This Saturday marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence – a day effectively marking the birth of our nation. It is a remarkable document, written to provide mankind with an explanation as to why the colonies that had been operating as part of the British Empire could no longer exist under foreign governance. The list of abuses sustained by the colonies and their citizens at the hands of the King of Great Britain, his governing officials, and their armies were written for all to see, declaring to the world that this was not simply a reaction to one injurious decision but rather a response to a sustained pattern of tyrannical behavior that reduced the lawful citizens of the American colonies to an inferior class of peoples.
One does not need to read the document too carefully to see that the authors frequently describe and the signatories freely attest to the self-evident fact that certain rights are extended to mankind by God himself. The famous line “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” is not the only place in this majestic document where the foundational and fundamental role of the Almighty in our establishment of a sovereign nation is made clear. The very opening paragraph references the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God while the concluding paragraph appeals to the Supreme Judge of the world while relying on “the protection of divine Providence.” Without a firm belief in God, there would have been no authority to whom an appeal for justice could be made. Without God, there would have been no such Declaration of Independence.
We do well to celebrate the fact that these United States of America continues to stand strongly as a sovereign nation, having worked at great cost to become a more perfect union. Yet we do better to remember that it was God who gave the colonists the strength and the faith to stand against the most powerful Empire in the world as they pledged to stand together, even if it cost them their lives and their fortunes (which, for many, it did). And we are wise to remember that a core belief about the Creator in whom they had this astonishing faith was that God had not only created men as equals but had endowed them with the aforementioned set of rights. This was not some nebulous notion of a divinity that our minds might conceive of, but rather a loving and just God who reigns over the Universe.
My friends, sometimes it feels like our nation is simply coasting along due to the course that was charted 250 years ago, no longer being propelled by the faith that helped us to make it this far. It was Benjamin Franklin who, in response to a question about the type of government that was created through the Constitution, declared “A Republic, if you can keep it.” Speaking directly to that challenge, John Adams declared, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” If we are to keep this Republic, we must hold firmly to the God to whom we are indebted for the foundation and subsequent maturation of this nation. I submit that this Saturday is a worthy day to reflect upon this self-evident truth.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron