In about an hour, I will visit my polling station and cast my votes in this Fall election along with millions of other Americans today. In that simple act, I help to make the laws under which we live. This election is so burdened with hope for change, isn’t it? We’re fed up with policies that serve special interest groups, done with politicians who seem to have forgotten who they represent. Many think that prosperity will return with transfer of power to a new party. I can say with assurance, Republicans and Tea Party activists are not America’s messiah! That is not an argument for the status quo. It is a recognition that America’s greater bankruptcy is spiritual!
Proudly we claim to be ‘one nation under God’ but we are not. God is not the center of life for the average American and despite our civic religion, He is not visible in our national policies. Let me ask you – how central to your life is He? Will the choices you make today, even the most mundane ones, be shaped by a desire to know and do the will of the Lord? Will Jesus’ prime commands: “Love God with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself” be the guides for what you think and do? Is Christ really “Lord of all”? If we cannot or will not live individually as people who walk humbly before God, how can we think that our nation will be godly?
America is a nation where cities are full of filthiness, where people are possessed by selfishness, whose systems are corrupt with injustice, whose policies exploit the poor and oppress the weak in this world. As you reflect on this disciple, can I ask that you go beyond the issues of gay rights or abortion on demand? It’s so easy to forget our own sins of greed and discrimination if we focus only on ‘them,’ whoever they are.
An oft-quoted passage of Scripture, a word of the Lord given to Solomon as he prayed for the nation of Israel, could not be more clear about the way to becoming a blessed nation. "If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people, and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I’ll be there ready for you: I’ll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health." (2 Chronicles 7:13-14, The Message) The way to blessings is humility, knowing that there is one God, and neither I nor you are Him!
So, I will vote today but my hope for tomorrow will be grounded in my prayer- first a prayer of humble repentance for myself, then a prayer for my nation. This CoffeeBreak is not the most eloquent I have written. It is a headline of the anguish I feel for my country. These words are choked out today from a heart that broken. I am hungry for spiritual renewal. Lord, let it begin with me!
_____________
You're the God of this city
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are
You're the light in this darkness
You're the hope to the hopeless
You're the peace to the restless
You are
There is no one like our God
There is no one like You God
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things have still to be done
In this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things have still to be done here
You're the Lord of creation
The Creator of all things
You're the King above all kings
You are
You're the strength in the weakness
You're the love to the broken
You're the joy in the sadness
You are
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things have still to be done
In this city
Where glory shines from hearts alive
With praise for You and love for You
In this city
Great things have yet to come
And greater things have still to be done
In this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things have still to be done here
There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God
There is no one like You God
There is no one like You God
God of This City
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1 comment:
When we sing this song in my congregration -- every single time --I can't sing it without getting choked up in the middle. Dear pastor you don't have to be eloquent. Just speaking the truth. That's what our nation so desperately needs. A colleague and I were just speaking about this topic at lunch today. And you are speaking TRUTH, it all starts with looking at me first. Thank you for your words today.
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