Introduction: If you read the wrong newspaper, watch the wrong TV station, and listen to the prophets of doom, it is easy to fall into a negative mood. Of course, some people are negative all the time!
Someone recently told me about the world's most negative man. He could find something negative to say about ANYTHING! Once he went on vacation and stayed in a lakeside resort. The man in the cabin next to his had a dog that he was always boasting about. Mr. Negative kept on finding negative things to say about the dog. Finally the man with the dog says, "OK, watch this!" He throws a stick way out in the lake, and calls to his dog to fetch it. The dog immediately runs to the lake, and keeps on running on top of the water, picks up the stick, and runs back to his master, and doesn't even get wet. "There!" he says. "Isn't this the best dog in the world?!" Mr. Negative thought a minute and replied, "Your dog isn't that great. He still hasn't learned to swim!"
I hate it when I hear negative people running down the United States of America, because I believe America is the greatest nation in the world. We have a great Constitution. We have a beautiful land. We have a wonderful Christian heritage. We spend money and send more missionaries into the world than any other nation on the face of the earth. We have a population of people who love to help others who are in need.
This is the land of opportunity, and when people around the world want to escape tyranny, and get ahead in the world, they try to come to America. Citizens are held as captive slaves of the State in other countries by walls and fences. In America, we have to build fences to keep people out! But they come anyway, risking life and limb, by the millions, trying get into America.
America is the greatest country in the world. We have the most powerful military in the world, but when we send our armies out, it is not to conquer and enslave, but to set the captives free. Sometimes we gripe about our educational system. But for some strange reason, millions of families around the world sacrifice all they have to send their kids to school at American colleges and universities. We're not perfect. We make mistakes. But America's heart is in the right place.
Let's never get negative about our nation. However, we can do better. There is always room for improvement. What can we do to make America an even better place?
I. We can pray more.
"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (I Timothy 2:1-4).
Paul lists four different kinds of prayers:
Paul enjoins us to pray passionately, as a regular practice, as having a conversation with God, and always giving thanks.
He tells us to pray for the leaders of our government. Note: it doesn't matter who our political leaders are, we must pray for them. The emperors of the first century were villains. The Herods who ruled Palestine were cruel tyrants. Paul says, "Pray for your rulers." We must be in prayer for Johnsons, Nixons, Kennedys, Carters, Reagans, Clintons, Bushes, Republicans, Democrats, etc. And for our Senators and representatives both nationally and locally. We ought to be in prayer for Hamilton County commissioners, the School Board, the mayors, and our local Signal Mountain and Walden leaders.
II. We must do better at being the Salt and the Light of Christ in this dark world.
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:13-16).
LIGHT
We are not scientists, but we all know what light is, and what light does. We can see light from the sun, the moon and stars, street lights, ceiling lights in our homes, churches and offices. Candles and flashlight. Lights on our automobiles, and so on. There must be hundreds of different light souces that we are familiar with.
The function of light is to illuminate that which cannot be easily seen. For example, we could not drive at night without streetlights and lights on our cars. The function of spiritual light is the same, to illumine that which is in spiritual darkness.
Jesus said of John the Baptist: "He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light" (John 5:35).
John the Baptist was like a spotlight used in a stage play to illuminate the main character. He shone his light on Jesus. He pointed Him out. He said, "Behold the Lamb of God." We should be that kind of light, too. We should try to lift up and honor Jesus in all we do and say.
Light may also be used for safety and guidance. Lighthouses on America's shores have been used for hundreds of years to warn sailors of danger, and to assist them in determining a safe course. Homer's Iliad (850 BC) records the use of signal fires on top of mountains to guide sailors at night. Modern lighthouses may have brilliant lights putting out 10 million candlepower, visible from 20 miles distance.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians about being light in a dark world:
"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you (Ephesians 5:8-14).
The light of Jesus shined on us. We saw ourselves as we really were, as lost sinners, and we came to Christ for salvation. Now WE are the light of the world. We are children of light. The light that shines from us in the world exposes the sin of the world. Christ said not to hide your light under a basket. We may not enjoy speaking out, but it is our Christian duty to take positions about immorality.
Many of America's Christian churches and denominations are even doing the opposite. They have turned away from the light, and are actually promoting darkness. Jesus had a word to say about that in Matthew 6:23..."If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" Pray for our churches and pastors across America, that they would be true to the light of the Scriptures.
SALT
Salt is good for two things: it brings out the flavorfulness of food; it preserves food.
Light comes from someplace other than the thing it illuminates. The light fixture is four feet away from my desk, but it illuminates the papers and books on my desk. The headlights on my car illuminate the street a hundred feet away from my car.
But salt must GET DOWN INTO OR ON whatever it is affecting. Salt has got to be IN the gravy to make it taste better. It won't work from across the room. Salt has got to be rubbed into the meat to preserve it. As long as salt is IN the box, or salt shaker, it is useless.
For Christians to be salt, we have got to be mingled IN the world. We must be rubbing shoulders with, and interacting with, and living with the non-Christians around us. Christians in a monastery are like grains of salt still in the salt shaker. We must be IN the world, but not OF the world.
What does that mean? It means we do what is right. It means we act toward those around us with mercy and compassion. It means that we refuse to go along with the crowd. It means that we do what we can to bring about justice and righteousness in society. It means we vote. It means we write letters to editors. It means that we take unpopular stands. We speak, and we act.
Peter put it this way:
1 Pet 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
1 Pet 2:13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority,
1 Pet 2:14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
1 Pet 2:15 For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.
1 Pet 2:16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
1 Pet 2:17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
1 Pet 2:18 Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
1 Pet 2:19 For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.
We are called to live in such a way that we boggle the minds of the Pagans around us. By being salt, by causing them to wonder why we live as we do, we may be used by the Holy Spirit to win them to Christ.
Conclusion: America is a wonderful place. I believe America is the greatest country in the world. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. But, America is not perfect, and we have a calling from God to make it a better place. We can do that by prayer, by shining the light of God's Word into America's dark corners; and by being salt: living righteously, and standing up for godliness, wherever we may be. May God bless us as we try to live for Him, and may God bless America. Amen.