July 3, 2016 Sermon - Independence Day

Isaiah 66:10-14 and Psalm 66:1-9 • Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16 • Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. So begins the declaration of independence, which is why we celebrate on the Fourth of July each year. That year of the declaration, the temperature reached a high of 76 degrees, almost ten degrees cooler than the temperature is supposed to be tomorrow. Global warming? No, the planet was just emerging from a mini ice age. This is a part of the course of events, as stated in this declaration, by Nature’s God. It was and is, natural. We hold these truths to be self-evident. Perhaps not seen by many, but for those who are willing to look, they are evident. Whether one agrees or not, scientists will go on about quantum physics, the universe and its inception and what is interesting to the unbiased observer is that they kiss the face of God and then back off. “There was a big bang.” Perhaps. I wasn’t there, neither were they. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” If it was a big bang, then God pulled the trigger. The order of the universe is self evident. It takes more energy, wrangling and mental-gymnastics seeking to prove otherwise. See and accept the evidence. That all men are created equal. Yes, we can go off on the fact that many of those writing this declaration were slave holders. Are we not equally morally challenged by the economic inequalities in our world? We wear cheap clothing made in sweat shops. We consume food and drink made by cheap labor at home and abroad. There is prejudice, bigotry and hatred around the world. There are the haves and the have nots, which is why we are committed to those ministries which help the ones in need. Behind all of this is the truth that each of us is created in the image of God and that He loves all whom He has created. Remember this in your next moment of prejudice. We are all infected with the disease of sin, it happens and will happen again. This person before you is one whom God loved enough to die on the cross for them. They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights. Yes, we have been endowed with rights from the Lord. Our life is His gift to us. We can live it as we will. But sin has come and in this age and so we live it for our own sakes. In so doing, we are divorced from the One who created us. Only when our lives are given back to Him do we find the true purpose and meaning of life as it was created to be lived. You have the right to life, commonly taken now even before birth with the excuse that the unborn child is not a creation of the Lord. Increasingly we are now plagued with the encouragement to take it on the other end to avoid life’s difficulties. But these ideas are the ideas of man. To understand the unalienable rights God endows, one simply needs to pursue the answer to this question, “What would happen if I let life run its natural course?;” by implication, allowing God’s will to be done. Among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. You have the right to life. Every image-bearer has this right. Every human being was created in the image of God. You have the right to life, but you do not have the right to take that life and dissipate it. Many will and do, but this is the course of sin. Life is to be lived, grown and nurtured. It is given freedom to do so. In our hyper-sensitive hovering culture, this does not mean a pampered, directed, or manipulated to certain outcome life. Outcome-based education often over-reaches and defies this very right which has been granted by God. Left unhindered, but properly nurtured, every life will reach the place God has intended. Some, one, others two and perhaps even a few with five times the ability, gifts and talents, but all according to God’s providence. Liberty is freedom with responsibility. Christ has made you free to be a responsible citizen of His kingdom. In this age of extreme individualism, we are not our own, as many like to think, but a part of the whole which God has created. He created us to be in community and in community we find our liberty. You were called to this community by God and only in His providence will you find His will for you. It is freedom from sin to be united through Christ with Him forever that brings true liberty. It is only then that you, or in fact anyone, can find happiness. In this sense, there is no guarantee other than what Christ has expressed. That is, this world is filled with heartache because of sin. Yet, as followers of Christ, we are to pursue what He promised. Did not Paul admonish us to run the race? Have we not been encouraged to seek the prize? Without the desire to pursue, there can be no forward movement. I find this principle to be true. If you want to see clearly God’s hand, then you must step out in faith, seeking to see accomplished what only God can do. Remember this as we begin to look at building a church building. If we build only what we envision, think we can afford or sustain, then it will be our work. If we trust the Lord and His leading, then we will see a miracle. No, it’s not looking for a big donor to give us what we think we need. It’s looking to the Lord and seeing His hand accomplish what only He can do. And do we not already have this simply by being here today? Go back ten, perhaps twenty years and who would have imagined sitting here today in these circumstances? God is at work. We are evidence of this! Trust the Lord and pursue. This is why Jesus sent the disciples out two by two. We are here today because of what Jesus taught His disciples. A man in Israel in the Roman Empire affected the whole world by sending His disciples out. An amazing principle God has taught us. Pursue! Enough of this once and done saved forever nonsense. Our life is a journey and we are not where we shall be. Heaven awaits, but is not yet, for the course of this life must be traveled. