Psalm 33:12 – Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He chose for His inheritance.
2nd Chronicles 7:14 – If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him Who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.
This week I did a little mental review and calculated that God has allowed me to go outside of the United States and visit seven?count ?em SEVEN?different countries. I mean, I may not look like it?but I?m a world traveler! Here?s a quick review of my many journeys:
- In 1994 I went to Israel for ten days.
- On the way over we changed planes in Paris. They didn?t let us out of the airport?but I was at least on the ground NEAR that city of lights?so that counts as a visit to France.
- On the way back we stopped for fuel in Athens. The flight attendants wouldn?t let us leave the plane but they did open the doors so I saw Greece and breathed Greek air.
- In 1997 I made a one day visit to Canada as part of my last youth mission trip.
- In 2002 I went to Kenya with the first Redland mission team to go there?
- ?and on the way over we used our 16 hour layover in London to grab a quick train ride to the city where we took one of those double-decker bus tours.
- I?ve been to Mexico four times on mission trips.
As you can see, by stretching the definition of ?visit? a bit that brings my total to seven?so far!
And?whereas each of these trips was wonderful?including the people I met and the places I saw?well I have to say?it always felt great to be back in the good ole U.S. of A. There was a special feeling each time our plane touched down on American soil. And?this SPECIAL feeling wasn?t just the comfort of familiarity?it was much more than that. You see, one thing that visiting other countries shows is how blessed we are to live in, ?…the land of the free and the home of the brave.?
For example, in Israel pretty much every able-bodied man and woman is a reserve soldier in the army. Over there, instead of carrying briefcases, executives carry M-16s to work. It?s kind of unsettling but the constant threat of attack is part of every day life in the Holy Land. In spite of 911 our situation is no where near as bad as theirs.
In Kenya there are so many needs?that I don?t know where to begin. I mean, the infrastructure is in horrible shape. The nation is filled with refugees from surrounding nations, which makes unemployment unbelievably high. We complain about the unemployment rate here?but it is NOTHING compared to the joblessness in the rest of the world.
In Mexico we worked with very poor people who lived in small dirt-floored ?shed-homes? no bigger than the one where you store your lawn mower. And as it is in many countries, you can?t drink the water in Mexico?you have to keep your mouth shut when you shower and brush your teeth with bottled water. On one of the mission trips we ministered in a Mexican prison. I had been very ill the night before?because of the water and when we began to serve the prisoners a meal of tamales after our worship service, one of the inmates noticed I wasn?t eating and he asked me why. My translator told him the water had made me ill?and the prisoner turned to me and asked, ?If I visited your country?would your water make me sick?? I assured him that it wouldn?t and thought how blessed we are to live in a nation where we can quench our thirst from the faucet with no fear of disease, while giving our teeth a fluoride treatment at the same time!
I could go on?but suffice it to say that people in other countries suffer in so many ways that we don?t. We are SO blessed! For some reason, God has shed a special portion of His grace on this country of ours. Well?this awareness of God?s gracious bountiful provision is what inspired the writing of the second hymn in our summer study, America The Beautiful. If you turn to page 572 and look at the lower left hand corner then you?ll see that the author of these familiar words is Katherine Lee Bates?no relation to the actress! This week I learned that Mrs. Bates was a teacher. In fact, she was the head of the English department of Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She taught there for 45 years?and wrote 17 books. No one remembers her BOOKS though?instead she is remembered for the VERSES of this hymn?a great hymn of our faith that became popular during the difficult days of WWI. Here?s how she came to write it. In 1892 people in our nation were celebrating the 400th anniversary of Columbus? discovery of America and Mrs. Bates thought it would be a good time to write a patriotic poem. By the way, this particular 400th anniversary also inspired a pastor named Francis Bellamy to write the pledge of allegiance we said earlier. 1892 was a very patriotic year! Well, this anniversary was on Mrs. Bates? mind as she was traveling across the country on vacation. And while standing at the summit of Pike?s Peak in Colorado?a mountain that stands 14,000 feet above sea level, the words to this particular great hymn of faith, came to her. She explains, ?It was there, as I was looking out over the sea-like expanse of fertile country…spreading away so far under the ample skies, that the opening lines of this text formed themselves in my mind.? Here?s a picture of the kind of views you get from that peak. Imagine you are standing there in 1892?and listen as I read the first verse:
?O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties, above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea!?
