Today is the fourth of July, our national holiday celebrating the Declaration of Independence. What is interesting to me this year is the realization that after declaring independence the founding fathers and original citizens still had to fight for what they declared to be true:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”
They had to stand for it and risk their fortunes for it as well as their lives and they knew as much:
“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
Truly, the eventual victory and deliverance from tyranny was not without divine help and the sovereignty of God and His plan for the nations of the world.
In his speech on Mars Hill, Paul declares, “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ (Acts 17: 24-28)
I have always wondered what the purpose and destiny of America was and is…and what that means for me and my family beyond the enjoyment of bountiful personal freedoms and luxuries.
Us Americans can easily take for granted the blessings of our citizenship. Yet to whom much has been given, much will be required. Or as Uncle Ben said to Spiderman, “with great power comes great responsibility.” Our freedom is more than being “free” to buy the latest and greatest tech gadget/car/refrigerator/skinny jeans or binge watch television or move into a tiny house. It is more than personal consumption and prosperity and free speech (or even the ability to eschew buying stuff).
My favorite Simon and Garfunkel song is America. The song starts:
Let us be lovers, We'll marry our fortunes together. I've got some real estate Here in my bag. So we bought a pack of cigarettes, And Mrs. Wagner's pies And walked off to look for America.
The last verse goes:
Counting the cars on the New Jersey turnpike
They've all come
To look for America,
All come to look for America…
Cars and people are still looking for America.
What is America? This landmass with inhabitants determined by God’s appointed time and boundaries, like all nations and peoples in history. But with a peculiar distinction and call…an experiment in government and liberties with the amazing fact that we have presidential term limits that have actually stuck around.
Looking for America. What does that mean? I would suggest it is a search for purpose, or another way of asking what is my purpose, my role in history? Another way to phrase the question is “How do I fit into the story of America?” (or the story of one’s God-ordained country.)
It is too long of a story for any of us to know the ending. Our appointed times are not that long. When we read history, we forget that the characters did not know the outcome. They just kept going, fighting, living, breathing, trying. Our founding fathers did not know the outcome of declaring independence, but they did it anyway. With a dream in their hearts they signed their names, risked their lives, and created a nation.
As citizens we need to keep looking personally and corporately. As God’s children, we have a role to play in our appointed times and the boundaries of our habitation, just as our founding fathers did in declaring independence back in 1776.
There is freedom FROM and freedom TO: freedom from tyranny and freedom to pursue happiness. Each generation must take up the call to continually stand and fight and defend against tyranny (oppressive government) from threats both within and without the national borders. Freedom is not free. It always requires blood. If you are not called to pay the price of your own blood literally, there may be the figurative blood, sweat and tears price in service of the greater good.
The freedom TO pursue happiness and enjoy life and liberty, our unalienable God-given rights, comes only when tyranny is overcome. And although these may be rights, fighting is still required.
However, I believe that life, liberty, and happiness are only found and enjoyed when one is in alignment with our Creator and seeking Him as the source of life and breath and all things. He has a dream for America and personally I’d like to be a part of it. This independence day, I am asking God again, “What is YOUR dream for America and what does that mean for me?” As Americans, we should all be looking for America.
