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Aliens In Our Native Land A Survival Manual for Christians

Living In Post-Christian America

By

Daniel G. Mueller

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Where did our Christian Nation Go? 3 Work Smarter Not Harder 13 Stand Firm 23 Remain Calm 32 Keep A Clear Head 42 Call For Help 51 Swim Parallel To The Shore 60 When You Get Tired, Float on Your Back To Rest 69 Swim Toward Shore Only When the Current Is No Longer Against You 77

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Where Did Our Christian Nation Go?

“Don’t preach at me!” Those words were spoken so fiercely they startled the person to

whom they were spoken. The man hearing those words is unusually generous with his time

and gives of himself to his parents, his in-laws and just about anyone else who would benefit

from his attention. He even drives twice a week for “Meals On Wheels” and calls the people to

whom he delivers lunch his family. An extended member of his family who has no time for

anyone who needs his help asked him why he does all these things. He began his response by

saying that he cared for his parents because they cared for him first; and he cared for others

because he is able to do so and it makes him feel good; and then he began to speak about his

faith planning to tell how he believed that giving of himself was something God expected him to

do. He had barely begun to mention his faith when the other person, a member of his

extended family, mind you, not a stranger, rudely interrupted him and blurted out, “Don’t

preach at me!”

Not that long ago such an interruption would have been far less likely. People may not

have wanted to hear a confession of faith and may even have resented having to listen to one

but they would have listened politely and perhaps ignored it just as politely. There was far less

open hostility to religion in general and Christianity in particular. It was still possible, in the 60s

and 70s, for Christians to go door to door in their neighborhoods and to knock on the doors of

strangers to ask them two questions known as “Kennedy Evangelism” questions: “Have you

come to a point in your personal life where you know for sure that if you died tonight you

would go to heaven?” and “If you did die tonight and found yourself standing before God, and

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God asked, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ what would you say?” Asking those same

questions today might bring physical harm to the person asking them.

Times have changed. It’s increasingly more common for people to hold nothing back in

expressing their displeasure in all things even remotely religious. The number of people in

America registering “none” as their religion is greater now than at any other time in census

history. More and more, those of us who continue to believe are finding ourselves being forced

to feel and to function like aliens in our native land. Where did our Christian nation go?

For a very long time America was described throughout the world as a Christian nation.

The description was not technically accurate. A Christian is one who believes that Jesus Christ is

the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Just being nice, as wonderful as that is, does not make

a person a Christian. A Christian is one who believes he is a sinner and that his sins condemn

him before God but he is set free from that condemnation because of everything that Jesus did

for him in his life, death and resurrection. That’s what a Christian is and that was never the

official position of the United States of America where freedom of religion allows us to believe

whatever we want. If we limit the definition of being Christian to nothing more than being nice

then America is still a Christian nation because it is nice. America has always been generous

and charitable, first to respond to hurting people in every place and situation. If being a

Christian means nothing more than being nice, then America certainly was a Christian nation

and may still be. But being Christian means more than being nice.

There was a time when America embraced and displayed traditional Christian values

and did so without apology or explanation. Abundant evidence could be produced that those

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same values are no longer embraced generally or publicly. Volumes have been written and

continue to be written compiling that evidence. This book is not an attempt to add to that

body of information. This book takes for granted that America is in the process of being

transformed into a secular nation and that it will not return any time soon to being a nation

where true Christians are a majority and their ideas are welcome. Instead, this book seeks to

explore and identify how we who remain faithful will need to re-educate ourselves in order to

live in this rapidly unfolding new reality. Perhaps our cultural slide can be turned around and

the America of old can be restored. There are many who hope this is so. The evidence of

history would indicate that it’s not reasonable to think so.

Those of us who remember when America was different, when America embraced

Christian values and ideals, lived in one of the most wonderful times in history. Unlike the

majority of our brothers and sisters in the faith all over the world, we enjoyed genuine freedom

of religion. Nobody made us feel bad because of our faith. Certainly no one ever tried to

prevent us from practicing our faith. Christmas displays and displays of the Ten

Commandments were welcome in the public square. The name of Jesus could be spoken in

public prayers. That’s not true any longer and we can’t understand why. We want to go back

to that better time; we want to turn back the clock and the values and virtues. We want

America to be the way it used to be. Our attempts to make that happen are meeting with

limited success at best.

It’s a new day and a new experience for us but not so for believers throughout time and

all over the world. Almost 2000 years ago, Peter, one of the early leaders of the Church, in a

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letter to believers who found themselves in more hostile circumstances than we can even

imagine, described those believers first as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,

God’s own people.” (I Peter 2:9) Yes, we shout out; that’s who we are and we should be

recognized as such. Because for so long we were treated far better than is now becoming the

norm, we want to keep on having the same privileges. We want our country to be like us and

not like those who have no regard for God or his ways. It makes sense, it really does, but the

evidence appears to be telling us that’s not what the future is going to look like. It’s going to

look more like the world in which the recipients of Peter’s letter lived. First he reminded them

that they were “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people.” In the

very next breath, after those marvelously reassuring words, Peter then called them “aliens and

exiles.” (I Peter 2:11) He went on to teach our ancient brothers and sisters in Christ how to live

in a way that would glorify God in a world that rejected them.

In the following pages you will find real stories about real people who have lived their

whole lives in places where their Christian faith made them aliens and exiles. Their stories will

teach us how to live in our new reality and do so successfully. You will also find lessons from

God’s Word written to those who from ancient times have had to practice the true faith in the

middle of far greater hostility than we have ever experienced. The Christian faith was born in a

hostile environment. The Apostle Paul, before he was Paul, was Saul, a fanatic Pharisee who

was determined to wipe the name of Jesus off the face of the earth by erasing from the earth

all those who spoke his name. Saul was on his way to Damascus with a letter of authority from

the Jewish Sanhedrin to arrest and imprison Christians there when Christ appeared to him and

turned his life around. That was the world of the early Christians; persecution, imprisonment,

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and death because of their faith. Thank God that Saul became Paul, embraced the faith and

proclaimed it. There was no such conversion in Nero or all the others who continued to hate

Christianity.

For hundreds of years Christians were forced to hide their faith. Crossed fingers mean

nothing more than good luck in our culture. Originally they were shorthand for making the sign

of the cross, a way of witnessing to the faith without calling attention to and exposing oneself.

Similarly, the fish symbol. In Greek, the word for fish is ichthus. Using each letter in the word,

Christians formed one of their first creeds: Iesus (Jesus) Christos (Christ) theou (God’s) uios

(Son) soterion (Savior). When people suspected they might be talking to another Christian,

they would make a curved line in the dirt at their feet, like one half of a pair of parenthesis. If

the other person was a believer, that person would make an opposing curved line, forming an

outline of a fish in the dirt. That’s how sneaky Christians had to be when the Church was in its

infancy because it was so dangerous to openly confess the faith. And yet the faith not only

survived, it thrived. In time it became the accepted religion of the Western world and never

was that more true than in America. Now a growing body of evidence appears to be telling us

that is changing so we need to learn how to live with this new reality; how to become like our

first-century brothers and sisters in the faith.

