America: God Shed His Grace on Thee
On Dec.8, 1992, I stood in a crowded federal courtroom in Brooklyn with my right hand raised. To one side of me, stood a man from Trinidad, on the other, a woman from Guyana. The packed courtroom held people from all over the world - from Korea, Romania, Pakistan, and Zaire. Many of them wore their traditional garb - dashikis, saris, turbans, yarmulkes. All of us stood with our right hands raised.
.Judge Sterling Johnson commanded that the bailiff administer the oath of naturalization to the assembled throng. Facing the American flag, we repeated these words:
I hereby declare on oath that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;
That I will support and defend the constitution and the laws of the United States of America against all enemies foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;
That I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, so help me God.
The experience of taking the oath of citizenship made me realize what a tremendous privilege and responsibility is ours as citizens of this great country. Judge Johnson, in his remarks to us that day, reminded us that many people had given their lives to make it possible for us to stand in that courtroom and take that oath. Indeed, he said, there are millions of people around the world who would give anything to stand where we were standing that day.
For America, in the eyes of the rest of the world, is a shining city upon a hill. It is a land of freedom and opportunity. So we must never take for granted our privileges or neglect our duty as American citizens. But there is something more for an American who is also a follower of Jesus Christ.
Our duty as Christians living in America is doubly important. We can have a direct impact on the future of America that is out of all proportion to our numbers in the population. We can be like the rudder on a ship. The rudder is a relatively small part of a ship. But the way the rudder goes determines the way the ship goes. Let me explain to you how we, as Christians, can have this kind of impact on our nation.
This week marks the passage of power in America. The people have spoken. In November, they made their choice, and now it is time for a new President to take over the reins of leadership. At noon this Wednesday, President-elect Bill Clinton will take the oath of office, and that awesome mantle of power will be placed upon his shoulders.
Already, he is showing signs of faltering under the weight of that burden. Many of his promises, so easily and optimistically made during the election campaign, are beginning to fizzle. He has had to backtrack on lowering the deficit; on providing a viable national health care system; on reducing the size of the White House staff; on US Immigration policy toward Haitian refugees, and a whole host of other issues that haven’t even come to light yet.
He campaigned as a staunch supporter of the public school system, yet when he arrived in Washington, he enrolled his daughter in a private one. He claimed that he would be able to break up the gridlock with Congress, but shows no evidence of pulling that off anytime soon. He campaigned as the candidate of change, yet everything points to his administration being just the same old politics as usual.
Some of his Cabinet appointees, such as his Commerce Secretary and his Attorney General have shown embarrassing lack of judgment, before they have even taken office.
We are looking at a President who is already in trouble, even before he is inaugurated. He is rapidly using up whatever favorable political capital he had with the American electorate. Even the media, which treated him so kindly during the election campaign, is beginning to turn against him. I believe that you will see a wave of cynicism and disillusionment sweep across this country in the coming year as President Clinton proves unable to deliver on his campaign promises for positive change.
So what does that have to do with our duty as Christian citizens? Just this - There are three important Biblical principles for national leadership that we need to get hold of and hang onto over the next four years. These principles have shown themselves to be true down through history, and they will continue to be true in the future.
And the degree to which we hang onto them and apply them will have significant bearing on the course of our nation. So in that sense, we can be the agents of change over the next four years, not Bill Clinton. Let’s look at those principles:
1. God honors the nation whose leaders honor Him
Turn to 2 Kings 18…
In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)
Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.
What was the secret of Hezekiah’s success? He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He sought to honor God in everything he did. And that desire extended from his own personal life to his public policy as ruler of the nation. So God honored him, and blessed the nation Israel because of Hezekiah.
Throughout the Old Testament, whenever Israel had a king who honored the Lord, the country prospered. But whenever an evil king came to the throne, the nation suffered.
Now you may be saying, “Well, that’s Israel. They’re a special case.” Well let’s not jump too quickly to that conclusion. If you look down through history at other nations, you will find the same principle at work.
Look at the history of the United States. The founding fathers of this nation, by and large, were men who sought to honor God in everything they did. They had a profound sense of God’s authority in their lives, and that’s what gave them their keen sense of appreciation for the dignity of man, and for his right to freedom and justice.
For example, in 1787, when the Constitutional Convention was in danger of adjourning in failure, 81 year old Benjamin Franklin stood up and reminded the delegates “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that do build. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? I therefore move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business.” That was the decisive turning point in the Convention.
The ideals upon which America was founded, and which are incorporated in its founding documents, are ideals which come from Scripture. That is why God blessed America. God honored a nation whose leaders honored Him.
What about Bill Clinton? Is he a leader who will honor the Lord? I don’t know. On the positive side of the question, I know that Bill Clinton is a member of a Southern Baptist Church. I have seen him coming out of church on a Sunday morning with a Bible in his hand. But I’m not sure whether that is a spiritual statement or a social statement.
On the negative side of the question, I know that Bill Clinton has espoused ideas that go absolutely contrary to the clear teaching of the Word of God. For example, in his first 100 days, he has promised to repeal several federal laws which limited the practice of abortion.
He will allow the use of federal funds to support family planning clinics which counsel and refer for abortions. He will allow the import of France’s RU 486 abortion pill. He will allow the use of fetal tissue, obtained from abortion clinics, to be used in federally-funded medical research. He will use federal tax money to support international organizations that promote abortion as a means of birth control. He is solidly pro-abortion, and as such, he has been endorsed by the National Organization for Women, and other radical feminist groups.