I bet if we stood next to her on that day and saw what she saw?words like that would come in our minds as well. I say this because, whereas I?m NOT a poet and I know it?I?ve had similar feelings while driving through the Smokey Mountains…..or walking along the Pacific seashore….or biking in New Hampshire. The truth is you can stand anywhere in the U.S. and be inspired by examples of God?s blessings?and I?m not just talking about the breathtaking PHYSICAL beauty of our nation…I?m also referring to how BOUNTIFULLY we are blessed in almost EVERY way. Statisticians say we hold 6% of the world?s population?but 54% of it?s wealth. Ours is indeed a great country?which is one reason our eyes tear up when we see our flag and say the pledge of allegiance. It?s why we get choked up when we sing the national anthem. This is the reason we get that special feeling I mentioned earlier?the feeling that comes when we return here after traveling to other parts of the world. In 1863 President Lincoln declared a national Day of Prayer and Fasting. As part of his speech that day he confessed, ?We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown!?
And over the past 233 years America has been very generous in SHARING its God-given blessings with the world…sending humanitarian resources time and time again:
- … as we did when the Tsunami hit.
- …and when earthquakes have leveled other nations?even enemy nations.
- Time and time again we have sent our young men and women to defend other nations against aggressors.
- We?ve sent our youth to teach and build in 3rd world countries through programs like the Peace Corps.
- Groups like Doctors Without Borders have gone all over the world treating the sick.
- We?ve sent billions of dollars worth of food and medical supplies.
This excludes the countless humanitarian efforts of Christians who have built hospitals and schools?while sharing the life-changing good news of God?s greatest gift: Jesus. I mean, the people of America have been much more than RECIPIENTS of God?s grace?they have been DISPENSERS of it as well. So, this is indeed a wonderful nation…and we celebrate that fact every year with fireworks like we did yesterday…because we have so much to celebrate!
But those of us who are older?we know that things aren?t as good as they used to be in this country. We know that things have changed?and not in a good way.
I mean on patriotic weekends like this one, we are thankful for the courage and vision of our founding fathers?but at the same time as we look at how our country is doing right now, many of us can?t help but wonder what went wrong. At the risk of sounding too negative?let me list a few reasons an older person like myself would say this.
A. First, there was a time when the principles of the Christian Faith were honored and even revered all over America the beautiful even in the halls of government, but not anymore.
Did you know that a study of 15,000 items: newspaper articles, pamphlets, books, diaries, etc. all written by the founding fathers of the United States a careful study of all these documents shows that 94% of the quotes from these sources come directly from the Bible? Did you know that? And?did you know that most of the 55 authors and signers of the U. S. Constitution were not only Christians but active church members? This explains why it is so obvious that they set up our government with God?s Word as their guide. Here?s a few examples of what I?m talking about.
James Madison, our 4th president, author of the Bill of Rights, said,
?Religion is the basis and foundation of this government. We have staked the future of all our political institutions on the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, control ourselves, and sustain ourselves according to the ten commandments of God.?
John Adams, our second president once said,
?The destiny of America is to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to all men, everywhere.?
In 1811 James Kent, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ruled against a man who had used Jesus? name in vain. The man was put in prison for three months and fined $500. In his ruling Kent explained his judgement by saying,
?We are a Christian people and the morality of the country is deeply engrafted upon Christianity.?
In 1950, Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren?someone who was referred to as a liberal in his day?said,
?I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the Spirit of the Savior…have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses.
Whether we look to the first charter of Virginia…or to the charter of New England..or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay or to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut…the same objective is present: a Christian land governed by Christian principles. I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge of our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it.?
Now can you imagine supreme court justices and presidents saying things like this in OUR day and age? Whenever they do, more often than not they are ridiculed. I mean, no matter where you stand politically you have to admit that when it comes to our nation?s feelings about the Christian faith, things have changed. But?this isn?t the only change I?m talking about.
B. The family unit as we know it is declining as never before.
We once were the most-marrying country in the world but now we are the most-divorcing country. Plus?more and more states are ignoring the Bible?s clear teaching and moving to re-define marriage to include the union of two men…or two women. These days instead of shame?an entire month is set aside to encourage pride in those who embrace the gay lifestyle.
C. Here?s another change. Between 1960 and 1990, violent crime increased at more than ten times the rate of population growth.
In fact, we now lead the industrialized world in murder, rape, and violent crime. The Andy Griffith Show isn?t just make-believe because kids like Opey used to ride their bikes all over town without parental supervision?but not anymore. In my opinion one of the things that has contributed to the increase of crime is legalized gambling. I mean, think of it. These days something that used to be considered a vice is now looked on as a valid way to reduce the budget deficits of many states.