The testimony of Scripture and the evidence of history is that Christianity cannot be

destroyed by exterior forces and its survival does not depend on exterior support. This is one of

the lessons our brothers and sisters in Christ who are oppressed because of their faith can

teach us. There are Christians in Cuba! In spite of everything Castro and his communist

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dictatorship did to erase religion from the lives of believers in Cuba, the Church is still there,

alive and active. Believers in Cuba describe themselves as Cuban, communist, Christians. It’s a

combination of words that to us just doesn’t sound right at all. Cuban, communist, Christians;

you can’t be all those things at the same time. But it is possible. Believers in Cuba do not

expect the government to encourage or support them because they know it won’t. They do

expect the government to make life harder for them. They accept the fact that they can’t

change their government and they don’t want to change where they live. So, within the

constrictions of their island life under a communist regime, they embrace Christ as their Savior

and follow him faithfully. Castro did not erase Christianity in Cuba. The practice of Christianity

is most certainly less open in Cuba than in the U.S. but it may well be far more vibrant.

The testimony of Scripture and the evidence of history teaches us that in those tragic

times and lives where Christianity has died, it happened from within, not without. Our goal

should not be cultural renewal but an internal revival because the only thing that can save

Christianity in America is an unprecedented affirmation of faith in the Gospel. Secularism is

only the latest in a long list of “ism” threats to Christianity including nihilism, relativism, and

pluralism. Nihilism is the rejection of all religious and moral principles; the conviction that life is

meaningless, without purpose, and with no value; the extreme cynicism and skepticism which

finds nothing to approve of in the social order. Relativism is the conviction that knowledge,

truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, and historical context and therefore can

never be absolute; just because something is true for one person doesn’t make it true for all

people. Pluralism is the increasingly popular idea that no one religion is any better than any

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other and that all religions lead to the same God. We see manifestations of this kind of thinking

in every corner of our culture daily.

All such threats make clear that what Christianity offers is more than a mere

philosophical, intellectual, and moral challenge. Above all else, Christianity appeals to us to

make a personal and existential choice: will I live the faith or not? “The gate is narrow and the

way is hard that leads to life,” Jesus said. “And those who find it are few.” Perhaps we should

think about thanking God for the faith challenges that are presenting themselves; they are

opportunities for us to become stronger in and more committed to our faith than we may ever

have been.

Jesus said, “You will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.” (Matthew 24:9) Thank

God, it isn’t that bad yet but it appears to be going that way. Jesus also said, “If the world hates

you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” (John 15:18) The Gospels tell us that Jesus

was rejected in his own family! (John 7:5) Jesus also said, “Blessed are those who are

persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you

when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my

account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so people persecuted the

prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12)

Defining precisely what the word blessed in the Bible means has challenged scholars for

centuries. One wise man defined it as close to God. To be blessed means to be close to God.

The world may turn its back on us; our own nation may make us feel like aliens in our native

land; but God will never forsake us. Even in the hardest of times we can count on him to keep

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us close to himself. Believing this with all our heart is the key to surviving the changes in our

country that break our hearts and make us feel more and more excluded.

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 1 1. Have you ever been put on the spot because of your faith or observed it happening to

someone else? What emotions are stirred up within us when we’re put on the spot for our faith?

2. Have you ever shared your faith with anyone? If yes, what was the experience like? If

no, what has kept you from doing so? 3. Do you personally know anyone who used to be active in the church and is so no

longer? Do you know what caused the person to stop being active? Is there anything we can do for people who have left the Church?

4. Do you agree that America is becoming more secular? If so, what feelings are stirred up

in you because of it? 5. If it is true that America is becoming more secular, can the trend be reversed? What can

individual Christians do to be faithful to God in a world that doesn’t care about God? 6. Chapter 1 speaks about Christians in Cuba, many of whom are Lutheran. What can we

learn from them to help us keep the faith in the US? 7. In 1 Peter 4:12-14 we read, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that

has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” So many things in this passage apply to us in this moment of our nation’s history. Which words are most helpful to you?

8. The hymn, “God of Grace and God of Glory,” was written in 1930, when our nation was

in the throes of the Great Depression, still recovering from the first World War and never suspecting that the second World War was just around the corner. Read the lyrics carefully. What do they have to say to our time and our situation? The hymn is a prayer. Sing the hymn and pray as your sing.

God of grace and God of glory, on your people pour your power; crown your ancient church's story, bring its bud to glorious flower. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the facing of this hour, for the facing of this hour.

Lo! the hosts of evil round us scorn the Christ, assail his ways! From the fears that long have bound us free our hearts to faith and praise. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the living of these days,

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for the living of these days.

Cure your children's warring madness; bend our pride to your control; shame our wanton, selfish gladness, rich in things and poor in soul. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, lest we miss your kingdom's goal, lest we miss your kingdom's goal.

Save us from weak resignation to the evils we deplore; let the gift of your salvation be our glory evermore. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, serving you whom we adore, serving you whom we adore.

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Work Smarter Not Harder

“What can we do to stem the tide of liberalism and secularism in our country?” This is

the prevailing question for many of the faithful who grieve the changes taking place in America.

“There has to be something we can do!” they plead. “We can’t just stand by and do nothing.”

In an effort to do something some contribute to the Republican Party, hoping politicians who

still cling to some conservative values will be able to do something to turn around our nation’s

secular drift. Some contribute to religious leaders who promise to do all they can do to stand

up for our values and our rights. Some invest their personal time and energy attending rallies

and other events where – forgive me for this judgment – the prevailing order of business is

often little more than hand wringing, wailing and lamentation. What we have been doing so far

doesn’t seem to be accomplishing much. Some would say: well, at least it’s slowed down the

rate of degeneration. Perhaps, but that’s an opinion not a fact.

There’s great wisdom in the question at the beginning of the previous parapraph if we

will just take the time to learn from it. The question begins with these words, “What can we do

to stem the tide. . .” Grasping the impact of the word tide is critical to our success in developing

a productive response to our new reality. Like it or not, we are caught in a powerful tide of

social change. It would not be at all inaccurate to label it a riptide. Anyone who has ever been

caught in an actual riptide quickly discovers it is impossible to fight against the tide. When all

the energy of the ocean is determined to push a swimmer in one direction, that swimmer has

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no chance to overcome that energy and swim against it. Those who refuse to accept this reality

exhaust themselves trying to do the impossible and drown.

It’s not impossible to survive a riptide but one has to follow a proper course of action in

order to do so. The steps for surviving a riptide offer significant insight into how we can teach

ourselves how to deal with the tide of liberalism and secularism in our country. These are the

steps to surviving a riptide:

- If the water is shallow enough, try to plant your feet firmly on the sea floor.

- Remain calm; panicking just increases the likelihood of drowning.

- Keep a clear head.

- Call for help.

- Swim parallel to the shore.

- When you get tired, float on your back to rest.

- Swim toward shore only when the current is no longer against you.

The title of this chapter is work smarter, not harder. Multiplying activity does not

necessarily increase productivity. Some people accomplish a whole lot more in a whole lot less

time because they work smarter. A lot of people who work long hours and invest large

amounts of energy are frustrated because they aren’t accomplishing more. “I work so hard and

so long,” they lament, “why don’t I have anything more to show for it?” It’s not how hard you

work but how smart you work that matters. Too many of us are not working smarter. We’re

doing all these things we hope will make a difference and nothing is changing, at least not the

way we want it to change.

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One of the most helpful lessons a parent can learn is that some battles are just not

worth fighting and some battles cannot be lost no matter what. You walk into your son’s

college dorm room and discover he’s installed posters of scantily clad women on his wall. Your

immediate instinct is to ask him if that’s really appropriate artwork to display for someone who

was raised in the faith as he was. You’re tempted to ask him to take down the posters. Unless

you plan on checking his room on a daily basis, there’s no way to make sure the posters will

stay down. And it is his room, not yours. If it was his bedroom at home you would have more

control but it’s not your house; it’s his room. You let this battle go; you attempt to influence

instead of fight. Parental success, just like military success, requires careful strategy and that

means knowing when to draw battle lines and engage the enemy and when to withdraw. It’s

the same with our response to all the changes in America that so distress us. We can’t fight

every battle; we can’t win every battle; thinking we can and trying to do so only guarantees

defeat. This is a crucial lesson for us to learn as we adapt to our new reality.

