Freedom is what we’ll celebrate with parades and fireworks this July. Freedom is what makes this Nation so unique. Our freedom of religion allows us to gather and worship without fear of reprisal unlike so may other countries.
We all remember Thomas Jefferson’s lines describing our “inalienable right” to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.
Despite the imperfections and foibles of our political system, I still love my country.
When I go out to the ball park I put my hand over my heart or take off my hat as the national anthem is sung.
I love the flag which flies over our land. I’m not ashamed of it. I find no reason for removing it from public places because it might offend someone from another country.
I love America, and I believe as the early Puritans and past Presidents said, “America is a shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere.”
Over two-hundred and fifty years ago, at the onset of the First Great Awakening, a time of remarkable spiritual revival in America, Edwards preached a sermon from Matthew 5:14 to his congregation in Northampton, Massachusetts, entitled, “A City on a Hill.”
In that sermon, he describes the marks of a church that is a city on a hill. I think those same marks would determine if we as a nation are also a city on a hill.
Edwards identifies three marks of a city on a hill:
1. A church is a city on a hill if it has a distinct faith. In spite of those who would suggest otherwise we as a nation have very distinct leanings in terms of our Christian faith.
2. A church is a city on a hill if God has done something distinct in it. Here Edwards is asking whether God has been at work in an unusual way within the life of the church/or nation. Is there evidence of God’s hand of blessing in the life of the church? Wouldn’t you say that throughout the years we as a nation have been blessed.
3. A church is a city on a hill if it, or any of its members, has a distinct influence on others. “A professing society,” writes Edwards, “is sometimes a city set on a hill on that account, by reason of the great and extensive influence that they have, or what is seen in them or heard of them has, on others” (p. 544). In a word: impact.
Has our nation had a significant impact on others? I believe so. We have stood at the forefront for freedom. We have fought and thousands have died in their fight for freedom. We have been at the forefront of the war of terrorism while others have watched.
But I am also reminded by John Winthrop aboard the Arbella in 1630 said, “if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, .. and we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.”
You see, it has often been said that nations follow a cycle. They go from:
bondage to spiritual faith;
from spiritual faith to great courage;
from courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
from abundance to selfishness;
from selfishness to complacency;
from complacency to apathy;
from apathy to dependency;
from dependency back to bondage.
I hope I never live to see our nation in bondage. I hope my kids or grandkids never live under the rule of another country.
Likewise, I think about our church. Are we having an impact on our nation and community?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor who was incarcerated during WWII Germany. He insisted, “Those who are baptized no longer belong to the world, no longer serve the world, and are no longer subject to it. They belong to Christ alone, and relate to the world only through Christ.”
While he lost his life a few months before the war ended, Bonhoeffer continues to have a great impact on believers everywhere. I would challenge you to read some of his works.
Throughout the month of July we will be looking at our church’s impact. Are we living as salt and light in our community? Are we turning our world upside down? Are we sharing our faith story with an unbelieving generation?
I am not ashamed to be called an American. Above all, I am not ashamed to be called a Christian. I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power to transform broken lives and make them new.
Again, remember the words of Jesus who said, “You are the light of the world. A cit that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Let you light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.”
