"A prophet is not without honor," said Jesus "save in his own country." No wonder! Prophets speak to a people on the part of God. What nation on earth has ever lived up to God's standards? Not us. Not Israel. Not any nation that has ever existed on earth. We need to remember that as we prepare to celebrate our grand national holiday.
Our nation has been wonderfully blessed. It seems somewhat impertinent for me to say, "I'm proud to be an American." It was an accident of birth. I had nothing to do with it.Deep in my heart, however, I can say that I am grateful to be a resident of this land.
There was a story in Quote magazine many years ago that tells it all. It seems that in Vienna, Austria American, French, British and Russian soldiers share jeeps for military police duty. One group of them used to kill time by telling jokes. That is, the western ones did, for the Russians remained silent and sullen. The American asked, "What's the matter with you, Ivan? Doesn't anything funny ever happen in Russia?"
"Have you heard of the great canals in Russia?' Ivan asked.
"Yes," the American replied. "It must have been a hard job building them."
"Exactly," Ivan said. "They were built by people who told jokes."
Robert Orben says that the essence of America can be summed up in this exchange: A father told his son that all Americans belong to a privileged class. The son said, "I disagree." And the father said, "That's the privilege."
If there is anyone in this room who is not grateful to have been born in such a land, tell me about it after the service. I'm thankful to be an American.
Nevertheless, the Fourth of July is a dangerous day. Not because of fireworks, reckless driving, swimming accidents and such. It is a dangerous holiday because it can blind us to our real needs. Like the church at Laodicea in the book of Revelation, we can congratulate ourselves on being rich and be utterly blind to our poverty (Rev. 3:14 18).
I like the story of the Sunday School teacher who asked her class who the first man was. A little boy answered, "George Washington." She then informed him that the first man was Adam. The boy responded, "Oh, well, if you are speaking of foreigners, maybe he was."
Human progress did not begin with George Washington and Washington, D.C. is not the capitol of the world. We have been blessed, and at our best we have been a blessing, but there is a darker side to the American character as well, just as each of us have a darker side to our character. Ask the Native American. Ask the children of American slaves. Ask the homeless on America's streets.
Billy Graham spoke at an Honor America Day service at the Lincoln Memorial many years ago. He told of a picture that once appeared on the front page of a Chicago newspaper. It was a picture of Betsy Ross sewing the first American flag. Over the picture was the caption, "Time to check our stitches." On this fourth of July weekend, let us check our stitches.
There are three temptations that continually confront the American people. If you were standing up here this morning, you would list more. Every pastor has a list. Think how different the list would be for the Rev. Jesse Jackson compared to the Rev. Jerry Falwell. I have no political axe to grind. I would simply focus your attention on three persistent temptations.
THE FIRST TEMPTATION IS TO ENJOY THE FRUITS OF CITIZENSHIP WITHOUT TENDING THE TREE OF LIBERTY.
Harry Emerson Fosdick preached a sermon years ago entitled, "Parking on Another Man's Nickel." Obviously the sermon was preached years ago. Where can you park for a nickel today? The idea is still sound, however. You come to a parking place that has a meter. Someone else has already inserted a coin. Happily there is still time on the meter. This must be your lucky day. You pull in and park on someone else's nickel, or quarter or whatever.
Fosdick went on to say that some of us go all through life parking on someone else's nickel. Particularly is this true of us who are born into this free land. Someone's already paid in blood, sweat and tears for our parking place. The temptation is to enjoy our good fortune without taking responsibility for those who come after us.
You may know the story about the recent immigrant who was describing to a friend his beautiful new print the famous patriotic work, "The Spirit of 1776." He said, "There are three men in itone with a fife, one with a drum, and one with a headache."
We want to enjoy the fife and the drums without the headaches that go with citizenship. A father showed his son a copy of the Bill of Rights. "Remember, son," he said, "On the back of every right, there is a responsibility." He was right.
Many of us are giving in to the temptation to enjoy the benefits of citizenry while avoiding the headaches of civic responsibility. Is our community a better community because we live in it? Our city? Our state? Is the PTA stronger because we have a child in school? Can the United Way count on our support? These are not glamorous questions. These are simply the nuts and bolts of citizenship. Are you parking on someone else's nickel? That is the first temptation: To enjoy the fruit of freedom without tending the tree of liberty.
THE SECOND TEMPTATION OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IS TO WANT CAPITALISM WITHOUT COMPASSION.
Capitalism is not a dirty word in my vocabulary. Much of our prosperity is due to the genius of a free market. But where there is capitalism there must be compassion. Capitalism was born in the nursery of Darwinism. The survival of the fittest has forever been its theme. Revolutions and depressions both testify, however, that we cannot forget the people who cannot competethe people at the bottom of society. If the government will not do its part, then we the people must.
Most of us have never known the effects of grinding poverty. Even those who have known it, have known it in a different way than the people at the bottom of society today.