D. This leads me to mention a fourth change. The morals of our culture have definitely taken a turn downward.
If you doubt that then tune into TV LAND and view the shows that were popular in the ?50’s and 60’s. Take note of the virtues those shows embraced. Compare them to current popular shows and you?ll see that today people laugh at sitcoms full of perversions that used to make faces redden. And?speaking of morality?I?ve lost count of how many tens of millions of babies have been legally aborted. Not many decades ago to get an abortion was considered a shameful thing.
These days politicians proudly state that they are pro-choice. In my opinion a prayer delivered to the Kansas State Senate by Pastor Joe Wright summarizes all this tragic change. Pastor Wright prayed,
?Heavenly Father, We come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ?Woe to those who call evil good,? but that is exactly what we have done. We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it PLURALISM. We have worshiped other gods and called it MULTI-CULTURALISM.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE. We have exploited the poor and called it THE LOTTERY. We have killed our unborn and called it A CHOICE. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it BUILDING SELF ESTEEM. We have abused power and called it POLITICAL SAVVY. We have coveted our neighbor?s possessions and called it AMBITION. We have polluted the airwaves with profanity and called it FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it ENLIGHTENMENT….?
Paul Harvey reported that when Wright prayed this prayer several senators got up and walked out?but when Harvey shared it on his radio show, he got more requests for copies of the prayer than anything he had ever done. So there has been a definite change in the way we look at Christianity?morals have declined?crime has increased…
E. …but?by far the WORST change in our nation is that more and more people have forgotten the Source of American?s many blessings.
We have forgotten Who has MADE America beautiful. Lincoln once said something that is far more relevant today than it was in his time. He said,
?We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us. We have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. It behooves us to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.?
Perhaps Lincoln?s words were inspired by those of Moses? recorded in Deuteronomy 8. He said this to the Hebrew people,
?When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe His commands, His laws and His decrees.?
As early as 1949 LIFE magazine warned of this dangerous form of forgetfulness by saying,
?Communism is not the only threat to Western civilization and perhaps not the greatest threat. The greatest threat to our civilization comes from within that civilization itself. Our euphemism for it is ?secularism.? A much blunter word is ?Godlessness.? Our civilization for all its churches and all its church goers, is predominantly a secular, Godless civilization.?
And, of course, things have gotten much worse since 1949!
I won?t go any further?but I must say that I agree with something Ruth Graham once said, ?If God doesn?t bring judgment on America soon, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.? And, of course Mrs. Graham wasn?t telling God what to do?she was just pointing out that we deserve God?s judgement?and I would agree. Our country is sick?SIN-SICK?and instead of ranting further let me pose a question. What are we?what are you and I?to do about it? Well, in His Word, the Great Physician gives us a prescription for our nation?s ills. We read it earlier. Remember? In 2nd Chronicles 7:14 God said, ?If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.?
There are TWO things I want you to be sure and note in this verse but I have to warn you. If you think I?ve stepped on too many toes this morning?if you think I?ve already gone from preaching to meddling?then you are wrong because the first thing we see in this text is that when it comes to healing our land…when it comes to changing things…
(1) …God?s finger is pointed at US…NOT THEM.
Remember? God says, ?IF MY people…? not ?if those terrible congressmen.? God says, ?If MY people…? not those liberal neighbors. God says, ?IF MY people? ? and that?s you and me! As Peter reminds us WE are a ?…chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God…? So understand?God says that the people who need to do something about our national problems?specifically the people who need to humble themselves and repent in the U.S. is ?U? ?S? ? US!
You know, as we listen to the nightly BAD news?it is easy to sit in our lazy boys and hide behind the elusive ?they.? We nudge our wives and say, ?Look what ?they? are doing.? ?How can ?they? be so bad?? ?Why don?t ?they? do something about those problems. Where are ?their? morals?? Our conceited pretense is shattered, though, when we realize that the erosion of morality which permeates our society is happening in an America with a church on almost every corner. It has been rightly said that many businesses associated with sin and filth would have to shut down if Christians would stop patronizing them. George Barna says,?53% of those claiming to be Bible-believing, conservative Christians said there is no such thing as absolute truth.? He also says that only 6% to 10% of Christians live any different from the lost world around them. Chuck Colson says,?A majority of those who follow the One Who says, ?I am the truth,? profess not to believe in truth.? All this shows that John MacArthur is correct in saying,?The remedy to our nation?s moral and spiritual woes must begin at the house of God.? If we truly want to see God?s healing blessing on our society, WE ought to be models of genuine contrition and humility, rather than merely pointing fingers of blame at the evils of secular culture.
