A THOUGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY 2010

I am not particularly a flag-waving firework blazing kind of patriot – I do not believe in American exceptionalism – I do not believe that America is a “great” nation as many consider greatness – I DO believe that the sins of the fathers will be visited on the children to the third and the fourth generations and that those who participate in the fruit of unjust gain share equally in the guilt with those who practiced the original injustice – and for this nation especially so long as the practices of our forefathers remains unchanged in our land to this day –

How long will we allow injustice to remain in the land toward the Native Americans who were its first inhabitants? – How long will we allow injustice to remain in the land toward Mexican-Americans whose ancestors were in the land long before the first Europeans arrived on these shores? – How long will we allow injustice to remain in the land toward African-Americans whose great grandparents were brought to this country in the holds of slave ships and who to a very great extent remain trapped in the slave ship holds of economic, political and social injustice to this day –

The word of God is clear – “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, whatever a man (or nation) sews that it shall also reap” – Be it known this Independence Day that the material prosperity of this nation is not in any sense the manifestation of God’s blessing upon America for any perceived righteousness on our part but is rather the poisonous fruit of the unjust gain of unrighteousness –

While I do not in any way want to belittle the more than abundant examples of generosity and humanitarian kindness on the part of this nation throughout its history – yet as with man so is the nation that it is not by works that one is saved and no amount of good works of generosity and humanitarian kindness on the part of this nation will never cancel out its debt of sin before God – That will only be accomplished through a thorough and heartfelt repentance before God of the historical and continuing unjust practices of this nation and their discontinuance as the manifestation our true repentance –

Perhaps it would be well for us this Independence Day to dispense with our firework celebrations and to cease to raise our banner high until we first bow low before our father’s throne – not in a feigned pseudo repentance of pharisaical self-righteousness – but in true repentance by which his, not our, banner may be lifted high and that the fading glory of this nation would be lost in the radiant glory of his kingdom - - d.e.b.