We celebrate our independence as a country this
week. For us believers this is a special time as we remember the special truths
from the Scriptures that were the basis for our founding as a nation. Truths
like “we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.” And, “all
men are created equal;” and for certain, “that to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among men…by the consent of the governed.”
As Christians we know we have been set free from the
power and penalty of sin. Sin is the tyranny in our lives that must be rebelled
against, just as the colonists rebelled against the “taxation without
representation” of their British rulers. We know we are born in sin and that the
knowledge that each person in the new country that was America was also born in
sin bore a profound impact on our founders. If all men are fallen, then the
governments of all men are also fallen, for government is made up of men.
Therefore government can only rule by the consent of the governed; that the
authority to govern comes from God first because He created all men and gave
them their basic human rights. As the people give the government the right to
govern them for justice and fairness for all (for all are equal as God’s
creation) the government is to remain limited and subject to the people. And
when the government gets “too big for its britches” as my Dad used to say about
me, then the people rise up through elections, protests (remember that little
tea party that was held in Boston harbor?) and yes, if it is necessary, even
war to make government subject to the people again. But the people must also
remember that they are fallen and that the only way any of the grand experiment
that was America will work is that all will be subject to the grace of God. “God
shed His grace on thee” means we are none of us capable of ruling one another;
only God can rule and we are subject to Him first, then subject to one another
in humility and to our governments as they rule under the authority of God and
with the humility from knowing that government is limited just as each one of
us are limited. Only God is Sovereign.
We also know that the rights given to us by God are
for “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Note it is the pursuit of
happiness, not the guarantee of happiness, which has been granted as one of our
unalienable rights. Life came to us by God; liberty came to us by God; and
happiness will also come to us as we yield and subject ourselves to God.
When we pursue those things that are not in keeping
with God’s will we will never be happy, and yet we have convinced ourselves
that happiness is best found outside of God’s will. We think happiness is
getting to do what we want when we want the way we want, and then we wonder why
we’re not happy. But America is the best place in the world to pursue it when
our government remains limited and subject to the will of the people and when
people remain limited and subject to the will of God. Any other pursuit is
chasing after shadows.
Let freedom ring this holiday: freedom from the
power of sin, freedom from the tyranny of our poor choices, and freedom from
injustice. Let God govern our great nation through His truth which is surely
marching on inexorably to lead us to His great kingdom. If our lives fall apart
from our personal sin or from the sin of others as they make choices that
affect us, let us remember that we are in the best place in all the world to
start over. We “thank our lucky starts to be living here today.” If you find
yourself needing to start over, seek God’s grace that has shed upon us “from
sea to shining sea,” and you will find that hope and happiness are indeed
possible. With God, there is always hope. God bless you all, and God bless
America!
