INTRO
Two Hundred and Thirty Four years ago this day our founding fathers – and the great men and women of the 13 Colonies, declared loudly to King George their intention to live as a free people under the flag of a new nation – a nation rooted upon the Freedoms found in God through His Son Jesus Christ. And to them, we must say thank you – today we honor your struggle, service, and your dedication to God and your and pos-ter-ity.
And yet, their decision could not have come lightly. On November 29, 1775, Thomas Jefferson contended the British Parliament was a foreign legislature unlawfully extending its sovereignty into the colonies. He argued: “Believe me…there is not in the British Empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do. But, by the God that made me, I will cease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament proposes; and in this, I think I speak the sentiments of America.”
And so following, 217 days later, The Declaration of Independence was penned and signed. And contained within the Declaration is this warning to established governments and to its citizens: “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes…. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
But Jefferson and the other 55 signers – men such as George Washington, John Hancock, Jon and Samuel Adams, John Witherspoon, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Benjamin Franklin – and a host of unnamed men, women, and children – could no longer continue to pledge their allegiance to King George, the British Parliament, and the flag of Great Britain. For in Jefferson’s own words, he would have rather perished than to continue pledging his allegiance to a foreign power intruding into the freedoms granted to him by our God through His Son Jesus Christ.
And upon the birth of our nation, our founders cast off tyranny and sought to be established as a new shoot from the very top of an aged cedar tree; and as a tender sprig from its topmost shoots, our nation was planted in what the founders believed was a new Promised Land. For they believed upon these American shores God established this nation, so that in time it would produce branches and bear fruit, and become a splendid cedar. And in time, people of every kind would be established in it and find shelter in the shade of its branches. And in this tender sprig planted by God, our founders did not make a pledge of allegiance to King and country; but rather, to God, and to the republic in which we stand – one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
And yet, at this present time, our nation is pledging its allegiance away from God and towards a lifestyle established in the folly of human depravity. And to this, I believe we must be cautioned. For when we pledge our allegiance away from God – we place ourselves in danger of God executing His judgment upon us for our unfaithfulness, as happened to Israel in distant years past. And yet there is still hope; but before we look to the present hope, we must understand the past and our current dilemma. And as George Washington once stated, “We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience.” In the spirit of Washington, please turn in your Bibles to the Book of Ezekiel, chapter 17, and let us look back to derive a useful lesson from past errors. Ezekiel’s prophecy to the Kingdom of Judah is one we need to understand for our day and age –
GOD
Ezekiel 17
I would like to urge you this week to read Ezekiel 17 and 2 Chronicles 36:11-21 to understand the greater history of this morning’s scripture. However, please allow me to paint a quick historical picture for which Ezekiel’s prophecy is centered:
Because of Judah’s evil ways and turning away from the Lord, Yahweh God cast judgment upon Judah and sent them in Babylonian captivity under the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar. But a remnant remained with in Jerusalem, and through God, Nebuchadnezzar appointed a King to oversee the affairs of the Jews remaining in the land of Judah. Zedekiah was such a King as these
King Zedekiah had a duty and obligation, as God’s anointed King of Judah to lead his people into a future prosperity with God and His Holy Covenant. However, like Jehoiachin and Manasseh before him, Zedekiah did evil in sight of the Lord.
2 Chronicles 36:13 says that Zedekiah brought disgrace on God by breaking the oath of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah literally disavowed his “pledge of allegiance” – as is translated in the v. 18 of the NASB – that he had taken invoking God’s Divine name – Yahweh – to confirm his oath to the Lord and Nebuchadnezzar.
Zedekiah’s oath would have been like saying: “I pledge allegiance to the crown, and to the kingdom of Babylon for which it stands, and also one Judaic kingdom rooted in God, indivisible for the liberty and justice for all.”
But because Zedekiah broke his pledge of allegiance to God and Nebuchadnezzar, he was sent into Babylonian captivity, and the remnant of Judah that remained in Jerusalem was scattered.
This would be like our leaders today swearing upon the Bible and taking the Oath of Office, but wholly neglecting that oath and pursuing the passions of human depravity. And because of such, the nation falling into disarray.
e Do Not Take Oaths lightly
And yet, God’s Word tells us over-and-over that we should not take oaths lightly – that we should not flippantly pledge our allegiance without first understanding that to which we are making our oath. Listen to Jesus words as recorded in the Book of Matthew:
“…you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
But many today take oaths for that which they do not understand… or worse yet, pledges of allegiance are taken in vain – merely reciting words, as I deem Zedekiah did – in order to secure power and placate the masses.
