Grace and peace to you from god our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ
I don't know about you, but for me, Ju1y 4th - our national birthday - is always a time to remember and reflect. Where are we as a nation? Where have we been? Where are we going? Has this been a good year? Are we a better people? Are we true to the values and goals which have always defined us? Is there more justice here, more equality, more love, and more mercy? Does the freedom we so worship mean that we have a kinder, more gracious America?
The prophet Isaiah spoke to the people of Israel on a similar occasion when they returned from exile in Babylon. After 70 years, almost 3 generations, the Jews were returning to Zion. They were coming home to a place that most of them had never seen. And it was a run down, ramshackle, devastated city. The temple had been torn down, and the walls destroyed. There was no government, no court system, no public works, just some foreign troops and sheep grazing everywhere. The reality that they were going to have to rebuild a nation from scratch and from memories of by-gone glory loomed larger than life right before their very eyes.
And to their surprise, Isaiah says, "Rejoice. Be glad. You will be wealthy and rich and the prosperity of the nations will all come to you".
It seemed not only an improbable prophecy, but a ridiculous one.
Perhaps the people were only looking at what they had lost, not what they had. They, like us, were looking at the glass with wine at it's mid-point, and were saying, "Oh my, it's half empty", not counting their blessings and saying, " Rejoice, it's half full".
It seems to me we're in a much better place than they are, and we need to remember that, and rejoice and give thanks for that.
I don't know about you, but I hear an awful lot of nostalgia about the good old days. June Cleaver, the "Beaver's" mom, stayed at home and wore a freshly pressed apron over a brightly colored frock and did dishes in high heels and had everything under control. We look back and see that world with rose-colored glasses, and forget that women could not become doctors, were rarely, if ever, lawyers, and many young women were told to take the business track in high school because girls just get married and have families anyway. There was a real "glass ceiling” that only allowed women to go so high in the world of work.
If you were an African-American or Hispanic, you couldn't expect a big piece of the American pie, and could anticipate a life of limited opportunity and little justice.
When we think of the glory days of the middle part of this century, we gloss over that reality. It is true, that we seem to have more drug abuse now. We don't know our neighbors as well, and the media hype which results from over coverage and a "crisis-centered" journalistic style keeps us all on edge probably a lot more than we should be. But if we look honestly at our glass, it is much fuller than it is empty. We are the freest people on earth. There is abundant justice in this nation, and an honest striving to create a more humane, cleaner, and a more just society. We could easily have been poor in India and be victims of a rigid caste system which makes the majority of the people live in unimaginable poverty. We could have been born Bosnians or in Kosovo and look out our windows and see a bombed-out village or one being bombed. We could have been born in Iran where all women must wear veils or in China and been told that you can have only one child. Our measure of "goodies" in the glass is full and overflowing, it seems to me.
The people Israel were so busy looking around on what they didn't have that they forgot what they did have. They had a God who was still faithful to them and had brought them home. They had the land. They had each other. They had the freedom to start over and to improve on what had been before, and the freedom to make a more just and righteous society this time around. They were blessed, so are we.
It's good to remember where you've been. We just saw Steven Spielberg’s recent movie “Armistead”. A compelling, exhausting movie about slavery that forces us Americans to own and remember a chapter in our history that we'd just as soon forget. It showed the barbarism of the slavers, and the torture, beating, and murder of slaves who tried to escape. It showed innocent women and men chained to rocks and drowned like an unwanted litter of cats. It was hard to watch.
It also reminded us that the Civil War 135 years ago was really about justice and freedom. It showed that no one can be really free unless that freedom extends to everyone.
God has given us incredible, ultimate freedom in Jesus. Our sins are forgiven; the past does not enslave us with its stains, shame and guilt. But we are made free for a purpose - to introduce God's way to all people. It's a tough job, but the mandate comes from God, who ever supports us in the struggle.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Who We Are