Leviticus 25: 10

In past years throughout the United States, at high noon on July the fourth, bells were rung.

This July the fourth will be celebrated in towns and cities throughout our land to remind us
of the sacrifices, character, ideas, ideals, and faith which have gone into the making of our national history.
The sound of bells and all the celebrations call us back to that meaningful day on July 4, 1776,
when our nation was born.

Those of us in the Judeo-Christian tradition look back further to such events in Biblical history
as that indicated in our text when the Lord spoke through Moses and said,
"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof..."

A Time To Remember

A time to remember the price of what we enjoy.
"Freedom isn't free...
You've got to pay the price,
You've got to sacrifice, for your liberty."

Days of hardship and great uncertainty accompanied the efforts of those colonial leaders
who led us to attain our freedom as a sovereign nation.

A time to remember the principal Person who provided our liberty.
In Leviticus 25: 2, reference is made to keeping "... a sabbath unto the Lord."
The word, "sabbath," means, "rest."

Perhaps the word is used here as a remembrance that God the Creator rested (Genesis 2: 2)
at the completion of His creation.
The emphasis, however, does not belong to the idea of "rest," but the context
indicates the emphasis belongs to the idea of Who it was that did that creating -- Elohim -- the Mighty God,
the Sovereign of the universe.
It was this same God who delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage, led the tribes through the wilderness,
and helped them conquer Canaan, the land of promise.
The sabbatical year mentioned in Leviticus 25 was commanded in the law of Moses as a reminder
to them of how they came to receive their liberty from bondage.

Our founding fathers also carved a nation out of a wilderness -- a national wilderness, a political wilderness,
a spiritual wilderness -- from such wildernesses they fled to our shores to find freedom, and, under God,
build here a country dedicated to freedom and justice for all.
Our God did all this for us, just as He did for His people long ago.

A Time to Return

It is a time to return to first principles: work, sacrifice, discipline, patriotic devotion, love of justice,
freedom, honesty, high purpose, and respect for the rights of others.
These were first and basic principles in the foundation of our nation.

It is time to return to free enterprise: individual initiative, private industry, the freedom to choose
and work for a way of life -- these are fundamentals of life in a free society.
All are primary factors in a government of free people, and they are diminishing factors in the way of life
we know in our age.

A Time to Recognize

It is time to recognize evils of our materialistic, power-crazed, technological age.
We are in the space age, going places -- to the moon and to Mars, maybe.
Two-thirds of the world are hungry; millions go to bed every night -- hungry.
While we spend ourselves bankrupt with an escalating national debt, the question is -- what next?

There is strife all over our nation -- between races, between religious persuasions;
between political philosophies, and a dozen other factors of our fragmented society.
In our status-minded society, we spend money, we do not have; to buy status symbols, we do not need;
to keep up with people, we do not know; and probably would not like if we did know them.

The most dangerous trend of our time is that we have forgotten God.
I believe that our forefathers would have never dreamed that this nation would ever forget God.

A Time to Renew

It is time to renew our allegiance -- to God and country.
It is significant, that in many churches, the American and Christian flags are displayed together.
They are not in opposition to each other; they complement each other.

It is time to renew our faith in God.
This nation must repent!
This nation must repent of all its arrogance -- its thunderings about being better than other nations.
This nation must repent for forgetting God.
This nation must repent of its sins -- its crime, its crooked politicians, its dope peddlers.
Drugs and alcoholic beverages have become a national disgrace.

We must repent and turn to God!

Too many children are growing up in this God-blest land without knowing God,
except as a word to swear with.
Children who have inherited the greatest blessings of any children on earth do not know enough
about God to say, "Thank You," to God.
Children, who do not understand the deep wells of religious conviction out of which these blessings
have come, should not plead ignorance.
We have forgotten our blessings.

The only safe place for America is on our knees, praying, "God, be merciful to us sinners."

America must return to its houses of worship.

It has been years since many of our citizens have entered the door of a church to hear
the Word of God proclaimed.
For the Christian, going to church services and worshiping God, should be the greatest exercise
of which a person is capable.

For the non-Christian, attending church is putting oneself where the convicting truth of God can be heard.
It is daring to go where you hear from without, what your conscience has already been telling you from within.
It is risking a spiritual experience with God -- a new birth!
I know the church has faults, but I also know the divine power that still flows through her to human souls.

We must act responsibly!
We need a new courage to speak out about evil.
We need a concern that takes the part of the needy.
We need a compassion for those who have lost their way.

Let us, as Americans, ponder the truth of the psalmist's words:
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."

God has blessed America!
How long will God continue to bless America?

God is our only hope!

Sermon by Dr. Harold L. White
Dr. White at hleewhite@aol.com