Patriotic Sermon July 5, 2009 Psalm 33: Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

Transcription

1 Patriotic Sermon July 5, 2009 Psalm 33:12-22 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. To many in America, today, just speaking the name of our nation and the name of God in the same sentence is offensive. This is especially true of that little phrase in the Pledge of Allegiance, one nation under God. What does it mean to be a nation under God? President Obama said recently in a speech in Turkey that America is not a Christian nation. While that is offensive to many it s probably true; at least more true today that it was in 1776, when so many of our nation s founders expressed their Christian faith in their writings. Numerous writers have done the research to uncover those Christian sentiments. One writer indicated that 52 of the 55 signers of the Declaration of Independence were orthodox committed Christians. The other three were deists, who looked to the Bible for divine truth and knowledge about a divine creator who intervened in history to direct America s destiny. I ll bet you didn t know that it was Congress that formed the American Bible Society and that one of the first acts of Congress was to purchase 20,000 copies of the Bible for the nation s citizens. Patrick Henry spoke his famous Give me liberty or give me death speech in In 1776 he wrote: It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faith have been afforded freedom of worship here. President John Adams wrote on July 4, 1821: The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: It connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity. William Holmes McGuffy, author of the McGuffy Reader Series, called by President Lincoln Schoolmaster of the Nation, did not hesitate to use Bible quotations and references to Scripture. He said, From no source have [I] drawn more conspicuously than from the sacred Scriptures. For all these extracts from the Bible I make no apology. James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution wrote, We have staked the whole future of our new nation not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments. One more: On the cap of the Washington Monument are the words Laus Deo Praise be to God! On the 12 th stairway landing is a plague containing a prayer by the city of Baltimore; on Page 1

2 the 20 th is a memorial by Chinese Christians; on the 24 th is a presentation of Sunday School Children from New York and Philidelphia quoting Prov. 10:7, Whoever heeds discipline shows the way tio life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. Luke 18:16, Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them of such is the kingdom of God. Whoever will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it, and Prov 22:6, Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not turn from it. From the top of the Washington monument one could see that the designer of the city, Pierre Charles l Enfant designed the city as to impose a perfect cross upon it with the White House to the north, the Jefferson Memorial to the south, the Capital to the east and the Lincoln Memorial t the west. I could go on and on. Of course you know that the writers and editors have written almost all such references to our nation s Christian foundation out of our nation s history books. If they could certain groups would remove the signature of God from our nation s Supreme Court building and other Federal buildings. It is inarguably true that most of our founding fathers were Christians. Of course that fact does not make us a Christian nation today. Just invoking the name of God, does make us a Christian nation. But I believe that is the reason our nation catapulted to such great success in every aspect in such a short period of time. Our text says Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. When a people make and keep God as their Lord, then it will also order their lives and their nation. When we make God our Lord, then we Christians can be the kind of patriots our nation needs. Is there such a thing as Christian patriotism? I think there is. First we must consider what is a true Christian. A Christian is one who believes in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin. He confesses that the Son of God was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and was born of the virgin Mary, was crucified on the cross and rose again from the dead. He confesses that he needs Jesus as his Savior because of his own unrighteousness. Hence a Christian can live in any nation, under any form of government (not that we would want to) but the Christian faith is not to be equated with being an American. King Solomon wrote, righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. Our righteousness before God and the civil righteousness that is needed for a nation to prosper is not the same thing. Our obedience to civil law, our efforts to defend the unborn, our service to our nation in the military or public office, and other good works do not make us righteous before God. Only the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us of all unrighteousness can make us righteous or holy before God. The best of citizens, even the ones that make the ultimate sacrifice for their countrymen, will not make it into God s hall of fame, unless they have confessed Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior. It is impossible to please God without faith. Page 2

