MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
TEXT: Luke 13:34; Acts 7:51-52
Friends, I stand before you torn by mixed emotions. On the one hand, I am deeply grateful to be an American. But at the same time I am disturbed & disappointed by the events of the past few weeks.
Most of you are very aware that my parents were missionaries in the border region of China & Tibet, & then in the Philippines where they spent 3 years as prisoners of the Japanese during WW2. You have heard me tell of some of their suffering as prisoners, & then of their rescue by 900 courageous men of the 1st Cavalry Division.
There is so much more that I could mention that makes me deeply grateful to be an American! And as I think of all those who have gone before to make it possible for us to rejoice in the freedoms that our forefathers envisioned, feelings of patriotism tend to flow rather freely.
And if you share my feelings, when we sing the "Star Spangled Banner," or hear a choir sing about America & the freedoms that we enjoy, we often want to stand up & salute or just do something to show that we're proud of our nation.
Sometimes we hear patriotic speeches which contain that ringing phrase, "I'm proud to be an American!" And we echo those sentiments, too. But think about it for a moment. Maybe what we ought to be saying is, "I'm grateful that I'm an American!"
You see, we could have been born in Bosnia or China or Pakistan. We could have found ourselves on the streets of some other nation this morning, wondering where our next meal is coming from, surrounded by squalor.
But here we are, in a nice air conditioned building, surrounded by beautiful people, in a loving church, in the great state of Oklahoma.
A. I am deeply grateful to be a citizen of the United States. And I trust that you are also.
ILL. A father was talking with his rather rebellious son one day & said, "Every person who lives in the United States is a privileged person." The boy answered, "I disagree." And the father replied, "That's the privilege."
We have the privilege to disagree. We have the privilege to speak our mind. We have freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, & the right of petition. We have freedom to hope & dream & pursue our dreams. We are free in so many ways whether we recognize it or not!
We have these rights because of what our forefathers have done. You & I didn't earn the privileges we enjoy. But I'm thankful for those who did earn them & passed them on to me - & for that I am truly grateful!
Yet it is obvious that there are many in our country today who do not treasure or honor the rights & privileges that our forefathers fought & died to secure.
ILL. During the 1800’s, Alexis de Toqueville, a famous French political philosopher, visited our nation seeking to uncover the secret of our greatness. He traveled from town to town, asking questions, examining every facet of our society, & then wrote his conclusions in his famous work, “Democracy in America.”
Dr. John McDowell, a Presbyterian minister, attributed the following statement to de Toqueville. While proof is lacking that de Toqueville is the author, Presidents Eisenhower, Reagan, & Clinton have quoted it. And I believe the message is still relevant today.
He wrote, "I sought for America's greatness. I found it not in her fields & forests. I found it not in her mines & factories. I found it not in her Congress & great tribunals.
"It was only when I entered her churches & heard her pulpits thundering against sin & preaching righteousness that I discovered her greatness.
"America is great because America is good. If America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
If de Toqueville were alive & tried to say something like that today I'm afraid that in most universities & public forums he would be shouted down & not permitted to speak.
SUM. If we put our trust in education, then we'll get what education can teach us. If we put our trust in money, we'll get what money can buy. If we put our trust in government, we'll get what government can give us. But if we put our trust in God, we'll have everything we need, for all eternity.
B. Now think with me for just a moment. Do you remember the names of the great prophets of the O.T.? How about Isaiah, or Elijah, or Jeremiah, or Jonah, or Daniel, or Hosea? And our list could go on & on.
But listen to the words of Jesus in Luke 13:34 as He approached Jerusalem, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets & stone those sent to you."
Stephen, the first Christian martyr, said to the angry crowd that was soon to stone him to death, "You stiff necked people, with uncircumcised hearts & ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute?" (Acts 7:51 52)
Why didn't the people honor the prophets of God & listen to what they said? Why were prophets treated in such terrible ways by their own people? Because the role of a faithful prophet was to proclaim God's message, praising that which is good, & condemning that which is evil.
