Sermon Snippet – Is There Any Hope for the Land That We Love?
INTRODUCTION – We live in a time that has correctly been called the post-Christian era. Education is evolutionary and increasingly dominated by postmodernist thinking (really, emoting). Sprinkle in some socialism and self-centeredness, and good people become increasingly concerned. Make violence the preferred mode of expression, and we become more than concerned. Is there any hope for the land that we love? Let us read Lamentations 5:21-22.
- WHAT IS THE WORST DISASTER THAT COULD OVERTAKE AMERICA?
War, economic depression, epidemic, environmental problems – we have experienced all of these, survived, and continued as a nation. The history of Israel is not ours but is instructive. From 605 to 586 B.C., Israel suffered waves of assault, ending in devastation and seventy years of captivity in Babylon. However, God restored the nation as He had promised. Later, in A.D. 70, the nation was destroyed by the Romans. Hundreds of years later, in 1947-48, the Jewish people returned to their land and became a nation again, as God had predicted and promised. The worst disaster was what was the cause of all of these serious problems. “Turn” (verse 21) speaks of spiritual, moral, and ethical decline and decay; we must “turn” or, to use a Biblical synonym, repent. Today, we are being told that we must repent for sins that we have not committed. Such nonsense is, at the very least, a triple dose of self-indulgence. First, by focusing on trespasses that are not ours, we can conveniently ignore the wrongs that we are currently committing. Thus, genuine spiritual problems are not only unaddressed but are relegated to non-existence. Second, we feel better about ourselves even though we have done nothing substantive. For example, attending a candlelight vigil does not alter anything, whereas a lengthy session of personal repentance before God (a real vigil!) is Biblical – and rare indeed. Third, by forcing others to their knees in a mockery of true confession, we feel (feelings being the centerpiece of postmodernism) superior, ignoring God’s command in Philippians 2:3 that “in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” The prophet Jeremiah pleaded, “Renew our days as of old.” Can we go back when we have failed? We can and must, as individuals. Moreover, our nation can “turn” to the Lord. Israel returned – and will return again (Romans 9-11). Unfortunately, the worst disaster that could overtake America has in large measure, already happened: we have turned our backs on the Savior, Jesus Christ.
- WHAT IS THE GREATEST HOPE FOR AMERICA?
“Us” (verse 21). In Christ, we are America’s greatest hope for renewal. There is no exaggeration to this claim, for it is thoroughly Biblical. In the days of Elijah, wickedness reigned, quite literally, in the persons of Ahab and Jezebel. Yet, the nation was not destroyed because God had His remnant in the land, seven thousand who refused to bow down to a false god (I Kings 19:18). The city of Sodom would have been spared had even ten godly people been found in its environs; believers were in the single digits, and that place was destroyed (Genesis 18:32; 19:24-25). Jeremiah 5:1 is even more stark: Had only one follower of God been found in Jerusalem, the city would have stood. If just one of us had been there at that moment, that great city would not have been thrown down by the Babylonians. Verse 22 of Lamentations 5 records the sad consequences of sin, for Jerusalem was destroyed, and the people were killed or taken captive. Are we in a minority today? Most certainly we are, but we are important far beyond our numbers. First, we are keeping ourselves alive for eternity. Second, we are giving the majority time – how much time we do not know – to repent. Third, we are the reason that the nation survives, tottering even as it is. If not for God’s people and His kind forbearance, verse 22 would be America’s epitaph.
CONCLUSION – There is something worse than the death of a great nation: that is the death of one soul. We cannot prevent God’s promised final judgment on the nations of this world, but we can impact lives, even one life, one precious and eternal soul. Let us live godly in Christ Jesus for that one person, and leave to our good God the national implications. Are you that one soul that needs Jesus as your Savior today? Then “turn”, and you will “be turned” forever.