Healing change will come only when we as God?s people accept much of the responsibility for what has happened because America?s problem is not so much in our system as it is in us. We must humble ourselves and turn from our wicked ways. We must lead the way in SEEKING GOD?S FACE?remembering that God always STARTS healing revival with His people. It goes from the Christian to the church to the community to the county to the country and then to the continents. And let me just stop and ask, fellow Christian?fellow ?little Christ? are you willing for it to start with you? Are you willing to turn from sin and strive to live a Godly life?
Alexander the Great once found out that one of his soldiers that carried the name of ?Alexander? had proven to be a coward. He called the man to appear before him and told him to either live up to the name or change it. Fellow Christian…one who is called by God?s name…let?s live up to our name!
Listen?we?YOU AND ME?We are the salt…we are the light. We can?t expect people who don?t know Jesus to fix things. After all, they don?t have God?s Spirit living in them as we do.
The sad fact is the main reason America is where it is today is because we haven?t been doing our job. We who are called by God?s name, have not prayed long enough, have not followed Jesus closely enough, have not loved deeply enough, have not given sacrificially enough, and most of all?have not witnessed passionately enough?and if you hear nothing else I say here this: leading people to faith in Jesus is the ONLY way to REALLY change things in this land of ours. You see, so many times Christians who are concerned about the moral evils of society opt for the wrong remedies. We think that all that is needed to cure the spiritual malaise of our nation is some kind of federal legislation against abortion, sexual promiscuity, pornography and other forms of corruption. And don?t get me wrong?Christians should be involved in the political process. We should vote to make immoral, ungodly things like that illegal. We should vote for candidates who embrace Biblical convictions?but to rely ONLY on votes and petitions is treating the symptom not the disease itself. I mean, political remedies to our nation?s moral ills are not a real cure for the underlying spiritual problems. And of all people, Christians ought to know that. We should know that LIVES, not LAWS need to be transformed. As people who have experienced God?s grace, we should understand that a law cannot make people righteous. After all, Scripture is clear on this. Galatians 2:21, 16 says, ?If righteousness comes through the law, the Christ died in vain. No one is justified by works of law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.?
And saving, transforming faith is an individual matter. It cannot be imposed by legislative force. In other words, society as a whole?THEY?cannot be delivered from moral bankruptcy unless individual lives are redeemed and transformed by the power of Jesus. We must get it through our heads that leading people to JESUS is the best way to change this nation. Nations as a whole do not trust in God. But nations are made up of individuals and individuals CAN trust in God. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of this principle when he asked, ?Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away?? Then he answered his own question. He said, ?Here is why Israel has turned away…No ONE repents of his wickedness, saying ?What have I done?? Each pursues his own course like a horse charging into battle.?(Jeremiah 8:5-6) So nations repent and turn to God when individuals do. It follows then that if you want America to turn back to God and become a more Godly nation, then the best way to do this is to lead individuals to become more Godly. This leads me to mention the second principle of healing that God gives us in this text.
(2) Fixing our country will require more PRAYER than POLITICS.
As people called by God?s name?as Christians who understand God?s character and attributes?we must remember that while good government is a good thing to have, no government?no candidate or political ideology?is the hope of America. GOD IS. Only He can bring the healing we need so we need to pray to HIM for help. I imagine some of you agonized when the democrats got control of the Senate this week?basically giving them carte blanche. And I also imagine that some of you agonized a couple presidential terms ago when the Republicans did basically the same thing. I ?imagine? these things because I know we are a diverse church?and that?s a good thing. But, whichever political camp you lean toward I would remind you that God is not up for election. He is ONE Who is TRULY in charge. He made America beautiful and He is the only Being Who can keep it that way. Some people trust in government and turn to national leaders for help but we are different. As Psalms 20:7 says,?Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.?
So we need to PRAY to GOD. We need to rely on HIM more than the political process. We need His guidance. We need His grace. We need His insights. We need His power. We need to PRAY. And we need to do more that pray TO God?we need to pray FOR our governmental leaders?the authorities which, according to Romans 13, God has established. We need to pray for our senators and congressmen and president ESPECIALLY if we disagree with their politics.
Praying for our nation?s leaders helps us remember that they are human and need our prayers. Prayer will remind us that they?and especially our president?face decisions and pressures in life that we will never begin to understand. Be careful though. When you pray for people you?ll find yourself feeling more compassionate toward them..maybe even more sympathetic. You might even wind up voting for them!
