INTRO.- We are blessed in America. Where else but in America can you do these things or experience these things:
- Only in America can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
- Only in America are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.
- Only in America do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries and a DIET coke.
- Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our junk in the garage. Hello!
We’ve got it made materially speaking in America and some of it doesn’t make much sense!
ILL.- A 75-year-old grandmother who had escaped from Hungary during the 1956 uprising was eagerly looking forward to acquiring her United States citizenship. Because she didn’t read or write English, her family translated all the history and civics material necessary for the test. She memorized it perfectly.
After she passed the oral portion of the test, the examiner asked for a sample of her writing skill. Greatly distressed, she admitted her weakness.
“Isn’t there anything you can write in English?” he asked. Her face brightened, and she wrote the one English sentence she had memorized: “Dear Milkman, please leave three bottles of milk today.” She passed.
How blessed are we in America?
ILL.- ILL.- Someone else said, “Suppose we could compress the population of earth into one town of 1,000 people. In this town there would be only 60 Americans. And yet we 60 Americans would receive half the income of the entire town. We would own 15 times as much per person as all our neighbors. We would eat 72% more than the maximum food requirement. Many of the 940 people would go to bed hungry.”
ILL.- The guest speaker had just returned from a tour with the Peace Corps. He was troubled about the apathy of American church members. On this particular night he was late to an Atlanta, GA, church. After the opening hymns had been sung he marched to the platform. He hadn’t changed clothes after ten hours of work on the farm. Clumps of mud and manure clung to his clothes and boots. The aroma filled the church. The people began to whisper. His sermon was short.
He said, “You act shocked as though I were a costumed clown. But you are wearing the costumes. Seventy-five percent of the world is dressed like me. Half of the world went to bed hungry tonight. You stuffed yourselves, fed the dog, and still threw away a good meal.”
Could it be that we have taken America for granted? Could it be that we have taken our blessings in America for granted?
Job 12:23 “He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them.”
Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.”
Psalm 72:17 “May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. All nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed.”
If America is blessed it’s because God has blessed her. And it’s not because we’re better than other peoples of the world. It’s simply because God is gracious!
PROP.- Let’s think again about what we have by living in America.
1- Freedom in America
2- Materialism in America
3- Peace in America
I. FREEDOM IN AMERICA
In America, we are pretty much free to do whatever we want. That is, within reason.
ILL.- MASSAPEQUA, N.Y., Jun. 7, 2007. A teenager drove to a crowded suburban mall, smashing through the entrance and cruising past clothing stores before exiting the car to deliver a speech to onlookers, police said. The 19-year-old man drove through the mall’s main glass doors at around 7 p.m., continued past a JC Penney, passed the mall’s central court, knocked over a kiosk and then made two left turns before exiting near a McDonald’s, Nassau County police said.
After breaking through the second set of doors at Westfield Sunrise mall, the driver exited the car and started giving a speech before being restrained by a passer-by until police got there, Officer Thomas Brussell said.
No one was seriously hurt by the car, although one onlooker suffered minor cuts to the foot after stepping on some of the broken glass. The rampage caused about $60,000 worth of damage, police said.
Brussell said he did not immediately have information on what could have driven the man to take a spin indoors. Charges were pending.
Does freedom in America mean that we have the right to break the laws and/or endanger people by doing whatever we want? No, of course, not.
ILL.- CEDAR CITY, Utah, Jun. 6, 2007. Speeding may not be in the Bible. But a Church of Christ minister says traffic laws are God’s laws and must be enforced. Police have received complaints about Alfred Pehl jumping in front of fast cars in his neighborhood, sticking brooms in their way and backing his own car in front of other drivers.
He denies the allegations but was ticketed this week for disorderly conduct. "We appreciate citizens getting involved in stuff, but they can’t take it to the extreme," Cedar City police Sgt. Jerry Womack. Pehl said people who complain about him and deny they are speeders are sinners.
Brothers and sisters, freedom in America does not mean that we have the right to take the law into our hands, even if we think we are doing right and this includes preachers.
ILL.- Recently as I was driving into the parking garage at St. Bernard’s I was talking on my cell to a preacher in MO. I told him that I found a couple of parking places, but the cars were parked off center, etc. so no one else could get in. He said to me, “Well, why don’t you just key their car?”
Now, he was just being funny and not serious, but some people would have considered doing that sort of thing out of spite. Freedom in America doesn’t mean that we have the right to infringe on the rights of others. We should be considerate of others.
Titus 3:1-2 “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.”
We are blessed with many freedoms here in America: freedom to drive our cars, freedom to work wherever we can get a job, freedom to come and go as we please, freedom to shop, freedom to buy things, freedom to worship, etc. THANK GOD FOR THIS FREEDOM, WHICH DOESN’T EXIST IN MANY COUNTRIES! We’re blessed!
II. MATERIALISM IN AMERICA
Job 36:31 “This is the way he governs the nations and provides food in abundance.”
God provides food in abundance. Where? Here in America. Have you counted how many restaurants that we have here in Jonesboro?
ILL.- I checked the yellow pages online and found that we have 149 restaurants in Jonesboro and occasionally, you will hear someone say something like, “Well, I wish we’d get a new restaurant in town because there is no good place to eat here." Oh, come on!
Only 149 restaurants! Poor us! And most of us have enough money to be able to eat at one them occasionally and perhaps several times a week.
Most of us remember the days when McDonald’s was just starting and you could buy hamburgers for 15 cents each. And we thought we were blessed back then! And we were! And we still are!
