A very happy 4th of July to you all. On this day, we celebrate our country’s birthday. The famous words of our Declaration of Independence still echo down through the 245 years of our country’s history, “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. In this opening paragraph of the Declaration, God the Creator and giver of such inalienable as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, is flagged as a chief actor in the birthing and future of this country
Most men and women of that era had a strong sense of God’s providential hand upon their lives and knew that the success of this great enterprise called the United States of America upon which they were embarking depended on this nation remaining under the umbrella of God’s providence and grace.
Wayne Lowe recently told me and others here at Holy Trinity about a free on-line course on Dante’s Divine Comedy offered by Hilldale College. It is a timeless classic written over three and a half centuries before our Declaration of Independence. One phrase in this amazing poem stuck with me, “Peace is God’s will;” What Dante is meaning is that living according to God’s will is key to finding peace… real peace… in this life. Similarly , for the 18th Century founders of our country, living under the will of God was key to finding “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Our
Transgression
I totally agree with our Founder’s worldview, and I imagine you as Christians do also, but as a nation we now have a new worldview known as Secular Humanism. We as a nation no longer know God; we no longer pursue God’s will, only our own. That is simply a fact of modern America.
OT Israel’s
(Judea’s) Transgression
In the millennium before Christ, the
Israelites had also moved away from God…
Let me share a story about the time Nancy and I travelled to southern
Israel to the ancient ruins of the city Be’er Sheva. This city dates to the
time of the Israel’s Judges and even before.
It was quiet inspiring to see the city gate where the Judges of Israel
would have presided. One of the excavated rooms had two alcoves in
the walls, which supposedly held symbols of their worship. Archeologists believe that one was for the
worship of Yahweh, the other for the worship of one of the Canaanite Gods, probably
Baal. Even at that early period of
Israel’s history, syncretism and the lure of paganism was present. How easy it is for us fallen human beings to be
lured away from God!
Ezekiel
By the time the Prophet Ezekiel comes on the
scene centuries later, Israel as a nation had largely abandoned God, even
turned against Him. Listen again to
God’s words to Ezekiel in this morning Old Testament reading:
“…
I send you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels, who have rebelled
against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very
day. 4Their descendants also are impudent and stubborn: …’ 5…whether they hear or refuse to
hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been
among them. 6… Be not afraid
of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious
house.” (Ezekiel 2:3-6, ESV)
In this passage, God calls Israel impudent; that is, they are no longer acknowledging or respecting His role as their creator and provider. He calls them a stubborn people, subservient only to their own wills and not His. God calls them rebellious because they no longer acknowledged God’s authority over their lives. And finally, God encourages Ezekiel not to be afraid of their words or dismayed at their critical looks, revealing that Israel at this point had not just abandoned God, they were disapproving and even hostile toward God. Are these not equally good words for us today? Do we not find ourselves in a society bent on subduing, marginalizing and even eliminating Christianity, the People of God, in our time?
So, on this 4th of July, God is
speaking to you and me through Ezekiel as surely as He was speaking to the
Israel some 2500 years ago. How do we respond?
Thomas Jefferson said, and I
paraphrase, Christianity is our government’s best friend because it is a religion
that deals with the heart. So, let us
continue to speak to the heart of America, sharing unconditional love, hope, and
divine purpose with those around us. Let
us do what Christians have always done, which is offer a way back to Father
from whom we have all strayed. That is
the mission of the Church; this is our calling as God’s People in our
time. God admonishes us through the words
of Ezekiel this morning, to “not be afraid of their words, nor dismayed at
their looks.” In other words, let us be bold
in doing what our Lord has called us to do, which, as St. Paul says in 2 Cor.4,
to proclaim the Gospel to those who are perishing.
Prayer
In closing, I invite you to join me in a
prayer for our beloved country, kneeling as you are able:
Almighty
God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech thee
that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do
thy will. Bless our land with honorable
industry, sound learning, and pure conduct. Save us from violence, discord, and
confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one
united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to
whom, in thy Name, we entrust the authority of government, that there may be
justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show
forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts
with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to
fail; all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Prayer 39, BCP-2019, p.657)
Rob Hartley, Sunday, July 4, 2021