In any case, if we are serious about wanting to heal our nation?s wounds, we NEED to pray. Someone once put it this way,?As the West goes?so goes the world. And as America goes, so goes the West. And as the church goes, so goes America. And as believers fast and pray, so goes the church.? Dr. Paul Cedar said,?Satan laughs at our failings and mocks our tryings, but he shakes when he sees the weakest saint of God on his knees.?
A careful study of history shows that when believers have followed this prescription in 2nd Chronicles?when they have humbled themselves and turned from their wicked ways?when they have sought GOD?s face in prayer?well, over and over again He HAS healed their lands.
Here are a few examples. Between 1904 and 1908 a revival broke out in Wales in the hearts and lives of the people of God?and God answered their prayers for change. In fact, the social impact of that revival was astounding. For a time, crime disappeared: no rapes, no robberies, no murders, no burglaries, no embezzlements?the judges had no cases to try. Billy Beacham writes,
?The District Consuls held emergency meetings to discuss what to do with the police, now that they were unemployed. Drunkenness was cut in half. The illegitimate birth rate dropped 44% in two counties within a year of the beginning of the revival so great was the impact of the movement.?
In 1959 Billy Graham held a crusade in Australia. 150,000 came to Sydney to hear him preach on the last night. Throughout that crusade more than 130,000 people came to faith in Christ. That?s almost 2% of the population. The Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show a drop in alcohol consumption, extra-marital births and crime statistics during that time. The effect of the Billy Graham tour of Australia still lingers today as its ripples are being felt across every sphere of Australian life. I?ve heard similar reports about other Graham crusades…revivals that God used to heal entire nations.
For the past 15 years a revival has been taking place in the communist nation of Cuba. Cuban evangelicals report that the church is exploding in growth because of the spiritual hunger of the people. Here?s an excerpt from an article in the latest issue of Christianity Today:
?At one highway checkpoint in the Cuban heartland, an evangelical leader received an unexpectedly positive reaction when the questioning officer discovered he was a pastor. The officer shared his appreciation for a group of pastors who delivered aid recently to the area heavily damaged by last fall?s hurricanes…which they did. After Cuba?s devastating hurricanes in 2008 local churches repaired the roofs of their non-Christian neighbors first before repairing the roofs of church members. This won evangelicals new respect?and opened the door for the gospel. It was another indication of how evangelism trumps politics.?
Cuba is a nation that God is healing?and the healing began with His people.
On patriotic weekends like this we think of the individuals who signed the declaration of independence. We admire their courage. They were tired of the way things were and wanted them to change. Well?are YOU tired of the way things are? Do you want our nation to change?to HEAL? If you do?then you?WE ALL?must make not a declaration of independence…but a declaration of dependence on God. We must humble ourselves andconfess our sins and ask for God?s help so I want us to close this patriotic service with a time of prayer.
I?m going to ask Ava to play our invitation hymn quietly as we each pray. Would you bow your heads? I encourage you to begin by praising God for the blessings of America. Thank Him for gracing us with such a wonderful country. Now?I want you to think about your own life. Review your faults and failures?and as you do confess those sins to God. And now…let?s pray for our nation…pray for it?s leaders…pray that God will ignite a revival in this church and other churches?one that will spread and begin the healing we need.
?Father God, Thank You for the grace You have shed on our land. We praise You for the breathtaking beauty of this nation. We thank You for the faith of our founding Fathers?faith that taught them the value of freedom and inspired their sacrifice?sacrifices that led to the freedoms we enjoy today. Most of all?we thank You for your Son?Jesus, Who died and rose again so that we can be truly free. Forgive us for our sins Father?and help us to turn from them. Empower us to live differently?help us to shine like stars in a world that needs the light of Your love. I ask that You will give each of us a burden for the lost. Make us passionate to share our faith. Begin a REVIVAL in us that will bring healing to our land. I ask this in Jesus? name?AMEN?
As we sing this week?s hymn once more, we invite any of you who wish?to make public decisions. Come forward and profess your faith in Jesus. Come and ask to join our church.Come and pray?but come as God leads.
BENEDICTION:
Let the PEACE OF CHRIST rule in your hearts
since as members of one body you were called to peace.
Let the WORD OF CHRIST dwell in you richly
and whatever you do…in word or in deed
Do it all in the NAME OF CHRIST giving thanks to God the Father
through Him.