Print this page

MY COUNTRY
(Amos 5:22-24)

We've heard the motto "My Country, right or wrong." Some people
think that means we're to blindly support any policy of our
government; but that's a dangerous misquotation. What the
author, Carl Schurz actually said was, "My country right or
wrong: when right to be kept right; When wrong to be put right."

In fact, that's our task as Christian citizens.

I. FIRST, WE MUST SPEAK FOR, WORK FOR AND VOTE FOR ANYTHING
THAT PROMOTES JUSTICE.

Our offerings and praises are not nearly as important to God as
justice. He said, "Even though you bring me burnt offerings and
grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring
choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.
Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the
music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never- failing stream!"(Amos 5:22-24).

Later he said, "Administer true justice; show mercy and
compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the
fatherless, the alien or the poor In your hearts do not think
evil of each other" (Zech. 7:9-10);

God condemned those who were hypocritical. He said, "Woe to
those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for
light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet
for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and
clever in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes at
drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the
guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent" (Isa.
5:20-23).

Justice means we must provide for others every right and every
privilege that we claim for ourselves. Even the golden rule
says, "In everything, do to others what you would have them do
to you for this sums up the Law and the Prophets" (Matt. 7:12).

II. NEXT, WE MUST SPEAK FOR, WORK FOR AND VOTE FOR ANYTHING
THAT PROMOTES LIBERTY.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites were told to "Proclaim
liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants . . ." (Lev.
25:10).

Paul said, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of
the Lord is, there is freedom" (II Cor. 3:17).

Sometimes, to preserve the principle of liberty, we have to
allow people to believe and say and even do stupid things. Of
course, violent acts must be curtailed; but the freedom to think
is absolute. The freedom to express is almost absolute. Isaiah
said, "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the
Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for
the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners" (Isa.
61:1).

Later, Jesus took this mission as his own, saying, "The Spirit
of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed met to preach good
news to the poor. He sent me to proclaim freedom for the
prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the
oppressed." (Luke 4:18).

III. NEXT, WE MUST SPEAK FOR, WORK FOR AND VOTE FOR ANYTHING
THAT PROMOTES PEACE.

The Psalmist said, "Whoever of you loves life and desires to see
many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from
speaking lies. Turn f rom evil and do good; seek peace and
pursue it" (Psa. 34:12-14);

"Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am a man
of peace; but when I speak, they are for war" (Psa. 120:6-7);

Isaiah said, "He will judge between the nations and will settle
disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into
plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not
take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war
anymore" (Isa 2:4);

At Jesus' birth, the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests: (Luke 2:14).

Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be
called sons of God" (Matt. 5:9

Later, James said, "Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest
of righteousness" (James 3:18).

We must encourage discussion and negotiation, and always seek to
resolve both personal and public conflicts peaceably. Jesus
said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons
of God" (Matt. 5:9).

Yes, America is our country. It's a country that promotes
justice and liberty and peace. It's also a country that "is
unusually beautiful . . . The mountains and deserts of the west
. . . the Great Plains, the National Parks, the wide rivers.
But America is more than a place. America is a spirit, and the
spirit of any place comes from its people . . . We're proud of
our rugged individualism . . . our curiosity . . . (our)
creativity. We're proud of our generosity and openhandedness to
other nations. We're proud of our support of one another. And,
we're grateful that as a nation we value a person more than a
principle . . .

It's the people who love America who have the right and the
power to make our country what we want it to be . . . A Polish
immigrant came here . . . with $2.60 in her purse, some clothes,
a bundle of old letters, and a few books, hoping for a new life
and happiness in a strange country . . . She talked of believing
in the future, and the future did not disappoint her. She
wrote:

"Today . . . my husband is studying for his doctorate. We live
in a comfortable apartment in mid-Manhattan. Weekends we drive
to the country . . .

I love this country because when I want to move from one place
to another I do not have to ask permission. Because when I want
to go abroad I just buy a ticket and go.

I love America because when I need a needle I go to the nearest
department store . . . I love it because I do not have to stand
in line for hours to buy a piece of tough, fat meat. I love it
because, even with inflation, I do not have to pay a day's
earnings for a small chicken. I love America because America
trusts me. When I go into a shop to buy a pair of shoes I'm not
asked to produce my identity card. I love it because my mail is
not censored. My phone is not tapped. My conversation with
friends is not reported to the secret police.

Sometimes when I walk with my husband through the streets of New
York, all of a sudden we stop, look at each other and smile and
kiss. People think we are in love, and it is true. But we are
also in love with America . . . standing in the street, amidst
the noise and pollution, we suddenly realize what luck and joy
it is to live in a free country."

Of course, America is not perfect, but a poem in the Wall Street
Journal says it well. The poem is entitled "The Dumbest Person
in the World."

How dumb?
Very dumb!
It's the American who knocks what he's got.
Here's what he's got:

A country of unbounded beauty,
Almost unlimited natural resources.
A judicial system that is the envy of the rest of the world.
Food so plentiful overeating is a major problem.
A press nobody can dominate.
A ballot box nobody can stuff.
Churches of your choice.
One hundred million jobs.
Freedom to go anywhere you want,
with the planes, cars and highways to get your there.
Social Security.
Medicare
Unemployment insurance.
Public schools and plentiful scholarships.
Opportunity to become a millionaire.

Okay, Complainer, what's your second choice?
Go!

That's my country and that's your country. May God Bless America.

******

(Word Count: 1269)

These messages are from an unpublished manuscript © copyrighted
by Miles and Maralene Wesner, Idabel, OK. Please use them in
any way you think appropriate. The only thing we ask is that
you give credit for original material in published works.

Sermons with the "I" prefix are from our "What's the Good Word"
Series;
II from our "Pitfalls on the Path of Life"
III are sermons for special days and occasions.

EMAIL SERMON SERVICE is a free service from Diversity Press.

Material in our sermons usually present the Gospel from a
psychological point of view.

My ministry has been blessed immeasurably by reading other
people's sermons. When I started preaching 56 years ago, I
waited for "inspiration" (usually Saturday night, about
midnight) before I began my sermon preparation. Then, I
discovered it wasn't inspiration at all-it was sheer PANIC. I
would have welcomed this service.

Comments are always welcome. (Please indicate if you do not want
your comments to appear in New Perspectives).
SUGGESTION: To avoid accumulating a pile of unmanageable papers,
start a file on a floppy disk to receive them. This will also
create a ready reference file for future use.

Miles E Wesner