Unhappy America
Rev 3:17-20
It is not hard to tell that we are in the midst of an economic recession these days.
In the past 3 months, we have seen a great amount of collapse on Wall Street.
The mortgage industry has seen it share of pain with the government takeovers of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, two of the largest mortgage holders. Their struggle throughout this year led them almost to the brink of collapse. There was also the financial collapse of Lehman Bros., one of the largest financial institutions that held an enormous amount of mortgage backed securities.
Still, there are other industries that have felt a sharp decline and collapse.
The recent banking failures of Washington Mutual which is one of the largest banking institutions in the United States as well as recent discussion of Wachovia which has both being sold to other banking institutions before complete takeover of the FDIC.
There are the recent sales of Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns, as well as the bailout loan given to one of the largest insurance providers- AIG.
There is no doubt that we are facing unprecedented times.
Amidst all of this, we are told to have hope in a 700 billion dollar bail-out plan that will help to restore the economy and are happiness. Or will it?
What is the answer to this economic crisis?
We are dealing with an unhappy America.
How do we find true happiness in troubling times?
Rev 3:17-20
Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked — 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
-AMERICA’S UNHAPPINESS-
Some blame it on Bush, others blame it on global warming.
We are not happy people.
The unhappiness goes far deeper than the economy. It is at the core of families throughout the nation.
It is a nation of unhappiness
On the outside, there is the making of greatness. There is the tremendous opportunity in a land of abundance. This is what forged this land to greatness. Our forefathers saw potential in this land. The pilgrims settled here to build a society that created an atmosphere of Christian values. Through these values, schools were made society flourished, and the making of a nation under God thrived and flourished us into becoming a strong superpower in the world.
However, the inside was deteriorating.
Families are torn apart. Home is no longer the safe alternative. Scattered throughout the homes of America are war zones. There is war on drugs, war on the streets, war on poverty. There are incurable illnesses that are destroying lives. Not just AIDS, Cancer and the like, but deeper illnesses such as depression and loneliness.
Unhappiness is all around.
As the nation has thrived, so has greed and corruption. If we were to take a look into the history of this country, we would see that the very principles we first sought to create are being removed one by one.
There began a slow fade.
It started with the introduction of evolution.
Until the late 19th century, creation was taught in nearly all schools in the United States, often from the position that the literal interpretation of the Bible is inerrant. In the 1860s, there was widespread acceptance of the theory of evolution in public schools after being first introduced in 1859. *
Then there was the removal of prayer and reading the bible in schools. The 1960s court cases of Engle vs. Vitale and Abington Township School District v. Schempp. Many believe that this had a part in plunging America into the hippie craze of the 1960s. Teen pregnancy sky rocketed; drugs abuse increased, and regard for godly principles were ignored.
In 1973, Roe vs. Wade was a Supreme court ruling that brought abortion out. According to the Roe decision, most laws against abortion in the United States violated a constitutional right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Roe v. Wade centrally held that a mother may abort her pregnancy for any reason, up until the "point at which the fetus becomes ‘viable.’" The Court defined viable as being potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid.*
Since then over 50 million babies have been aborted!
An entire generation that has been lost!
More recently is the push to remove the Ten Commandments from Courthouse displays. There was the push to make Christmas a more tolerable holiday and removed the manger as well as any inclination of Christ.
Today we have tolerance for any other religion and for homosexuality, but no tolerance for Christianity and God.
Although these are the fundamental principles that our forefathers set forth, what is seen that the inside has deteriorate while trying to hold a great outside appearance.
It is no wonder why we live in an unhappy society.
The foundations of principle have been removed.
America is riddled with sin.
Teen pregnancy is now acceptable and practically encouraged.
Drugs and alcohol is found in many families to escape from reality.
Provocative Relationships on the internet, and the availability of pornography on the web as well as T.V., Movies, even radio.
No longer is it what would Jesus do, but what would the idols do.
Divorce is at an all time high.
Every person knows someone close who has a broken home. Many children don’t live in a two parent home.