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whether a nation, a church, or a congregation, we establish these for the sake of good order and the ability to live out the self-evident rights given by God. We are here today because we would not consent to the governance issued by the authority that was over us. The rebellion was not in vane, nor without cause. Sin, perhaps, as some have supposed, but necessary all the more, for the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is always at stake when the influence of the world is allowed to take authority over the Word that has already been spoken. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the Word of the Lord is forever. We did not make up this Gospel, but it has been proclaimed by Christ that through Him alone can we be reconciled to the Eternal God who created all things. Nature’s God. Each generation is given those gifts which were passed along by the ones who carried it thus far in history, but without the vigilance of each succeeding generation, we are but one generation away from the tyranny that, thus far, has been kept at bay that we might pursue life and liberty within those rights granted by Almighty God. When I think of the events in the human history of nations, I personally find it reprehensible that the leader of our nation should chastise and lecture our parent nation in how they conduct their affairs. First, the very basis of our declaration is one of self-determination and second, it is nothing less that a flagrant pronouncement of the condescending nature of the cult of tolerance, wherein the self-proclaimed superior declares to the alleged inferior that they are not illumined with the understanding necessary to make such decisions. This, we know, Jesus rebuked them when He told James and John they were wrong on wanting to bring down fire from heaven. We are therein warned to refrain from worrying about other people’s business when we are unable to properly maintain our own. We are never granted authority to reprimand our parent, for does not God command that we honor them, even if they are wrong? Remember this principle. Jesus does not command us to produce results, only that we go in His name and proclaim the salvation He has won from the cross. Yes, you may be enamored by the power displayed, but Jesus tells the greater portion is in having your name written in the Book of Life. What has been established was with the shedding of blood and born at great cost. When the circumstances were most dire, as those in rebellion faced a superior enemy on the coldest days of the year, inferior in position, ill-clad and provisioned, yet with the now obvious blessing of God, their provision and outcome guaranteed by the One for whom there are no insurmountable odds. For no nation ever conceived can continue unless Almighty God, who establishes all authority allows such a nation to endure. We cannot hallow any ground, nor consecrate any establishment, but only honor those who have given what we now count as blessings. Be it a nation, or the eternal kingdom of Almighty God, whose access has been granted to all who believe, we are to cherish what has been granted us and all honor will be known by this simple truth, that what we pass along, worthy of all honor and praise, is the truth of God who has granted us the mysteries of faith in Christ Jesus. We are a people granted independence from sin, death and the devil to live in the liberty Christ grants by grace in order to work in His Kingdom forever. We are commanded to care and share what He has given with as many as would receive it in order that they too might join in this age’s rebellion against the tyranny of sin. If we do not join together in the fight, then one by one, we shall fall prey to sin’s grip of death. But if we cling to the hope of glory in Christ whose outcome is already assured, we shall overcome and join with those who have gone before having finished their course in faith, having fought the good fight of faith, thereby receiving the gift assured by the Holy Spirit of eternal life with Christ. Join with me in the pledge to this cause to which you have been called that regardless the circumstances, or the odds against us, together we shall go forth to all the ends of the earth to proclaim that Christ is Lord of lords, King of kings and is gathering from every tribe, tongue, folk and nation those who are a part of the rebellion against the tyranny of this world. ad Dei gloriam. To God be the glory! Amen.