3 True Christian patriotism is not necessarily the same thing as protesting the removal of the Ten Commandments from a courthouse. It is not necessarily the same thing as attending rallies or working on a campaign to elect the candidate that supports our Christian values. Don t get me wrong, I am not criticizing these activities at all. In fact, I encourage them as expressions of one s faith in Jesus Christ. A Ten Commandments display in the lobby of courthouse or a copy of the Ten Commandments in every classroom does not make people Christians. These serve to enforce a common sense of morality and decency, which is of course something that has been lost. We encourage morality and acts of civil righteousness in lives of citizens who are Christians and those who are not. The lives of great men and women in America have benefited generation after generation around the globe with their inventions and literature and art and discoveries in medicine and science. Men and women in uniform have endured great hardship and even death that so that we and others can be free and not live under the heavy fist of tyranny. Common every day citizens have gone to work to provide for their families, pay their taxes, and serve their neighbors. Moral men and women who are faithful to their spouses and children help to build a stable productive society. Morality has its own rewards. Acts of civil righteousness God does indeed bless. They are often referred to as Judeo-Christian values and are subjects of eulogies and commendations and patriotic hymns. But the writer of the Battle Hymn of the Republic got it right with the words, As [Christ] died to make men holy, let us live to make men free. We Christians serve our nation for the sake of the Kingdom of God and we serve the Kingdom of God for our nation s sake. Paul said, I urge then that prayers be made for kings and all those in authority that we may quiet and peaceful lives in all godliness and contentment. This is good and pleases God our Savior who wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. [what is that truth?] There is one God and one mediator between God and Man, the man Christ Jesus who gave Himself as a ransom for all men. Christ died and rose again that we might be set free from slavery to sin, death, and satan In no other nation in history have so many people been able to enjoy such a high standard of living as we enjoy in America. That is truly a great blessing and a great goal for any nation. How to achieve the goal of prosperity for all citizens can be the source of debate even among Christians. But Paul gives an even greater purpose for us as Christian citizens we pray for our leaders and nation that it may serve the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is, that kings or presidents, and others in authority would govern in such a way that there is peace in the land, yes so that we do not live in fear, but more - so that the Gospel can be freely preached and souls can be saved. Page 3

4 God s goal for mankind is not just that we enjoy great prosperity and opportunity to pursue our earthy dreams and goals; He wants that too, if indeed those dreams and goals are godly and if they serve our neighbor according to His will. Just look at all than mankind can achieve if he is free to do so: Go to the moon and beyond; eradicate disease; explore the oceans; literally move mountains with machines that are truly modern marvels, compute data at the speed of light. Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. In the 1636 Student Handbook of Princeton University, the number one rule was that students seeking entrance must know Latin and Greek so that they could study the Scriptures: Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life (Jn 17:3); and therefore to lay Jesus Christ as the only foundation for our children to follow the moral principles of the Ten Commandments. If I interpret this quotation correctly, it speaks to what is missing in America today the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as the foundation for morality and civil righteousness. Such Christian morality and good works were the fruit of faith in the lives of so many of our founding fathers and in subsequent generations. The purpose of government is to protect the lives and welfare of its people but it is also to create an atmosphere where the Church can prosper as it proclaims the name of Jesus Christ. That is why our forefather included Freedom of Religion as the First Amendment. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. One of the ancient prayers of the church is as follows: Almighty God, grant to Your Church Your Holy Spirit and the wisdom that comes down from above, that Your Word may not be bound but have free course and be preached to the joy and edification of Christ s holy people, that in steadfast love we may serve You, and in the confession of Your name, abide unto the end. That is why above all other reasons, we include our president, government and others government officials in prayers so that God s saving Word may not be bound by government of war or injustice but that it might have free course to create faith and good works in the hearts and lives of those who hear it. True Christian values include acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind, respect for life, respect for those in authority, good citizenship, moral decency, respect for marriage, obedience to the rule of law, honesty, compassion for those less fortunate, and Page 4

5 patriotism or love of God and family and nation these we invariable associate with religion. This truth is demonstrated by the fact that the greatest patriots in our nation s history have been Christian. May the Lord lead us to be such Christian patriots today. Page 5