The Savior himself taught this very lesson: "Suppose a king is about to go to war against

another king. Won't he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to

oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?” (Luke 14:31) With all due respect

to all who are doing their best to remain faithful to the truth of God’s love for us in his Son

Jesus Christ, our Savior, too many of us are fighting the wrong battles. And all we are

succeeding in doing is wearing ourselves out while multiplying frustration. We need to get

smarter; we need to be taught and to learn how to navigate our way through waters that were

once familiar but are so no longer.

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When Jesus sent his disciples out on their first “solo” mission endeavor, with graphic

picture language, he warned them explicitly about what they would encounter: “Listen up! I

send you out as sheep among wolves.” (Matthew 10:16) It’s amazing that the disciples actually

went out from the Lord; one would have excused them for running the other way because

Jesus told them they would be delivered up to councils, flogged, dragged before governors and

kings. It was going to get very personal, the Savior told them. “Brother will deliver up brother

to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to

death.” (Matthew 10:21) This chapter in the Gospel of Matthew is an absolute goldmine of

lifesaving instructions. The reader would do well to put down this book right now and read

Matthew 10 prayerfully before proceeding with this text.

In addition to warning the disciples about how challenging their lives were about to

become, Jesus gave wonderful gifts and made marvelous promises to reassure them: He gave

them authority over unclean spirits and diseases; he promised to provide for them so

completely that it was not necessary for them to take with them any provisions; and he assured

them they would make it. In all the words of Jesus in this chapter of Matthew, two strike me as

the most necessary for us as we learn to make our way in our new reality. First, these excerpts

from Matthew 10:26-30, “Have no fear of them . . .Do not fear those who kill the body but

cannot kill the soul. . . Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to

the ground without your Father’s will. . . Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many

sparrows.” The Savior did not sugarcoat reality; he did not pretend that everything was going

to be easy. He loved his disciples too much to withhold from them the truth. There would be

hard times in their lives and there will be hard times in our lives. But we do not need to be

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afraid because the God who cares for all Creation, even for the least significant of all the things

he has made, cares for us. Have no fear of them! The second word that reaches out to us is the

rest of the verse in which Jesus told his disciples he was sending them out as sheep in the midst

of wolves: “Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)

For all the time that Christianity was welcome in America it was unnecessary for us to

even think about putting up some kind of protective shield around us. We didn’t ever have to

think in strategic fashion. Now we do. In crude legalese, we need to learn how to cover our

butts. We know how to be innocent because we’ve been practicing that for a long time. Now

we need to teach ourselves how to be wise as serpents while not losing godly innocence. We

have to think about our world, our lives, ourselves, in all new ways.

Because serpents are regarded negatively in Scripture, beginning with the serpent in the

Garden of Eden, it seems strange that Jesus would encourage his followers to be wise as

serpents. Most people hate snakes. We run from them; we kill them just to be on the safe

side; we use them as euphemisms for all that is evil saying things like: “He’s a snake in the

grass!” Everything Jesus ever said was said to protect his followers from all harm and to draw

them closer to him and to his Father in heaven. He calls his followers to be wise as serpents for

the very same purpose. Jesus calls us to be wise as serpents because serpents have many

helpful lessons to teach us: Snakes are good at hiding; they know how to protect themselves;

they use energy wisely to stay warm when it’s cold and to get cool when it’s hot; they seek out

each other for mutual benefit, hibernating in dens; they choose to avoid danger whenever

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possible; unless they are feeding, they are defensive not offensive by nature; and they pay close

attention to their surroundings.

How do we convert snake behavior into the behaviors we need to learn to be wise as

serpents? Consider these possibilities:

- Snakes are good at hiding. As it was in the first century, it may become necessary for us

to hide our faith in some settings and circumstances. We gain nothing by forcing our beliefs on

others for we cannot, by our own reason or strength, make ourselves or anyone else believe.

- Snakes know how to protect themselves. There is no virtue in recklessly and heedlessly

exposing ourselves to danger. There were at least 3 attempts on the life of Jesus. He escaped

the first two because he knew how to protect himself. We honor God and advance the cause of

his Kingdom when we choose our battles strategically.

- Snakes use energy wisely. We have to focus our energy and respond to specific

circumstances precisely. When we find ourselves in friendly surroundings, we need to make

the most of them; when we find ourselves in hostile settings, we need to present ourselves

strategically.

- Snakes seek out each other for mutual benefit. Because of those who oppose us, all the

factors that have divided Christians from one another need to become less important than

coming together for mutual strength and encouragement.

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- Snakes choose to avoid danger. After John the Baptist was beheaded, The Gospels tell

us that Jesus went away to a lonely place by boat. (Matthew 14:13) Live to fight another day is

good advice in war, including our war against the gates of hell.

- Snakes are defensive not offensive. “Be ready at all times to give an answer to those

who ask about the hope that is in you; do so with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)

There is s a time to stand up for our faith openly and boldly and times to be silent, waiting for

others to begin the conversation by asking us what we believe. Being pushy about anything just

creates resistance. God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we would listen twice as much

as talk. The best opportunities to witness begin not out of our desire to witness but out of the

expressed desire in those to whom we are witnessing to hear about the hope that is in us.

- Snakes pay close attention to their surroundings. Refusing to accept the new realities in

which we find ourselves and insisting on pretending our world is still the same as it used to be is

denial and denial prevents us from accomplishing what needs to be done.

Three to six times a year snakes shed their skin. Perhaps this is the most necessary

lesson we might learn in our effort to become wise as serpents. Snakes adjust to the changing

circumstances around them. If they attempted to stay in their original skin they would die.

Shedding their skins allows them to grow. It’s human nature to want to hang on to the past for

all the obvious reasons. Sometimes hanging on to the past is a sure-fire prescription for

disaster. Sometimes we have to let go of the past so that we can grow. It’s true for snakes and

it’s true for Christians.

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Earlier in the chapter there was a list of helpful steps to take to get out of a riptide

without drowning. The following chapters will explore each of those steps more closely to see

how they apply to helping us learn to live as aliens in our native land.

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 2 1. When Jesus sent out his disciples on their first solo mission he gave them very specific

instructions about where to go and not go. (Matthew 10:5-6) Jesus doesn’t direct his people in the same way today so we are left to decide for ourselves where to go and not go. Are there places in our world – in the broader sense of the word places – Christians would do well to avoid? And besides church and church activities, are there places where Christians need to be more present and visible?

2. When Jesus sent out his disciples he endowed them with the ability to make miracles

happen. Do miracles still happen in our world? The gifts the apostles were given were extraordinary, but God has not left us without

any gifts. What gifts has God given his people? (Romans 12:3-13; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11) Have you ever taken the time to identify the spiritual gifts God has given you; do you

know what they are? How have you used them? 3. When Jesus sent out his disciples he told them that not everyone would welcome them

or listen to them and that it was okay for the disciples to just walk away from them. What reassurance is there in knowing it’s not our job to make people believe? Whose job is it to make people believe?

4. Jesus makes an astounding promise in Matthew 10 when he declares that “whoever

gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciples, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.” The things we do that appear to us to be so insignificant bring us blessing when they are done out of faith. What “insignificant” things have you done that have helped you to grow in your faith and walk with God?

5. The previous chapter speaks about lessons we can learn from snakes. Which of the

lessons listed would be hardest for you to learn and which one would help you the most?

