There is more than one way to look at 250....as in a 250th anniversary..... as to America. In one way it is a celebration....a pause....long enough....either to be arrogant or be thankful....it matters not....for both are fully intent on continuing on after such a pause. Please consider these underlined words spoken by President Trump....on February 4....2020....(as I....celebrated....my 70th birthday....a nice round number)....at the then most recent State of the Union Address....and ask yourself....should not the pride and the arrogance in the scripted teleprompter address jolted us just a little....or struck a chord of warning....so that we might actually critic the boasts....and put them on the gird of Holy Scripture?
"Tonight I stand before you to share the incredible results....(of the past three years)....Jobs are booming....Incomes are soaring....Poverty is plummeting....Crime is falling....Confidence is surging....and our country is thriving....America's fortunes are on the rise.....America's future is blazing bright....our pride is restored....("Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" Proverbs)....we are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago....and we are never going back....we are advancing with unbridled optimism"....and the address ended with this...."This nation is our canvas, and this country is our masterpiece. We look at tomorrow and see unlimited frontiers just waiting to be explored. Our brightest discoveries are not yet known. Our most thrilling stories are not yet told. Our grandest journeys are not yet made. The American Age, the American epic, The American adventure has only just begun. Our spirit is still young. The sun is still rising, God's grace is still shining, and my fellow Americans, the best is yet to come."
Another way to look at a 250th anniversary....would be as a finale. God often users whole numbers divisible by 10....such as 40 and 70 and 120 and 400 and a thousand....or ten-thousand.
We are as a nation right now....a wreck. There doesn't seem to be any discernible wisdom being used anywhere.....none in our government....or in our society or culture....and little at most in the church.
I would think that there would be a name for this....when a country or an individual is in grave danger from every side....but mostly from within....and yet none of it seems to be acknowledged? Blindness certainly describes part of it....but pride and obstinance are present also. Surely you have heard the idiom....or maybe even used it yourself....'rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic'....for that is what we are doing if we think that peace is coming to this world....for there is no longer a window for America to repent....only individuals within America....yet tomorrow....ten thousand pastors....in attempting not to upset their listeners....which seems to be their chief vocation in this modern evangelicalism....will tell them that Jesus may not return for a hundred years....but God has not left us blind as to that glorious return....rather He....to those who desire to see it....has given signs....signs that encourage and give hope....and animation to our faith....fervency to our prayers. Oh if only your pastor tomorrow....and many pastors around America....would give their benediction....and then look upwards and say...."Maranatha....Lord Jesus Come"....wherewith we all in the pews would respond...."Amen!"
