Everything has come apart....and the virus is not even the catalyst....it's just the latest. It was only nine weeks ago....on my seventieth birthday actually....that President Trump began his delayed State of the Union Address with these words...."Three years ago, we launched the great American comeback. Tonight I stand before you to share the incredible results...." He went on to mention statistics on jobs and incomes and poverty and crime....and confidence....before saying...."America's fortunes are on the rise, and America's future is blazing bright." In the middle of his speech somewhere came these words...."Protecting American's health also means fighting infectious diseases. We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the coronavirus outbreak in China." The president finished with this prophesy that stuck in my mind....and maybe yours...."The American age.....has only just begun....the best is yet to come." That was just nine weeks ago folks!
I stopped watching the State of the Union Address well back during the Obama administration....for to me....(and Thomas Jefferson was right on this.....it is like a speech from a throne)....it's a show....not only a show....but the worst show in Washington. Well maybe not worse than the National Prayer Breakfast. This particular one though had 'boos' and chants of 'USA USA USA' in the transcript as if it were nothing but a rally....a rally that the other side was forced to attend.
"What can you say about a two-hundred and forty-four year old country that died....that she was beautiful....and brilliant....that she loved rock & roll and football?" That's the opening of course from Love Story....sort of. I think that the answer to this question can also come from Love Story dialogue....in Jenny's answer to Oliver's question on why she left the church...."I don't know-I never really joined. I mean, I guess I never thought that there's any world better than this one. I mean, what can be better than Mozart, or Bach, or you?"
Erich Segal hit it on the head.....the problem.....unbeknownst to himself though. Why become a Christian if it can't beat whatever we've already got? Neither character....not Jennifer Cavalieri whose upbringing was similar to mine....or Oliver Barrett whose upbringing at the time I would have liked to have had....would have heard of salvation by grace alone....through faith alone....in Christ alone. Another Erich....von Daniken....would more likely have influenced them with his mega-popular book Chariots Of The Gods....or maybe Time Magazine with its famous Is God Dead cover only a few short years before Segal wrote his novel.
The question is not as much....when did America die....as....when did preaching die in America? There are all kinds of signs that we can look for on the economy and the virus but there is....in my mind anyway....other signs that are more important. Will your pastor have changed at all come this Lord's Day....tomorrow? Or will it be the same uplifting sermon only a different part of the Bible? Will he still be smiling like that's his main job? This Lord's Day is Easter.....otherwise I would be asking if the cross of Christ was paramount in the sermon.....but this is the one day of the year that pastors schedule the cross into their sermon. I have been looking for years....and praying....for signs that our pulpits are waking up.
One last anecdote.....I promise.....in this post anyway.....both Oliver and Jennifer probably would have at least hummed....Oh Happy Day....the Edwin Hawkins Singers hit song that rose to #4 on the charts in 1969....with an arrangement from a hymn written by 18th century.....nonconformist English pastor Philip Doddridge....(nonconformist in that they did not conform to the preaching required of them....Puritans mostly) an arrangement that contained these lyrics:
Oh happy day (oh happy day)
Oh happy day (oh happy day)
When Jesus washed (when Jesus washed)
When Jesus washed (when Jesus washed)
When Jesus washed (when Jesus washed)
He washed my sins away (oh happy day)
Philip Doddridge's lyrics went....
O Happy Day
that fixed my choice,
On thee, my Savior and my God!
I read once where Donald Trump originally chose the music at this rallies. Oh Happy Day would have been a good one.....red MAGA hats everywhere....anticipation building.....music blaring.....and then....Oh happy day.....when Jesus washed....He washed my sins away! But you know what works better...."Macho, macho man (macho man)....I gotta be a macho man."
I stopped watching the State of the Union Address well back during the Obama administration....for to me....(and Thomas Jefferson was right on this.....it is like a speech from a throne)....it's a show....not only a show....but the worst show in Washington. Well maybe not worse than the National Prayer Breakfast. This particular one though had 'boos' and chants of 'USA USA USA' in the transcript as if it were nothing but a rally....a rally that the other side was forced to attend.
"What can you say about a two-hundred and forty-four year old country that died....that she was beautiful....and brilliant....that she loved rock & roll and football?" That's the opening of course from Love Story....sort of. I think that the answer to this question can also come from Love Story dialogue....in Jenny's answer to Oliver's question on why she left the church...."I don't know-I never really joined. I mean, I guess I never thought that there's any world better than this one. I mean, what can be better than Mozart, or Bach, or you?"
Erich Segal hit it on the head.....the problem.....unbeknownst to himself though. Why become a Christian if it can't beat whatever we've already got? Neither character....not Jennifer Cavalieri whose upbringing was similar to mine....or Oliver Barrett whose upbringing at the time I would have liked to have had....would have heard of salvation by grace alone....through faith alone....in Christ alone. Another Erich....von Daniken....would more likely have influenced them with his mega-popular book Chariots Of The Gods....or maybe Time Magazine with its famous Is God Dead cover only a few short years before Segal wrote his novel.
The question is not as much....when did America die....as....when did preaching die in America? There are all kinds of signs that we can look for on the economy and the virus but there is....in my mind anyway....other signs that are more important. Will your pastor have changed at all come this Lord's Day....tomorrow? Or will it be the same uplifting sermon only a different part of the Bible? Will he still be smiling like that's his main job? This Lord's Day is Easter.....otherwise I would be asking if the cross of Christ was paramount in the sermon.....but this is the one day of the year that pastors schedule the cross into their sermon. I have been looking for years....and praying....for signs that our pulpits are waking up.
One last anecdote.....I promise.....in this post anyway.....both Oliver and Jennifer probably would have at least hummed....Oh Happy Day....the Edwin Hawkins Singers hit song that rose to #4 on the charts in 1969....with an arrangement from a hymn written by 18th century.....nonconformist English pastor Philip Doddridge....(nonconformist in that they did not conform to the preaching required of them....Puritans mostly) an arrangement that contained these lyrics:
Oh happy day (oh happy day)
Oh happy day (oh happy day)
When Jesus washed (when Jesus washed)
When Jesus washed (when Jesus washed)
When Jesus washed (when Jesus washed)
He washed my sins away (oh happy day)
Philip Doddridge's lyrics went....
O Happy Day
that fixed my choice,
On thee, my Savior and my God!
I read once where Donald Trump originally chose the music at this rallies. Oh Happy Day would have been a good one.....red MAGA hats everywhere....anticipation building.....music blaring.....and then....Oh happy day.....when Jesus washed....He washed my sins away! But you know what works better...."Macho, macho man (macho man)....I gotta be a macho man."