6. “Christ Be My Leader” is a fairly recent hymn. Read the lyrics carefully. Is there any line

that speaks comfort to you as you deal with the pressures of our modern world? Sing the hymn and pray as you sing. Christ be my leader by night as by day; Safe through the darkness, for He is the way. Gladly I follow, my future His care, Darkness is daylight when Jesus is there. Christ be my teacher in age as in youth,

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Drifting or doubting, for He is the truth. Grant me to trust Him; though shifting as sand, Doubt cannot daunt me; in Jesus I stand. Christ be my Savior in calm as in strife; Death cannot hold me, for He is the Life. Nor darkness nor doubting nor sin and its stain Can touch my salvation: with Jesus I reign.

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Stand Firm!

In his book, Leaving Home, Garrison Keillor tells a marvelous story about a group of

pastors who fall off a pontoon houseboat in the middle of an unfamiliar lake. Afraid they might

drown, they all cling desperately to the side of the boat until a ten-year-old walks up and

announces, “The lake is shallow enough here that you can stand up.” Riptides happen in

shallow water as well as deep water and sometimes all it takes to overcome a riptide is planting

our feet firmly on the sea floor beneath us. Sometimes however, just like the pastors in

Keillor’s story, we’re so afraid of the current tugging strongly on us that it never occurs to us to

try to just stand up and plant our feet. To protect ourselves against the current of social change

taking over our country it will be necessary for us to plant our spiritual, intellectual, and

emotional feet where it will do the most good.

The Bible is full of references that call us to stand firm. The very first is part of the

narrative of the crossing of the Red Sea. After a mind-boggling display of God’s power in ten

plagues, each more terrifying than the one before it, God’s Old Testament people were set free

from slavery in Egypt. Following Moses, they left behind 400 years of servitude and misery and

walked off into the wilderness to build new lives in freedom. Before they were anywhere near

their goal they came face to face with their first major obstacle: the Red Sea. How in the world

would they be able to get across such a massive watery barrier? To make things worse,

Pharaoh had changed his mind about letting them go free and wanted revenge for all the harm

he believed was all their fault but was truly the recompense of his own unbridled pride. With

the Red Sea in front of them, blocking their way, and the forces of Pharaoh behind them,

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driving on them with murderous intent, it looked like the end of the road for God’s Old

Testament people. They were filled with despair and cried out in their anguish against Moses.

“Did you bring us out here to die because there aren’t enough graves in Egypt? We told you

this was going to happen. We told you to leave us alone. Serving the Egyptians was horrible

but that was better than being dragged out here to die this way!” That moment in history holds

remarkable parallels to our moment now. We find ourselves anxiously squeezed between a

wave of unwanted change behind us and an ocean of unsettling uncertainty in front of us.

Listen to what Moses said to his people long ago and through the words of Scripture

now says to us: “Do not be afraid, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord which he will

work for you today.” Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord! Perhaps David had this very

moment in time in mind hundreds of years later when he wrote in Psalm 37, “Fret not yourself

because of the wicked. . . for they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.

Trust in the Lord and do good, so you will dwell in the land and enjoy security.” (Psalm 37:1-3)

In this Psalm, the words “fret not yourself” are repeated several times. I love this translation.

The word fret describes a useless and unproductive kind of fear and trepidation that just turns

us into helpless, cowardly bowls of inactivity doing nothing to help ourselves or our situations.

Fear is a natural emotion, part of the self-preservation mechanism God built into us. Proper

fear protects us by preventing us from placing ourselves heedlessly in danger. But when fear

takes control of our lives it turns us away from God who has called us out of a spirit of fear into

a spirit of confidence and hope. Fret is that kind of fear; it makes us just look at all that is

wrong in our world and do nothing but wail and lament, making ourselves miserable.

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Psalm 37 offers a much better path for us to take. Look: “Take delight in the Lord, and

he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he

will act. He will bring forth your vindication as the light, and your right as the noonday. Be still

before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over him who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not

yourself; it tends only to evil. For the wicked shall be cut off; but those who wait for the Lord

shall possess the land.” (Psalm 37:4-9) Once again, the reader would do well to lay down this

text and to read the whole Psalm from beginning to end before proceeding.

Take delight in the Lord! Our first clue for how to survive the tide of change sweeping

across our country instructs us to stand firm. It will only help us if we stand firm on a solid

foundation; if we stand firm on unshifting and unchanging truth. It will only work if we stand

firm in God and nothing else.

Is it possible that what is happening in our country is a gift to us from God to call us to

once again place our trust where it belongs? I know this will sound unpatriotic and offensive to

many but I have to wonder if maybe what is happening in our country right now is not in every

way the work of God to point out to us that for too long we who thought all along that we were

trusting God have actually been trusting our country, our military might, our government, our

manifest destiny. Please don’t get me wrong. I love America. I thank God for America. I don’t

want to live anywhere but America. But America, at its brightest and best, will never be able to

do for me what God alone can do. “The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their

refuge in the time of trouble. The Lord helps them; he delivers them from the wicked, and

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saves them, because they take refuge in him.” (Psalm 37:39 & 40) Look again at the end of

that passage: The Lord delivers his people because they take refuge in him! “God is our refuge

and strength, a very present help in every trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth

should change. . . The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” (Psalm 46,

selected verses)

It grieves me to question the possibility that my brothers and sisters in Christ have

misplaced their trust. I do so only because I have listened to how so many speak about

America. I hear them claiming that as long as America stands firm against the rest of the world,

then everything will be okay. It’s America, the America we knew long ago, the America of our

childhood, America the way it used to be, that makes us feel safe and secure. If we could just

return to the way it was and maintain it that way; if we could just undo all the change, then

everything would be okay. Is not such thinking an act of misplaced trust? Martin Luther

defined as “a god” whatever we look to for the highest good in our lives. By that definition,

believing that America is the key to the highest good in our lives would make America a god for

us and that would be idolatry for God declares, “You shall have no gods before me.”

Rudolf Bultmann was a German Lutheran lay theologian who was known for his

resistance to Hitler. In 1933, as he was preparing to deliver a lecture, he interrupted himself to

make some introductory remarks. This is what he said, “No nation is so pure and clean that one

may explain every stirring of the national will as a direct demand of God. As nature and all our

personal relations with one another have become uncanny as a result of sin, so also has

nationality. From it emerge deeds of beauty and nobility; but there also breaks out of it the

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demon of sin. Every state and every nation bears within itself not only the possibilities and

tasks of the good and the beautiful, but also the temptations to the evil and the mean.” For

some, believing that America has flaws is impossible.

