PLUS

Galatians 5:13 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

While officiating a promotion ceremony immediately in front of the Liberty Bell was meaningful (see the prior post), it was the backdrop of Independence Hall that made the location especially poignant. It was at this location that the founders crafted both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. With this location in the background, I led my friend in the following pledge:

“I (full name), having been appointed a Colonel in the United States Air Force, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

This oath of office is similar to those taken by various public servants in our nation, and is meaningful because of its focus. The oath is not to a leader, a military service, or even the Commander-in-Chief. Instead, it is an oath to the Bible-based concepts contained in our founding documents. It is an oath to commit one’s career and even one’s life to these concepts, and to invest one’s liberties to protect and defend them against all enemies – foreign and domestic.

There are plenty of enemies from which we need protecting. We face physical adversaries and moral adversaries, attacking from every direction. We need those who would commit themselves to defeating them. We need those who would rely upon the same source of strength as did our founders. PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD ENGAGE IN PROTECTING OUR FREEDOMS FROM ALL ADVERSARIES. As we do, we must plead the following – So help me God!

Leviticus 25:10 “And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.”

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to officiate the promotion ceremony of a friend and colleague to the rank of Colonel. The venue for the ceremony was spectacular – in front of the Liberty Bell and overlooking Independence Hall. It was the perfect location to reflect upon service and sacrifice.

What we now know as the Liberty Bell was commissioned by the legislature of the colony of Pennsylvania. It arrived in Philadelphia in August 1752, destined for the bell tower of the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall). Yet, the bell had an inauspicious start; its rim cracked shortly after arrival. Following its recasting to resolve this problem, the sound was deemed unsatisfactory and it was recast a second time. Only then, a year after its initial arrival, did it make its way to its home above the meeting place of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. These early problems with the bell’s structure foreshadowed its eventual iconic crack originating in the early 19^th Century.

The inscription around the top of the bell comes from Leviticus 25:10 – “PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND UNTO ALL THE INHABITANS THEREOF”. The bell, like this nation, reminds us that this proclamation is not possible in our own strength. Like the bell, we have our own structural shortcomings and our tone is at times unsatisfactory. Instead of recasting ourselves, however, we need to cast ourselves at the feet of the source of all liberty. Only then can we proclaim and demonstrate liberty by our words and our actions. Only then can we ring true as a nation that embraces God’s freely offered strength and the blessings contained therein.

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR NATION WOULD ONCE AGAIN RING ALOUD WITH THE SOUND OF GOD-GIVEN LIBERTY. We are a nation that, from its foundation, has contained fissures and fractures. Yet, these have not prevented us from proclaiming liberty because we have been held together by the One whose liberty proclamations are unbreakable. To Him, we must hold firm.

I Peter 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

President Washington closed his first inaugural address with the following:

“Having thus imported to you my sentiments, as they have been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I shall take my present leave; but not without resorting once more to the benign parent of the human race, in humble supplication that since he has been pleased to favour the American people, with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquility, and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form of Government, for the security of their Union, and the advancement of their happiness; so his divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures on which the success of this Government must depend.”

Washington’s final remarks in the nation’s first presidential inauguration were ones of humble supplication. He expressed appreciation to God for past blessings. He indicated dependence on God for future blessings. He accepted that their level of faithfulness to God would make the difference between future success and failure. Conspicuous divine blessings were the result of humble reliance upon Him.

Today, we lack a national spirit that yields humble supplication. Yet, in our age we should be no less appreciative to God for past blessings and no less dependent on God for future blessings. Our level of faithfulness to God will still make the difference between future success and failure. If we continue down our current path, then conspicuous divine blessings will be absent from our future.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A NATIONAL-LEVEL SPIRIT OF HUMBLE SUPPLICATION. For Washington, humble supplication was the right way to begin and end his first speech as the first president of the United States. Conspicuous divine blessings are the outcome to which we should aspire by following his model.

Deuteronomy 28:15 “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.”

In his inaugural address, President Washington went on with the following words of wisdom:

“I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my Country can inspire: since there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity: Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

Our first president, battle-hardened and politically-tested, understood the inseverable link between faithfulness and felicity. He recognized the tie between order and well-being. He clung to the connection between righteousness and welfare.

Washington rightly surmised that neither a person nor a nation could expect God’s blessings if they disregarded their responsibilities towards Him. Yet, we are somehow surprised when see our blessings fade away as quickly as we depart from God’s eternal rules of order and right.

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR NATION WOULD IMMEDIATELY REPENT FOR OUR DISREGARD OF GOD’S ETERNAL RULES. Nothing should motivate us more than once again seeing the propitious smiles of Heaven upon our land.

Joshua 4:21-24 “And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God forever.”

President Washington continued in his inauguration speech (see previous post) with the following:

“In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own; nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than either. No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. And in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their United Government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which most Governments have been established, without some return of pious gratitude along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me I trust in thinking, that there are none under the influence of which, the proceedings of a new and free Government can more auspiciously commence.”

Washington saw the uniqueness of the new nation. He couldn’t suppress the overwhelming thought that this nation was formed by the blessings of God. He saw the Lord’s hand in every step that advanced towards colonial independence, revolutionary victory and united government. To Washington, no people should have been more humbly appreciative or anticipative than the citizen’s of the newly-formed United States.

Washington saw the past blessings as an undeniable sign of future blessings. The past victory presaged future success. The new president wanted citizens to live in humble anticipation by looking back at what God had done, and to build upon His foundation with His help. He wanted the past to motivate and encourage them into the future.

This nation and its citizens have been given so much. No people should be more humbly appreciative or anticipative than citizens of the United States. The past should motivate and encourage us into the future. PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICANS WOULD ONCE AGAIN BUILD UPON THE FOUNDATION WE WERE SO BLESSED TO RECEIVE. No people should acknowledge God more than us.

NOTE: Please read this prior post for related thoughts: https://prayatlunch.us/minority-miracles/