grass. That's what sin does to us- individually and as a nation!
Put the lid back down on the grass. Does the grass have the power to remove the lid all by itself? No. That's impossible. Let me suggest that we are like that grass. On our own we cannot lift the weight of a nation’s sin off of us. But with God, all things are possible.
Finish the experiment. Take the lid away. The bugs flee. The grass begins to receive sunshine and moisture. Its health is revived, restored. It is literally forgiven, let loose from bondage and decay. Forgiveness is just like that. What we can't fix, God fixes. God lets us loose from the folly of sin and frees us to new life! And that can lead to a revitalized nation.
I remember a story about a little boy who was out helping dad with the yard work. Dad asked him to pick up the rocks in a certain area of the yard. Dad looked over and saw him struggling to pull up a huge rock buried in the dirt. The little boy struggled and struggled while Dad watched. Finally, the boy gave up and said, "I can't do it." Dad asked, "Did you use all of your strength?" The little boy looked hurt and said, "Yes, sir. I used every ounce of strength I have."
The father smiled and said, "No you didn't son. You didn't use me to help." The father walked over and then the two of them pulled that big rock out of the dirt.
One of the great Biblical truths is that God invites us to partner with him in all our great adventures. America is one of the best adventures ever set in motion. But as with the little boy, we can’t make it move forward without the help of our heavenly Father.
So, on this Fourth of July – don’t just celebrate our freedoms of the day. Pray for our dependence upon our sovereign God for America’s tomorrow.
(I want to thank the folks at Esermons.com and SermonCentral.com for their illustrations used in today’s lesson.)
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