There are people who are starving to death in our world. And most of us Americans eat more food in one day than some people do in a whole week in certain parts of the world!
ILL.- Packs Padilla is a young preacher in the Philippines that I have been communicating with by email for a year or so. And yes, I’ve sent him some money occasionally, because he can certainly use it. The annual income of Filipinos is a little over one thousand dollars a year so $100 goes a long way with them. Most of us can’t live on $1000 a month, let alone a year.
One NEA heart doctor, Dr. Tagupa here in Jonesboro is from the Philippines and he told me that an American could move to the Philippines and live like a king on only $700 to $800 a month. He said you could have a nice house, AC, and even hire a maid. LET’S GO!
Brothers and sisters, we live very well here in America and don’t have to move clear across the world to live in abundance! We already have abundance here in America!
You name it and we’ve got it: food, houses, cars, luxuries, toys, trinkets, TV’s, movies, shopping, scenery, every sport or hobby imaginable, etc. We’ve got it all.
ILL.- I am sure that most of you remember the days (well, most of you) when we had only black and white TV and not much of that. We even thought the test pattern was a good show. We felt fortunate back then.
Now we have cable or satellite TV with hundreds of channels and can’t find anything that we want to watch! Do you think there is the slightest possibility that we might be spoiled?
ILL.- And we remember the days of the 4-55 air conditioner in our cars? What’s that? 4 windows down and 55 mph! Mom and dad’s first car was a 1947 Chevrolet. It was certainly not much by today’s standards but back then it was really something.
We’ve come a long way, baby, when it comes to cars! Today we probably wouldn’t even consider buying a car without air conditioning.
I remember when a four speed on the floor was a luxury. Now they make cars that you don’t even feel them shift gears. Essentially, they feel like a one-speed and they are ever so smooth! ARE WE GETTING SOFT OR WHAT? Maybe we wouldn’t have flabby arms if we had to shift gears again!
Why should we be reminded of these things? BECAUSE WE’VE BEEN BLESSED HERE IN AMERICA! And we need to be reminded of this, over and over. Materially speaking we’ve got it all. And we should be thankful to God for it.
Materialism is not good, however, in the sense that this is all some people think about.
ILL.- Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “A person will worship something, have no doubt about that. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.”
We need to be careful not to worship the gift instead of the Giver! We are blessed materially in America and only because of our gracious giving God!
Matt. 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matt. 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Matt. 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
III. PEACE IN AMERICA
I Tim. 2:1-4 “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. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
PRAY FOR THE RULERS THAT WE MAY LIVE PEACEFUL AND QUIET LIVES. Does this sound good? It sure does sound good and it is good. Being able to live peaceful and quiet lives is a blessing from God. Many people in our world don’t know what this is all about. However, sometimes and in some places in America we don’t have it.
ILL.- June 18-21, Monday to Thursday, Elaine and I went to Mechanicsville, VA, to visit the grandchildren and see the new baby Hayden. And what a sweet baby she is. For convenience, Elaine and I stayed at Holiday Inn Express, which was not far from my daughter’s house.
The Holiday Inn Express served a lovely breakfast every morning. Some of it was hot but most of it was a cold. They served breakfast from 6:30 to 9 a.m. And I was one of the first for breakfast every morning.
On Thursday morning I was sitting there, eating my hot biscuits and gravy, suddenly I heard all kinds of screaming and yelling. It was a woman’s voice and it was coming from the foyer area. I got up, as did several others in the breakfast area, and headed toward the foyer to see what was going on. The yelling was coming from the 2nd floor.
One older woman ran out the front door, saying, “He’s got a gun. Lock this place down!” THAT GOT EVERYONE’S ATTENTION.
The other guys who got up to see what was going on were construction workers from out of town. I said to the four of them who were big guys, “You guys go ahead and I’ll back you up.” Naturally, they were impressed that I would back them up. No, they just looked down at me and laughed.
I talked to the lady who was taking care of the breakfast to get some information. Apparently, there were two local women who stayed that night in the motel and they had men coming in all night long. Finally, one of the men, a black man stole the wallet belonging to one of the women. She saw him run off and chased him down the hallway, screaming and yelling bloody murder.
The lady who was taking care of the breakfast ran out the front lobby door to see if she could see him and she did. He was running down the street toward Wal-Mart. It wasn’t long before Sheriff’s cars were all over the place.
After things calmed down a bit I went to Wal-Mart to get a battery for my digital camera. And when I got to Wal-Mart, there were more Sheriff’s cars and I thought, “What’s going on here?”
Later, I found out that the man who stole the wallet from that woman ran to Wal-Mart and pulled a knife on someone and stole their car. I guess sometime later they finally caught him. They said he already had several warrants against him.
BOY, THAT WAS AN EXCITING BREAKFAST! And guess where Elaine was? In bed on the 5th floor of the motel. She missed out on the whole thing!
Brothers and sisters, we are blessed! Incidents like this don’t happen very often where we live. Oh I realize there is plenty of crime and corruption in America but for the most part we live peaceful and quiet lives! THANK GOD! We are blessed! There are plenty of people in our world who would love to trade places with us.
CONCLUSION---------------------------
ILL.- Preacher Warren Wiersbe said, "Look at others and be distressed. Look at yourself, and be depressed. Look to God, and you’ll be blessed.”
And Lord Byron is quoted as saying, “Come what may, I have been blessed.”
Who can say those words? We who have been born and raised in America. But more so, we who have been born again and raised in the church. COME WHAT MAY, I HAVE BEEN BLESSED.