Bill Clinton has also aggressively embraced the gay community. He has adopted their political agenda, and values their support. He has promised to strike down the ban on homosexuals in the armed forces of the United States.
He favors legislation that discriminates against the traditional single-income, two-parent family, where the children are raised at home. He seems willing to define the word “family” in the most nebulous possible way. His wife Hillary has championed legislative efforts to expand the rights of children in such a way as to encourage them to get out from under the authority of their parents.
So in light of all of this, I find it hard to identify Bill Clinton as a man who will seriously seek to honor the Lord in the way he leads this nation. He may use Biblical terminology in his speeches, he may carry a Bible to church with him, but I would remind you that he is the first President in the history of this nation who has officially embraced such unbiblical positions as part of the platform on which he seeks to govern.
So I find it hard to see how God would honor America, and bless our nation, with that kind of leadership at the helm. But that is where the second principle comes in.
2. God can change the heart of a leader.
There are many examples of this happening in Scripture.
Nebuchadnezzar was a haughty Babylonian king. His empire was the greatest that the world had ever seen. His capital was resplendent with the hanging gardens of Babylon and great buildings which can still be seen today. Yet Nebuchadnezzar was a proud man - so proud, in fact, that he commanded his subjects to worship him.
Then God stepped in and dealt with Nebuchadnezzar. He was struck down and became insane for seven years. We read in Daniel chapter 4 that he became like an animal, and his hair grew long, and his fingernails became like the claws of a bird.
But at the end of the seven years, his sanity was restored to him. Listen to what he says at that point…
Daniel 4:34 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before.
Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
God can change the heart of a king!
The worst king that Judah ever had was also the one who had the longest reign. His name was Manasseh, and he ruled for 55 years. You can read about him in 2 Chronicles 33.
For most of his reign, Manasseh did evil in the sight of the Lord. And predictably, conditions in his kingdom went from bad to worse. The Assyrians invaded and captured him. They led him back to Assyria with a hook in his nose and shackles on his arms and legs. Like Nebuchadnezzar, he was humiliated.
2 Chronicles 33:12 In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.
And his personal change of heart led to a new political agenda…
2 Chronicles 33:15 He got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the temple of the Lord, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem; and he threw them out of the city. Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, and told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel.
God can change the heart of the king!
We have seen the same thing happen before our very eyes. Just a few years ago, the leadership of the Soviet Union was adamantly against Christianity. Spirituality of any form was officially persecuted. The Communist Party prided itself on its atheism.
So what has happened in the last two or three years? The Communist Party has collapsed. The Soviet Union has broken apart at the seams. And a pent-up hunger for spiritual truth has swept over that part of the world to an extent never dreamed possible.
Now the leaders of those nations welcome Christians with open arms. Billy Graham conducts evangelistic crusades in Karl Marx Stadium. The Red Army chorus sings Gospel hymns. Christian leaders meet with KGB generals for prayer meetings in the headquarters of the KGB on Drezhinsky Prospekt. City buses cruise through Red Square with Christian posters on their sides. The Bible is welcomed into the classrooms of the public school system.
God can change the heart of kings and leaders, Prime Ministers and Presidents. He did it before and He can do it today!
Turn to Proverbs 21:1…
Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.
God can change a leader’s heart just as easily as a child can change a water-channel he has dug in the sand at the beach. It is not a big task for him to do. But whether He does it or not depends largely upon the third principle relating to national leadership:
3. God has commanded His people to pray for their leaders.
2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
There is a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the prayers of God’s people and the health of their land.
1 Timothy 2:1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
I would remind you that when Paul wrote those words the Emperor of Rome was a man named Nero, a man who took live Christians, doused them in oil, and used them as human torches to light his evening garden parties.
Thirty-two years ago this Wednesday, a bright young President stood on the steps of the Capitol Building at the beginning of his administration and uttered those unforgettable words “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
What can we, as Christian citizens, most effectively do for our country on the eve of a new Administration? Pray. Pray for our nation, and pray faithfully for our new President. Whatever we think of his ideas and his policies, we owe him no less.
Let us pray that as the opinion-makers and seekers of influence in Washington begin to work on Bill Clinton’s head, God would begin to work on his heart. Let us pray that our new President would not just carry a Bible, but open the Bible, and seek wisdom and guidance from it. Let us pray that his thinking, his attitudes, and ultimately his policies would be molded and shaped by the Eternal Word of God.
Think of the implications if God were to answer our prayers! Think what would happen if Bill Clinton were to stand up in a press conference one day and say “I can no longer support the positions I once did, because God has shown me that I was wrong.” Think of the witness that would be!
Just wishful thinking? A pipe dream, perhaps? Try telling that to the Christians in the Soviet Union who suffered for years under the Communists, but prayed faithfully for their leaders nonetheless. Try telling them that God doesn’t answer prayer, or that there are certain things that God cannot do!
We Christians have had it too easy here in America for too long. We’ve gotten spiritually soft. That’s why we are so quick to complain when things no longer seem to be going our way. We wring our hands in despair instead of folding our hands in prayer.
The next four years are going to reveal a lot about the character of our new President. But they will reveal even more about the character of the church in America.