ILL. A few years ago a picture of the historic flag designed by Betsy Ross appeared on the front page of a Chicago newspaper, & underneath it was this caption, "It's time to check our stitches again."
APPL. I think it is long past time for us to check the stitches & to make sure that we are still the home of the brave, & the land of the free.
PROP. So let me call your attention this morning to two temptations that I think Americans are facing today.
I. TEMPTATION TO ENJOY FRUITS OF CITIZENSHIP WITHOUT TENDING THE TREE OF LIBERTY
The first is this, there is a very strong temptation to enjoy the fruits of citizenship without tending the tree of liberty.
ILL. Harry Emerson Fosdick preached a sermon a number of years ago entitled "Parking on Someone Else's Nickel." Obviously the sermon is pretty old because you don't park anyplace for a nickel anymore. But the point is true.
ILL. I have a friend whose hometown had only one street with parking meters on it. He says that when he was a teen ager he remembers driving up & down Main Street looking for a place to park.
There were always plenty of parking places because not too many people lived in his town. But not just any parking place would do. He always looked for one that still had time left on its parking meter.
And when he didn't find it going down one side of the street, he would make a U turn & go back the other. He might burn up a gallon of gas looking for a parking meter with some time left on it. But when he wheeled into one that still had 30 minutes left it made his day. He was parking on someone else's nickel!
APPL. I wonder if that is a problem in our country today? Most of us haven't earned the freedoms we enjoy. We didn't go to foreign lands & fight for them. We have not shed our blood & sweat & tears for them. We are parking on someone else's nickel.
ILL. A poet expressed it well.
We eat from orchards we did not plant.
We drink from wells we did not dig.
We reap from fields we did not sow.
We are warmed by fires we did not kindle.
We are sheltered by roofs we did not build.
We are blessed by moneys we did not give."
I am thankful to be a citizen of the United States. But as citizens, we have a responsibility to tend the tree of liberty.
Is the world a better place because we are citizens of this country? Is our community a better place because we are a part of it? Is our church a better church because we are members of it? What are we doing, for heaven's sake?
Or are we like many, enjoying the fruits, but not tending the tree of liberty?
II. TEMPTATION TO WANT CHRISTIANITY WITHOUT COMMITMENT
Our 2nd temptation is to want Christianity without commitment. I'm not talking about an emotional experience. I'm talking about a commitment & surrender to God that results in a changed heart & life.
For too long there have been churches who have felt that it's all right for nice people to get together in their Sunday best, listen to music & sermons that make them feel good about them¬selves, their homes & families & their relationship with God.
"Just tell me how nice I am, how righteous I am. Give me Christianity, but don't talk to me about repentance, about changing my attitudes or the way I act. I don't want to change. I want to remain exactly the way I am."
Somehow along the way, in our celebration of freedom, we have forgotten the greatest freedom of all.
Jesus Christ went to the cross & gave His life to gain our freedom from sin.
And that is a message that you & I & our country needs to hear again & again today.
So let's allow our patriotic juices to flow freely. Let's express our commitment to the principles & beliefs that we hold dear when we go to the polls & vote. But remember this, we didn't earn our freedoms. We may not even deserve them.
CONCL. Folks, I hope that you are humbly thankful to be a part of this great land, & that you'll not take your citizenship lightly, but be determined to hold high the freedoms we enjoy so that the generations that follow us will experience & treasure them also.
And I pray that you, too, will be a committed Christian who is hungry & thirsty for the truth of God. And I also pray that you will never compromise it, but share it with a world that desperately needs to hear the only truth that can guarantee our freedom for all eternity.
This morning we offer you the invitation of the greatest liberator of all, Jesus Christ who gained our freedom on the cross. We offer you His sacrifice, & we pray that you'll respond to His loving invitation as we stand & sing together.
INVITATION