As in the tradition of George Washington, our current President pledged his oath to the office of the President of the United States. Quoting from the Huffington Post: “[President] Obama used the Bible on which Abraham Lincoln took the presidential oath in 1861. Chief Justice John Roberts concluded the oath by adding, "So help you God?" And Obama, following a practice established by George Washington and followed by most presidents, replied: "So help me God."
But, did the President truly understand the significance of his pledge upon the Word of God, while also invoking the name of God in the conclusion of his oath? Or, did he merely recite the words flippantly? Whether we agree or not, the President of the United States – like the past kings of Judah and Israel – in swearing his allegiance to God through his oath of office, placed upon his shoulders a divine duty to lead our nation as man of God.
On this Fourth of July, we need – in the spirit of our Founding Fathers to ask ourselves: how is our current president presiding in his capacity as a man who pledged his allegiance to God and His Holy Word?
Consider these facts:
According to numerous online reports, in his first year of office, the President and his family attended Christian worship services only three times.
ABC news reported: “Keeping the faith in quiet moments of worship may be the best Obama can do given the realities of the presidency that make it nearly impossible to join a church without inflicting a heavy burden on taxpayers, fellow churchgoers and his own spiritual life, sources say.”
However, even thought we exist within a Postmodern, politically correct charged culture, we should not be content with those who claim to be Christian, but chose to habitually make excuses as to why the cannot worship God with a faith community. Our faith in America become should not be an inconvenience to the present realities of our lives. And I contend, we should not make excuses for those who evince a lack of devotion. For we are either devoted to God, or devoted to something other.
Is it no wonder then why our pews our so empty across our nation, when the spiritual conviction country’s leadership is in decay? Is it plausible that still in this day and age our Lord and God takes seriously those who make pledges and oaths in His name; while then flippantly ignoring their pledge of allegiance to God, His Word, and the Lamb which was slain for our freedoms? It was such a thing as this that Thomas Jefferson feared the most; listen to his words: “God who gave us life, gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated, but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.”
Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb
And yet today, Jefferson’s fears are being realized as our nation’s pledge is under hot contention for the two very words which gave birth to our nation: under God. But this I know, before our nation had an official pledge of allegiance, our founding fathers pledged their allegiance to the Lamb of God who has secured our freedoms. For in the very words of Founder John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States: “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”
In the words of John Jay, we were established as a Christian nation, and God willing that is what we shall remain. But, I say unto you, we shall not remain as such unless we go back to our heritage and reaffirm our pledge of allegiance to the Lamb of God.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus asked Peter – “Who do the crowds say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God”…. Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me…. If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ”
Friends, like Peter, to be free inded, we must all make a pledge of allegiance to the Lamb by confessing Jesus Christ.
For many Lutherans, a faith-based pledge of allegiance to the Lamb is professed upon confirmation day. For many other Christians, other forms of public confession are recited. But no matter how we call it, when we confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, and that only through Him can we be free, we do in essence declare publically our pledge of allegiance to the Lamb.
WRAPPING IT UP
My good friends, our nation is going the way of Judah; and our leaders are leading us away from our Christian heritiage – a covenant, a faith-based pledge, and an oath sealed in the power of the Holy Spirit to our founding fathers upon the birth of this great nation. And yet, if we as a nation continue to turn our backs from God – as the founders feared – our nation may be uprooted, and we may become a people scattered.
Our present hope can only be found by again pledging our allegiance to the Lamb of God. We must each contemplate our faith in God and our relationship with him, and say unto our friends and neighbors that we are not free men and women apart from God, but rather, that we are only truly in free in Jesus Christ. We must declare aloud that we can longer afford to pledge our allegiance away from God, but instead, return to hope and first pledge our allegiance to Him.
Let us conclude by hearing a few words of wisdom from another of our founding fathers, Noah Webster: “Let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers just men who will rule in the fear of God. . . . If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted . . . If our government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws.”
My friends, such a time has already past. Like our founding fathers before us, we have a duty and obligation to confess our national sins, return to God, and in the words of Benjamin Franklin, to daily pray for divine protection. Lest we prevail in prayer and returning to the Lord, I fear our nation will once again be sounding the battle cries of revolution – but this time, from within our very shores. On this Fourth of July, pledge again your allegiance to the Lamb, and then also to a firm resolve to one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Let us pray….