Bultmann’s horizon as Hitler came to power was decidedly more daunting than our

situation in America as secularism and liberalism grow in control. But the way he responded to

the challenges in his native land provides helpful lessons for us as we learn how to respond to

the challenges we are encountering. More from Bultmann, “If we have correctly understood

the meaning and the demand of the Christian faith, then it is quite clear that, in the face of the

voices of the present, this Christian faith itself is being called into question. In other words, it is

clear that we have to decide whether Christian faith is to be valid for us or not. It, for its part,

can relinquish nothing of its nature and claim; for the word of the Lord remains in eternity. And

we should as scrupulously guard ourselves against falsifications of the faith by national

religiosity as against a falsification of national piety by Christian trimmings. (Both quotes from

Existence and Faith: Shorter Writings of Rudolf Bultmann)

I came to America when I was 11 years old. My parents were missionaries in Brazil for

24 years. My father grew up in France and became a citizen of the United States in his early

20s. My mother grew up in Connecticut, in Norman Rockwell’s America. I will never forget how

she spoke to my sisters and me as we were preparing to come to America. Almost with tears in

her eyes, she told us about how wonderful America was and how different our lives would be

here. In Brazil, at the middle of the 20th century, we were accustomed to corruption in

government and less than the best in just about everything because that was just the way it

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was. The public took political corruption for granted. Casually, people would say about every

politician, “Of course he stole a lot, but he also . . . “ and then they would list his achievements

and improvements, things like building roads or hospitals. People expected the government to

be crooked. “You’ll never see that happen in America,” my mother told us. “In America you

can trust your leaders and believe they are doing their best for the country and not for

themselves.” I don’t know if America was ever as good as my mother said it was but she

believed it was. With all her heart she believed it. Many people believed it. Little by little

we’re discovering it wasn’t quite that pure and it certainly isn’t that way any longer. There’s

good reason why God calls us to trust him above all things. “Some boast of chariots, and some

of horses; but we boast of the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:8) Is it possible that we

turned that around and that God is now working to lead us to turn it the right way again? “All

flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. . . The grass withers, the flower

fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8) Only God is eternal.

Stand firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of all

who follow Christ throughout the world and in every age. Set your hope on God for he alone is

a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. Be stable and steadfast in faith, not letting go of the

hope of the Gospel. Be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love and always

abound in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. The Lord

knows those who are his. God will keep you safe in Christ.

It’s not for no reason that the Scriptures warn us about where we put our trust. “Let

anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12) The Church’s one

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foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord. Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and

righteousness. On Christ, the Solid Rock, we stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other

ground is sinking sand.

That’s true not just for our salvation but for every part of life.

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 3 1. The previous chapter mentioned “a wave of unwanted change behind us and an ocean

of unsettling uncertainty in front of us”. There was a time in America when church doors were never locked and now they are. That’s one sign of unwanted change. People could enter a church any time of day or night. What other cultural changes have you observed in your community and in your personal life? What are you afraid of as you think about the future?

2. Rudolf Bultmann stated that, like every individual, “Every state and every nation bears

within itself not only the possibilities and tasks of the good and the beautiful, but also the temptations to the evil and the mean.” What is good and beautiful about America? Is it unpatriotic to say that our nation isn’t perfect? What would you identify as our national sins, the evil and the mean about America?

3. The RSV translation of Psalm 37 uses the word fret numerous times. The dictionary

defines the word fret as to be constantly or visibly worried and anxious; to gradually wear something away by rubbing or gnawing. When we let our fear control us, what will gradually be worn away?

The word fret is also used to identify a part on a guitar, mandolin, or banjo that helps

musicians make beautiful music by helping them know where to put their fingers. How might God use our fear, like a guitar player uses a fret, to create something beautiful?

4. Psalm 37 calls us to “delight ourselves in the Lord.” The Hebrew word translated delight

conjures up the image of being pampered, happy, merry, and without a care in the world. What would our daily behavior look like if we delighted ourselves in the Lord that way?

5. In the midst of their daily struggles, the children of Israel complained repeatedly

because it was so hard for them to see all the good God had planned for them. What would we be wise to learn from them?

6. “God Bless Our Native Land” is a beautiful prayer for our nation. Look closely at the

lyrics. How might they show how the years have made us misplace our trust? Sing the hymn and pray for our country.

God bless our native land! For her our prayer shall rise Firm may she ever stand To God above the skies; Thro' storm and night! On him we wait. When the wild tempests rave, Thou who are ever nigh, Ruler of wind and wave Guarding with watchful eye, Do Thou our country save To Thee aloud we cry, By Thy great might. God save the State! Amen.

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Remain Calm

Spoiled! Rotten! It’s always easier to see human frailty and shortcomings in others than

in ourselves. And so it’s easier for the generation now approaching or already in retirement –

the generation most likely to express its concern about the secularization of America - to accuse

the generation just now entering the work force of being spoiled rotten. The feeling is that

young people at the end of the 20th century were so indulged in their childhood that they

failed to take possession of the very values that allowed and enabled their parents to indulge

them; values like hard work, generosity and responsibility. Both anecdotal evidence and more

careful research suggest there might be some truth in the accusation. Accusing others of being

spoiled rotten requires little effort or thought. But what about us? Is it possible that Christians

in America have been spoiled rotten by all the years when Christianity in particular and religion

in general were accepted and encouraged? It was so easy to be a Christian in America and now

that the culture of America is changing and religion is being forced out more and more making

it more difficult to be a Christian we wail and lament like spoiled children.

A careful reading of the Old Testament will reveal that not even in ancient Israel was the

worship of the True God as socially acceptable and culturally conditioned as Christianity came

to be in America. It took time for the Israel of the Old Testament to become a nation. The

process began in earnest when Israel took possession of the land of Canaan, around 1,300 years

before Jesus was born. Israel functioned as a loose confederation of states with no permanent

government. Judges came and went between periods of lesser and greater anarchy. David

formed the twelve tribes into a nation around the year 1,000 B.C. Before David there was no

Jerusalem, no temple, no synagogue. The worship of the True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac,

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and Jacob, competed with the worship of idols in all its forms. There’s an account in Judges 18

of a priest who sold his services to the highest bidder and shaped the religion he practiced

according to his employer’s design. In his 40-year reign, David set the stage for the building of

the Temple, the strengthening of the union between the tribes and the consolidation of the

worship of the True God. Solomon followed his father David to the throne and promptly built

the first temple suggesting that the worship of the True God would finally be established in

Israel. But that didn’t happen because right next to the temple of the True God Solomon built

temples to the gods of his many wives. One such god was named Molech, a vile deity whose

worship included the sacrifice of babies. His temple was built in the Valley of Hinnom. One of

the Biblical names for hell is connected to Molech and the Valley of Hinnom. It’s the name

Gehenna, a word that conjures up the image of the screams of dying babies. Solomon built the

temple to Molech! Solomon reigned as king for 40 years. After Solomon the nation was cut in

two, creating the nations of Judah and Israel. From that time on, the worship of the True God

was an exception rather than the norm. The people followed the lead of their king, almost all

of whom promoted the worship of idols. True believers were a minority and regularly under

fire.

King Ahab was one of the worst idolaters. His queen was Jezebel, a woman so wicked

that her very name has for all time become synonymous with female wickedness. Ahab and

Jezebel promoted the worship of Baal, one of the many fertility gods of the ancient world. Into

that context stepped the prophet Elijah, one of the greatest heroes of the Bible. His story is

recorded in the first book of Kings. There we read in 1 Kings 18 about a duel in which Elijah

defeated the prophets of Baal. When Jezebel heard of it she sent a messenger to Elijah to say,

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“May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow” I have not taken

your life from you. (1 Kings 19:2) Note well her threat: may the gods – plural; she believed in

many gods and Baal was just one of them. Elijah fled for his life and hid in a cave as far from

harm as he could possibly get. When God appeared to him there to comfort and encourage

him, Elijah cried out in anguish telling God that he was the last true believer left on the face of

the earth and that his enemies were trying to kill him too. He was convinced that he was the

last faithful person on the face of the earth. But he wasn’t. God told him there were still 7,000

more who had not bowed the knee to Baal; 7,000 who still worshiped the One True God.