The list goes on- unhappiness is obvious.
What we see in the recent economic issues is not some new thing, but a small glimpse in the American home. There are toxic waters that have created an atmosphere of collapse.
It is the reality of truth. Financial collapse is inevitable if greed and corruption continue. An example of this was Enron.
The greed and corruption of America has grown.
While there are those who strive to seek a solution for the symptoms, we must seek out the cause and deal with it.
Our text gives us some insight into this.
…'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked…
This portion of scripture is given to a particular church, but when we seek the deeper element, we realize that Jesus is bringing to attention a particular attitude that can be found not only in the church, but individually and to a nation. In fact is addressed to anyone who would listen. Hence the words in vs.22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
On April 30, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln gave a speech called the Proclamation for a National Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer. It expresses the same sentiment to us.
We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, the many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to God that made us It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
We see times where God spoke to the children of Israel in the same context and sought their repentance.
…'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'
This is the same attitude we see in America, a nation under God. America would rather try to seek for answers everywhere else than God.
The same response is given by God.
— And do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked…
America is in a crisis, not only economically, but fundamentally.
America has not only become complacent with God, but shakes its fist in daring Him to do something about it.
-A CALL TO REPENTANCE-
This is a nation that shows the signs of judgment. In no way is the economic crisis the judgment. It only gives us a true picture of reality.
But should we not repent, judgment will be upon us.
David Wilkerson, Pastor of the Time square Church in New York City, and author of numerous books wrote concerning this nation that is founded under God,
“We have gone completely past the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah and past the sins of the Children of Israel.”
Judgment is eminent if we don’t repent and return to our foundations.
This is what the bible is telling us.
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
The answer to this crisis is not a 700 billion dollar bail out plan.
It is not who to vote for in the coming elections.
The answer is to return to the roots in which this great nation was birthed and turn from sin.
The answer is looking onto God and seeking Him.
It is God who can calm storms. It is God who gives and takes away.
This call to repentance is not some form of threat.
Jesus tells us in the text, I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire
In other words, God’s heart is that we would turn and repent; not after He pours out His judgment, but before.
He is counseling us; pleading that we seek after righteousness for our sake.
…that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
He goes on and says,
Therefore be zealous and repent.
Restoring the fundamental principles IS the answer to seeing America restored.
It serves as a regulator. When we seek righteousness, wickedness is drawn out.
What this nation needs is its King- Jesus Christ.
During President George Washington’s farewell address, he stated these words,
Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind.… It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in the sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian.
He understood the importance of this foundation, and was not ashamed to say it.
We need to return to our foundation.
-RESTORING A NATION HAPPINESS-
Blessing is to those who seek God.
Ex 23:24-25
Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
When we talk about blessing the word can be translated as happy.
The words bless, blessed, and blessing appears in the bible 497 times. This gives us insight that God is a God of blessing, who enriches our lives as we seek after Him.
While sin causes turmoil and chaos, those who seek the Lord are blessed.
Prov 10:22
The blessing of the LORD makes one rich,
And He adds no sorrow with it.
This brings us back to our text,
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
He seeks to bring blessing to our lives; this is root of America’s affluence. But it is only found in Him.
We read the story in the bible of Jesus meeting with a man who was filled with destruction and demons which tormented him daily. No one could bind him, and he lived among the tombs.
But when the power of God was enabled in this man’s life, we find him clothed and in his right mind.
Only the power of God can work it out. This man would forever be changed, and while all seemed hopeless, when he stood before the Son of God, Christ had the power to release this man, and instructs him to return home.
Another restored family made through the redemption and power of Christ!
Only He can restore happiness.
As He instructs us to buy His gold and be clothed by Him, He says this will take away the shame.
Therefore be zealous and repent.
This is a plea to see relief and true happiness; to find joy and hope and peace in a hostile world. What we need is a nation that would return to its roots and help to bring joy to the world by simply regarding its King.
And it starts with you and me.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
* Reference: Wikipedia
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