Many of you lived through the depression. You know about being poor. The late Sophie Tucker recalled the poverty into which she was born. "We were so poor," claimed Sophie, "my parents couldn't afford children. The lady next door had me." Some of you know about that kind of poverty, still most of you will say, "We had plenty to eat. We had a stable home life. We could walk the streets of our neighborhood without fear." Most of you will agree it was a different kind of poverty than America's poor know today.
Others of you have had to struggle to get where you are today. "I fight poverty," says the license plate. "I work." But somehow you knew that your plight was only temporary. You knew there was hope. You were brought up with the American dream in your heart. That is not true of many of America's children today.
We have some serious problems in our land today that do not bode well for the future. Can you not sense it in the violence of street gangs, the proliferation of hard drugs, the disenchantment of the so-called "working poor?"
We simply cannot have capitalism without compassion! As George Bernard Shaw once wrote: "The worst sin to our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity."
The early church had such a powerful love for others that Luke records that "abundant grace was upon them all." They were experiencing the joy of servinga joy that can't wear a price tag.
Early in this century Louis Evans, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood, found this out on a trip to visit his church's missionaries. One stop found him in Korea where he was to meet a missionary surgeon. The doctor had been a successful surgeon in the states before sensing God's call to minister in Korea.
On the day Dr. Evans arrived the missionary doctor was preping for surgery on an eight-year old child. The pastor watched through a window in the tiny hut where the operation was going on. The operation lasted for nearly three hours. After cleaning up, the doctor went outside to walk with his pastor. As they walked Evans asked, "How much would you have received for that operation back in the States?"
"Oh, $500 to $750 is the going rate, I guess." As they talked, Evans noticed that the surgeon's lips were purple with the strain and his hands were trembling from three hours of tedious work. Then he asked, "How much for this one?"
"Oh," the doctor replied. "A few cents, a few cents and the smile of God." And then the doctor put his hands on Pastor Evan's shoulder, shook it lightly, and added, "But man, this is living!" (1) "Help me to live for others," says the old Gospel song, "that I may live for Thee."
This brings us to our final temptation. The privilege of citizenship without the price of civic responsibility, the bounty of capitalism without the bother of compassion. But one more.
WE WANT CHRISTIANITY WITHOUT CONVERSION.
Please bear with me. I'm not talking about a particular kind of emotional experience. I'm talking about a level of intense commitment to Jesus Christ. We have a lot of people who believe in God, who believe in the divinity of Jesus, who believe in heaven. Every Gallup Poll indicates this. We have very few persons, however, who want to take up the cross and follow Him.
How much difference does it make in your life to say, "Jesus is Lord"? Does it affect your manners and your morals? Does it keep in check your prejudices as well as your passions? Is the world a better place because Jesus died on the cross for you?
A businessman returned home one evening with a contract in his hand. It provided him and his wife with an opportunity to make a lot of money. In the quietness of the evening, he sat down and discussed the contract with her. He read it first, then passed it to her and watched the expression on her face as she read it. He waited for her response which was not long in coming. "Tom," she said, "you and I can't go into this."
"Why?" he asked. "Well, because....because of God," was the answer. "Yes, I know," Tom said. "That's what I had decided too." And so, "because of God," the contract was returned unsigned. Because of God, their lives had boldness at a time when boldness was required.(2) Can the same be said for you?
Former President Jimmy Carter will probably not go down in history as our most successful national leader. Only the most cynical of persons would doubt his commitment to Christ, however.
As most of you know, for the past several years he has been working with Habitat for Humanity, an organization of volunteers who help build and restore homes for the homeless. President Carter wrote: "There is a great satisfaction in being able to `make a difference' for someone who needs help. The tiredness that comes from any physical activity is all worthwhile, and the spirit sometimes soars...
"To help build a home for people who have never lived in a decent place and never dreamed of owning a home of their own can bring both a lot of joy and an emotional response. One has only to have had the experience to know what it meansto the one who is giving time and energy and to the one who is receiving the new home.
"Soon after we began our work with Habitat, we asked Tom Hall, who had come to the international headquarters for brief volunteer service and had stayed for 5 years, `Why do you keep on staying?' His answer was, `I see the faces of those who receive the homes.' We have seen the faces, too." (3) Someday we will understand that the Biblical injunction is true: "It IS more blessed to give than receive."
So something to think about this Fourth of July weekend. Have you been enjoying the benefits of our society without the headaches of civic responsibility? Are you one of those citizens who believe that we can have capitalism without compassion and Christianity without conversion? We have much to be grateful for. We have even more to be committed to. It is not too late to get started. Let's live out our gratitude and at the same time insure this gift of freedom for generations to come.
(1) J. Daniel Baumann, AN INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY PREACHING, pp. 172173.
(2) Jerry Hayner, YES GOD CAN (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1987).
(3) EVERYTHING TO GAIN, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, pp. 9495).