We have no way of knowing precisely what the population of the Holy Land was in

Elijah’s day. Let’s suppose that it was only 100,000. That means that true believers made up

only 7 % of the population. It’s reasonable to think that Israel’s population was significantly

higher and that makes the proportion even smaller. What if the population of the Holy Land in

Elijah’s time was one million? Seven thousand true believers out of one million people? One

would have excused Elijah if he would have thought: Seven thousand! Big deal! Like that’s

going to do much good! But Elijah didn’t give up. And, to the best of our knowledge, neither

did the 7,000. The faithful few remained faithful no matter what. Their example calls us who

are becoming the faithful few to do no less.

In the Israel of the Old Testament, where one might reasonably expect that true religion

would have found all the support it wanted from government and society, the very opposite

was so true that one of the faithful was convinced he was the last believer on earth. The kind

of support for religion that we have enjoyed for so long in America that we came to take it for

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granted was never present in all of Israel’s history. There came a time when the grand total of

true believers in the entire country had declined to 7,000. Those 7,000 did not give up the

faith. And while clinging to their faith as a drowning person would cling to a life preserver, they

learned how to find their way through all the hostility around them. They learned how to

protect themselves, their lives and their faith. They learned the lessons we now need to learn.

It’s significant, I believe, that in that awful moment in Elijah’s life God appeared to him

in a still, small voice. The Bible makes it very clear that God is capable of explosive displays of

his almighty power. There are times when God flat out runs over people, circumstances and

events. But that doesn’t happen nearly as often as all the other times when God reveals

himself in almost imperceptible fashion. God appeared to Elijah when the prophet was hiding

out in a cave. As God passed by, a great wind shook the mountain around Elijah’s cave and tore

rocks apart but the Lord was not in the wind. Then an earthquake rattled the mountain but the

Lord was not in the earthquake. And then a fire seemed to consume the mountain but the Lord

was not in the fire. A great wind, an earthquake, a fire are all impressive displays of power and

it would be easy to believe that God was at work in each of those means displaying his infinite

power. We tend to look for God in the big things that happen in life and fail to see him in all

the little things that daily, moment by moment, reveal him. After all those obvious displays of

God’s power, in which he was not present, Elijah finally heard a still, small voice; a whisper.

And it was the voice of God.

One of the lessons we need to learn is how to appreciate small blessings and little

victories. Can we undo Roe vs. Wade and end the slaughter of innocents in America? The

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number of abortions carried out in America is actually declining but it appears to be due not to

fewer procedures being carried out but because of the advent of over-the-counter

abortifacients. Abortions are still happening; they’re just happening at home. Can we reclaim

the sanctity of marriage, not only bringing a halt to the redefinition of marriage away from one

man and one woman but also ending the tragedy that is divorce and restoring one man and one

woman for life? Perhaps but it seems highly unlikely. Can we reverse the culture of welfare

and go back to what the Bible says, that he who will not work should not eat? Can we create an

economy that makes it possible for all people who want to work to find work and a mindset

that does not look down on some jobs as being below us? Perhaps but it seems highly unlikely.

The possibility of gaining great victories for the cause of Christian values and beliefs appears to

be remote at best. And continuing to work to achieve them appears to be an exercise in futility.

Can we commit ourselves personally to the sanctity of life in our own homes? Yes, we can. Can

we give thanks for that “small” victory? Can we commit ourselves to being faithful spouses if

God has so blessed us or faithful singles if that is our calling? Yes, we can. Can we give thanks

for that “small” victory? Can we commit ourselves to our work as a sacred vocation and work,

as Scripture calls us to do, not to please our earthly supervisors but to honor God? Yes, we can.

Can we give thanks for that “small” victory? Can we commit ourselves to Christian stewardship

and apply our energies to using all the spiritual and material gifts God gives us as belonging to

him, not us? Yes, we can. Can we give thanks for that “small” victory? I placed quotation

marks around each occurrence of the word small in the previous lines because each of those

actions might appear to be small but if all believers practiced them the result would be a huge

blessing and make a monumental difference.

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Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor who was executed close to the end

of the second world war for his part in the resistance effort against Hitler that led to a failed

assassination plot against the Fuhrer. From prison, Bonhoeffer wrote, “In the revolutionary

times ahead the greatest gift will be to know the security of a good home. It will be a bulwark

against all dangers from within and without. . . Children will be drawn into their parents’

protection, and they will seek refuge, counsel, peace, and enlightenment . . . The piety of (a

Christian) home will teach you to say your prayers, to fear and love God above everything, and

to do the will of Jesus Christ.” (From “Thoughts on the Baptism of D.W.R., Letters and Papers

from Prison) Can we repair all the broken homes in our nation? Can we remove from each of

them the life-shattering abuses of virtue inflicted by every form of media and entertainment?

Can we instill in every one of them the values that we know secure the abundant life that Jesus

Christ came to win for us? Perhaps, but it seems highly unlikely. Can we do our best to make

our homes all that God wants them to be? Yes, we can. And so doing we will take hold of one

of the greatest gifts possible for surviving revolutionary times: the gift of a godly home.

Surviving the deadly dangers of a riptide requires one to remain calm. We cannot

remain calm when we focus on everything that we cannot change and apply all our energy to

bringing about those changes. All that does is guarantee an explosion of turmoil. “Be still and

know that I am God,” we read in Psalm 46. Being still is what being calm is all about. We can

be still, we can be calm, because “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in every

trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains

shake in the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble

with its tumult.” In the first decade of the 21st century there have been some epic natural

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disasters that have shaken the earth and turned the oceans upside down. Every one of them

has taught us how quickly everything can change. They have also taught us about the ability

God has built into us to survive. Most of all, they have taught us that God is God. “Be still and

know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm

46:1-3, 10)

Nothing can take away from God his kingdom, his power and his glory. They are his

forever and ever. Nothing can take away from us all the blessings God intends for us, including

the eternal home God has prepared for us. Nothing can keep God from being our refuge.

Nothing, no natural catastrophe nor manmade disaster, can separate us from him and from his

love for us. Nations may conspire against God and individual people may plot against the Lord

and his Anointed One. The whole world may set itself to destroying all the precious

connections that God has with all his creation because he loves the world so much that he gave

his one and only Son. God is not afraid. He sits in heaven and laughs; he looks on the efforts of

those who oppose him and scoffs. (Psalm 2:4) While we shake in fear and make ourselves

miserable with worry because of what the enemies of God are doing, God laughs because he

knows he cannot be defeated.

Reinhold Niebuhr, an American theologian, is credited with creating the Serenity Prayer

which has comforted so many. Most of us are familiar only with the opening lines of the prayer

but we would do well to become familiar with the whole thing especially this line: “Taking, as

Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it .” It will help us to remain calm to pray

this prayer every time the difficulty of living as an alien in our native land confronts us.

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God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things which should be changed,

and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time,

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,

Taking, as Jesus did, This sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it,

Trusting that You will make all things right, If I surrender to Your will,

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 4 1. Was it surprising to discover in the previous chapter that ancient Israel was never a

deeply religious nation? Is it possible that many of our memories of the “good old days” are not as accurate as we think they are? What was good about the good old days? What was not so good?

2. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “In the revolutionary times ahead the greatest gift will be to

know the security of a good home.” What elements are necessary in order to create a good Christian home? Is there one thing you want to be more committed to in making your home a better home?

3. God spoke to Elijah in “a still, small voice.” God appeared to his prophet exactly the

way Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah, the Christ would appear and work in our world. Isaiah wrote, “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My Chosen One in whom my soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.” (Isaiah 42:1-4) What can we do to be more attentive to the still, small voice of God?

Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would not make a lot of noise. The Gospels tell us

that Jesus lived up to Isaiah’s prophesy. There was only one occasion in the Savior’s life when he made a “big scene”: the cleansing of the Temple. But the rest of the time Jesus quietly went about his work. Is it okay if we aren’t making a lot of noise about all that’s going on in our world; is it enough for us to continue to quietly live our lives in the fear of God and to share our faith as opportunities arise? How can we know when it’s the right time to raise our voice and make a lot of noise?

