The City on the Hill

As we celebrate the founding of our country this month, we are reminded of the great potential for the United States to be the "city on a hill.” This biblical phrase has been used by many over the years to indicate the special opportunity God has given our country – to be a shining light of freedom and hope. America has at different times dared to approach this call of God like no other nation in the history of the world. At other times, we have fallen far short. What is abundantly clear, though, is that America is at its best when its people clearly and humbly submit themselves to God through its governance, institutions, families, and individuals. We miss the mark the most when we fail to give God the credit and honor for all the blessings we enjoy.

Currently we hear much discussion about racial injustice in our society. It is true that our founders had a divinely offered opportunity after we had thrown off the yoke of English tyranny. They as much as any up until their time knew the value and worth of every human individual in the sight of an Almighty and merciful God. Yet they blinked when facing the issue of slavery. What if they had applied the full force of the "self-evident" truths, "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." What could have been!

Still, the glory of our country is founded on these truths of being made in God’s image and being given rights by God alone. These truths are in the fabric of our laws, and they have guided us in our development as a nation. The Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement have triumphed over our earlier failings, and have shown that we are willing to do the difficult work of living up to these principles inspired by our Creator. Many have given their lives for these principles, and we all enjoy the benefits of their sacrifice.

This Independence Day 2021 we are again poised as a nation to choose to fulfill God's great call for our country by humbly pointing to God as the One who gives us what we have, makes us who we are, and guides us to what we can be. There are voices that point us away from our Creator, claim that we are on our own, call us to fight each other for power, and that our destiny is no more special or unique than any other people or nation. This is fatalistic thinking and denies God’s call for us as a people.

Instead, let us think of what can be! Think of the opportunity we have again to follow God's call and become a shining beacon of hope and promise for all through this world.
God’s promise to Solomon and ancient Israel is still good guidance for us today.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.  (II Chronicles 7:14)

All the challenges and difficulties we are facing today as a people are actually great opportunities to show how God is working out our founding principles of freedom and equality guaranteed by our Creator. If we will acknowledge God as the source for our freedom and the Giver of our rights and look to God in the living of our lives, we can be a model for all the world as a nation that is blessed and guided by God. We can still be that shining "city on a hill" for all to see!