From 1776 to the present day, July 4th has been celebrated
as the birth of American independence. It
is an unusual time in our country, which is to say that it is actually a
typical time in our country. If one
examines the history one quickly sees that we have had times of terrible
disease before, times of extreme division (even to the point of a bloody Civil
War), times of racial discrimination and injustice (experienced by Native Americans,
as well as those who came here from different lands with different ethnic and
religious backgrounds such as; Asian, Irish, Jewish, Polish, German, African,
Catholics, Muslims, etc.), and we have seen times of political turmoil and hatred
before even to the point of the assassination of some of our leaders.
We have also seen times of great prosperity, hope and
heroism. We have come together to defeat
the end ‘The War to end all Wars’ (How little did we know what was to come in
the near future). When the evil of the
next world war reared its destructive head we rallied again to defeat Nazism and
destructive Japanese imperialism (we also gave up on the idea of a ‘War to end all Wars’ and just gave that
one a number calling it the second one).
We have seen our country lead the world in many charitable and humanitarian
causes.
We are indeed not perfect. We are and have been since our
beginning in an up and down cycle of good, great, bad and horrible times;
sometimes it seems all in the same brief period. An up and down ride on a roller coaster may
be worth waiting in line to enjoy but as a way of life it can become quite
unsettling without a proper perspective.
In a few months we will have a presidential election. There
is no other country on the planet now or in history that exhibits the civil
transfer of power as does the United States of America. No matter how one votes,
this is and should always be a time of great celebration of our freedom and
unique strength as a nation. I hope every president finds a special and significant
place in the White House. I once read
that there is an unpainted section of the White House on the Truman Balcony. It
is exposed charred wood that was burned when the White House was occupied by
the British and burned during The War of 1812. History can be quite
interesting. This section was left exposed and unpainted as a reminder of that
occupation for three reasons that we should always remember as a nation and as
children of God.
As is often indicated in the Old Testament and in our lives today,
we are people of a short memory. We frequently need historical reminders of
God’s grace and providence in our Spiritual lives as well as in the life of our
nation. As we acknowledge another significant time in the life of our nation I
thought it would be appropriate to remember the three reasons for the exposed
charred wood on the Truman balcony.
First, it is a reminder of STRENGTH. The United States of America was strong enough to be
established as a free nation where people could live and worship freely. We had
the strength, as a fledgling group of colonies, to declare our independence from
the British Empire, one of the greatest powers in the world, and defeat that
great military power to win our declared freedom. This freedom gave us the strength to come back
from the British invading, taking and burning the capital on August 24, 1812.
We were strong enough to resist the British once again, regain the White House
and rebuild it. The White House remains
a symbol of strength today. We must never forget that strength comes from
freedom.
Second, the section of charred wood is a reminder of HUMILITY. We must always remember that
we can fall. We must never take our sovereignty or strength for granted. Pride can always lead to a fall. Humility comes from a Greek word describing a
stallion that is under the control of the bridal. Humility is not weakness but strength under
control. Strength without humility leads
to arrogance and recklessness which is almost always destructive. We have previously had foreigners invade and
burn our capital. We must never become too proud to think that we are above
failure and annihilation from outside forces or from division within.
Finally, there is always HOPE. No matter how dark the days may seem there is always hope
when men seek freedom. That is the
American dream. Even when the President
of the United States of America had to flee and run for his life as the White
House was invaded by a foreign power and burned there was hope for the future. All was not lost. The White House was regained and rebuilt. The country became stronger as a result. We must always have hope.
As a follower of Jesus I find eternal STRENGTH in Him as I can
do all things through Him (Philippians 4:13), I seek to follow His eternal
example of HUMILITY (Philippians 2:1-12) and I find my HOPE
for eternity through faith in Him (John 14:1-6). As we celebrate this 244th
anniversary of the birth of American independence I ask that you will join me
in praying that our elected leaders will find and follow that same trinity of Strength,
Humility and Hope.