Isaiah promised about the Messiah that “A bruised reed he will not break and a dimly

burning wick he will not extinguish.” What reassurance do those words convey to you about your personal walk with God and about how God will protect his Kingdom on earth?

Jesus faced constant opposition and in the end his enemies appeared to win. And yet,

Isaiah prophesied about him that “He will not be disheartened or crushed until he has established justice in the earth.” It’s easy to become discouraged and disheartened. In the ancient liturgy of the Church there was this exchange between the pastor and the people: the pastor said, “Lift up your hearts!” and the people replied, “We lift them up unto the Lord.” How do these words speak to how we are called to respond to discouragement and disheartening?

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Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, Isaiah pointed forward to the moment of the Savior’s baptism when the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove. The Father gave his Holy Spirit to the Son. When was the Holy Spirit given to us and how does the Spirit work in our lives every day of our life, our whole life long?

4. Is there one line in the Serenity Prayer that stands out for you more than all the others?

Why? The Serenity Prayer is a major component in the teachings of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Those teachings include Twelve Steps that begin with these three: “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.”

Change the word alcohol to whatever word most applies to you as you think about the

cultural changes in America. What might these three steps in AA teach us about how we should respond to the cultural challenges that sometimes appear to us to have become unmanageable?

5. The hymn, “Have No Fear, Little Flock” is filled with words of encouragement and

reassurance. Look closely at the lyrics. Which words most closely apply to us in our current cultural challenges? Sing the hymn and pray as you sing.

Have no fear little flock, Have no fear little flock, For the Father has chosen to give you the Kingdom; Have no fear, little flock! Have good cheer, little flock; Have good cheer, little flock, For the Father will keep you In His love forever; Have good cheer, little flock! Praise the Lord high above; Praise the Lord high above, For He stoops down to heal you, Uplift and restore you; Praise the Lord high above! Thankful hearts raise to God; Thankful hearts raise to God. For He stays close beside you, In all things works with you; Thankful hearts raise to God!

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Keep a clear head

“The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” An acorn fell and struck Chicken Little on the

head. Let me repeat that. An acorn fell and struck Chicken Little on the head. And he ran all

through the farm yard screaming that the sky was falling. It was just an acorn but Chicken Little

was convinced the entire sky was falling. Chicken Little is a marvelous example of what

happens when we fail to maintain a clear head. We lose all perspective and allow ourselves to

believe our situation is far worse than it actually is.

Maintaining a clear head requires us, first of all, accurately, calmly, and rationally to

assess our situation; to take stock of precisely how bad things are. Failure to do so causes us

most often to overreact. Then all we succeed in doing is making ourselves miserable

unnecessarily. If our house truly is burning down, it is imperative that we run out of the house

as quickly as possible, making sure everyone else is out as well. And then call 911. But if there

is only a small fire on the stove, there’s no need to call 911; that’s something most people can

take care of with just a pot lid or a sprinkle of baking soda. A small fire deserves our attention

but there’s no reason to panic. Reacting to all the unwelcome changes in our nation requires

the same kind of careful assessment. Some of us have already reached panic mode and our

overreaction has made nothing better.

The disciples of Jesus overreacted in the last week of the Savior’s life when the Lord

spoke to them about the destruction of Jerusalem. Sometime in that week, Jesus and the

disciples went to the Temple in Jerusalem. As they were leaving, the disciples couldn’t contain

their admiration for the beauty of the Temple buildings, and like little children falling over their

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words in excitement as they try to tell their parents about something wonderful, the disciples

came to point out to Jesus the buildings of the Temple. It’s easy to understand their

enthusiasm. For the Jews, the Temple in Jerusalem, even though it had been built by a king the

Jews despised, King Herod, was the most sacred place on the planet. The Jews believed that

the Temple was the center of the earth. Far more important, it was God’s true and real

dwelling place on earth. We call every church “God’s house” but for the Jews God had only one

house on earth: the Temple! The Jews believed that all souls had to pass through the Temple in

Jerusalem on their way to heaven. Nothing in modern culture even remotely compares to what

the Temple in Jerusalem meant to the Jews.

One element from the Passion narrative of our Lord perhaps best defines how

important the Temple in Jerusalem was to the Jews. At the moment that Jesus died, the curtain

in the Temple separating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place was torn in two from top to

bottom. It was God’s dramatic way of announcing to the world that Jesus opened the doors to

heaven by offering himself in payment for the sins of the world. For the Jews, for the disciples

of Jesus, the Temple in Jerusalem was the single, most important place on the face of the earth

and the disciples reflected those feelings when they told Jesus just how impressed they were by

the Temple buildings. With what could easily be judged cold-blooded detachment, Jesus

destroyed their enthusiasm with the brutal efficiency of someone impaling a helium balloon

with a machete. The Savior told his disciples that not one stone of the Temple would be left

standing on another. It was like hitting the disciples hard in the gut with a sucker punch.

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They went to the Mount of Olives, a place higher than the Temple, far enough away but

still close enough at the same time to see the whole Temple complex laid out before them. The

Gospels don’t tell us so but it’s not hard to imagine that the disciples continued to admire the

Temple buildings from that vantage point, doing so with unbearable grief because of the

Savior’s words. Then they asked Jesus a question that exposed how badly they were losing

their perspective; how unclear they allowed their train of thought to go. “Tell us,” they said,

“when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?”

(Matthew 24:3) All that Jesus was talking about was the destruction of the Temple in

Jerusalem, a tragedy that took place in the year 70 A.D. After a four-year siege, the Roman

army, led by the future emperor Titus, ended the First Jewish-Roman War by sacking the city

and destroying its famous Temple. The Arch of Titus in Rome commemorates the event. All

that Jesus was talking about was the destruction of the Temple. The disciples leap-frogged

from that event to the destruction of the whole world and the Savior’s second coming. It was

impossible for them to imagine a world without the Temple in Jerusalem. But the world is still

going on.

Like the disciples, there are many Christians in America who simply cannot imagine how

America will continue if it is no longer friendly to Christianity. And there are many who cannot

imagine how the world might possibly go on if America is no longer the greatest power on

earth. To both groups I hear Jesus saying: Get a grip; keep a clear head; it’s not the end of the

world, not yet; I am still God and I am still your God.

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I do not believe, as some religious leaders in our country have suggested, that God will

ever give up on us or on our country. “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake

you.’” (Hebrews 13:5) “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”

(2 Timothy 2:13) “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions

never fail. They are new every morning; great is (his) faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22 & 23)

God did not give up on Israel when there were only 7,000 believers left in the whole country.

As long as there are believers in America, God will not give up on our country or on us. God is

not giving up and neither can we.

While it takes very little to make us give up, it takes a whole lot more to make God do

so. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah proves that. When God revealed to Abraham that he

was going to destroy those two cities, Abraham appealed for them to be spared with the kind

of courage, resilience, and faithfulness God’s people in America now need to practice. The

story is recorded in Genesis 18:22-33. The reader would again do well to set aside this text for

a moment to read this Bible passage. Abraham said to God, “Will you sweep away the

righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city?” (Genesis 18:23

& 24) Are you kidding me; fifty righteous people; that’s all, in a whole city? And Abraham

didn’t stop there; he kept looking for hope: what if there are only 40, 30, 20, 10. And God said,

“For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” (Genesis 18:31)

Several years ago, a prominent religious leader in America made national headlines by

stating that if God did not strike down America for the moral changes that were taking over our

country then he would have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. Great numbers of people

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were offended by his remark, including me. His comment was a classic exercise in finger

pointing, in seeing the speck in a neighbor’s eye while failing to see the log in our own eye.

Only 7,000 faithful believers remained in Israel in Elijah’s time and God did not give up on them.

If there had been just 10 faithful believers in Sodom and Gomorrah God would not have given

up on them. As long as there are faithful believers in America, God will not give up on us. The

challenge for us always and more so in this moment in our history is not to point fingers at

others and to speak unsolicited and uninspired judgments in the place of God as if we know his

mind in all things. The challenge is for us to remain faithful always because as long as there are

faithful believers in America, no matter how small their number might become, God will not

give up on them.

Thank God for all the faithful believers remaining in America, the millions of people

quietly going about living their lives to the glory of God, serving God by serving their neighbor.

Most are ordinary, common, everyday kind of people whose faithfulness is noticed only by the

few with whom they regularly interact. A few stand out, like the leaders of Hobby Lobby and

Chick-fil-A, two hugely successful companies that do not open their doors for business on

Sundays.

This is not a commercial for either company but it would be dishonest of me if I said I

didn’t admire them both. I shop at both and I regularly think how much more money they

could be making if they opened on Sundays. But they don’t and the reason they don’t is

because of their faith and values. If you look up Chick-fil-A, Inc. online, on their home page you

will find a question and answer page about their values. They identify their corporate purpose

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this way: “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a

positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.” They explain the decision to not

be open on Sundays this way: “Our founder, Truett Cathy, made the decision to close on

Sundays in 1946 when he opened his first restaurant in Hapeville, GA. He has often shared that

his decision was as much practical as spiritual. He believes that all franchised Chick-fil-A

operators and restaurant employees should have an opportunity to rest, spend time with family

and friends, and worship if they choose to do so. That’s why all Chick-fil-A Restaurants are

closed on Sundays. It's part of our recipe for success.”

In 1946, when Truett Cathy made the decision to be closed on Sunday, almost all

businesses were closed on Sunday. Blue Laws were still the way of the land. But then,

beginning in 1960, Blue Laws began to be repealed. Almost all businesses are open now and

some do more than half of their weekly revenue on Sunday. That includes both small and large

businesses owned and operated by Christians. It would have been so easy for Chick-fil-A to do

what everybody else was doing; to open on Sundays. But the company stuck to its Christian

values and chose not to compete with Sunday church services and family activities. If they

were open on Sundays it’s possible that they could double their revenues. That’s not a small

sacrifice. But they are making it. And God has blessed them for it.

Hobby Lobby, repeatedly included in Forbes' annual list of America's largest private

companies, continues to grow steadily while carrying no long-term debt. On their home page

one finds this confession of faith: “We believe that it is by God's grace and provision that Hobby

Lobby has endured. God has been faithful in the past, and we trust Him for our future. . . We

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are committed to Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner

consistent with Biblical principles.”

Goodness! Can it be any more direct than that? What if all Christians in America were

to embody the conviction that God has been faithful in the past and we trust him for our

future? And along with that committed themselves to honoring the Lord by being faithful

stewards in all they did in a manner consistent with the Bible. It doesn’t have to be some

monumental, news-making achievement! It’s what God calls his people to do over and over

again: trust him and follow him. It’s a lot easier to lament and to complain and to despair. We

are naturally good at those behaviors. It’s a whole lot harder to trust and to follow. In fact,

Jesus called it “taking up our cross.” There’s a cost, a sacrifice. Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby

lose money because of their convictions. Both are quick to point out that it’s worth it!

In the USA we place such high value on success that one could easily judge what we do

as idolatry. Success at any cost has become for some a true virtue. In the process, even

Christians have compromised their Christian values refusing to let anything, even their religion,

interfere with their goals. We’ve lost perspective on so many things confusing what truly

matters most – eternity and all that goes with it – for far less rewards. One time Jesus asked,

“What can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Old timers used to say to people about to

make ill-advised and rash decisions, “Don’t lose your head!” It’s great advice especially when

we are afraid because of all the changes in our world that make us feel lost and confused. We

make nothing better by losing our perspective but we help ourselves and the world around us

when we keep our head. Don’t lose your head!

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 5 1. Which of the following most closely describes you:

- I think about the end of the world a lot - I think about the end of the world a little - I never think about the end of the world. Luke 21:28 tells us, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." What should a Christian’s attitude be toward the end of the world?

2. The ancient Jews believed that the Temple in Jerusalem was the center of the universe

and God was more present there than anywhere else on earth. Is there a particular place where you feel closer to God than anywhere else? Why?

3. Abraham prayed so hard for Sodom and Gomorrah. How regularly do you pray for our

country? What should we be asking God to do for our country? 4. One time Jesus said, “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the

speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?” It’s easier to see the sins of others than our own and to regard the sins of others as greater than our own. What are the sins that people most often condemn as the downfall of America? Are some sins bigger than others? Are the sins most often condemned in America the only sins God cares about? What sins of our own have contributed to the current state of our nation?

5. If you were asked to identify one person in your life who is quietly living a Christian life

and by that life encouraging you and others, who would that person be? Chick-Fil-A identifies its values as being faithful stewards of God’s gifts and being a positive influence on all with whom they come into contact. What could all of us do to become a positive influence and quiet encourager to others?

6. It’s not unusual in sports for coaches to tell players to “keep your head in the game.”

When things don’t go their way, players forget to stick to the game plan and get lost in all that’s going wrong. In Hebrews 12:2-11 we are told to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Read the passage. How did Jesus work through all that happened to him? What can we learn from him to help us get through all that we have to face?

7. The hymn, “Let Us Ever Walk With Jesus” calls us to imitate the Savior’s life in all we do.

The opening stanza reminds us we are “pilgrims here.” Look closely at the lyrics. How do they help us to fix our eyes on Jesus? Sing the hymn and pray as you sing.

Let us ever walk with Jesus, Follow His example pure, Through a world that would deceive us And to sin our spirits lure.

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Onward in His footsteps treading, Pilgrims here, our home above, Full of faith and hope and love, Let us do the Father's bidding. Faithful Lord, with me abide; I shall follow where you guide.

Let us suffer here with Jesus and with patience bear our cross. Joy will follow all our sadness; where he is, there is no loss

Though today we sow no laughter, we shall reap celestial joy; All discomforts that annoy shall give way to mirth hereafter. Jesus, here I share your woe; help me there your joy to know. Let us gladly died with Jesus, since by death he conquered death. He will free us from destruction, give to us immortal breath. Let us mortify all passion that would lead us into sin; And the grave that shuts us in shall but prove the gate to heaven. Jesus, here with you, I die, there to live with you on high. Let us also live with Jesus. He has risen from the dead That to life we may awaken. Jesus, you are now our head. We are your own living members; where you live, there we shall be In your presence constantly, Living there with you forever. Jesus, let me faithful be, Life eternal grant to me.

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Call for help.

It begins around age two. Little children, learning more and more, begin to say, “I do it

myself!” Sometimes it’s cute; sometimes it’s aggravating; sometimes it just is. “I do it myself,”

is a welcome and necessary part of personal development. As children begin to feed

themselves, dress themselves, and take care of themselves they are beginning to achieve their

independence, beginning the process of creating a life of their own, apart from their parents. “I

do it myself!” is necessary. Sometimes, though, “I do it myself,” just doesn’t work and help is

needed even if it isn’t wanted.

Some people have no trouble asking for help. Some absolutely hate doing it.