NORTHWEST FILIPINO BAPTIST CHURCH

Sermon

 

 

  
Blessed to Be a Blessing
Thanking God for our Country
by Pastor Godfrey Catanus
 November 3, 2002

 

Scripture Text: Romans 13: 1-8

 Introduction

 This is the first Sunday of November. This month is often associated with harvest, therefore, this has been the month designated for THANKSGIVING.

 As we may recall, the first Thanksgiving in America took place in the Plymouth Colony some time during the month of November, 1621. When the Pilgrims landed from the Mayflower a year before, they encountered hard times and a very harsh winter. But Spring came and as they planted crops, they flourished and had a bountiful harvest. So in praise to God, and as they celebrated in England and Holland their traditional Harvest Festival, they also praised the Lord and did celebrate His goodness. The record says, “ the fifty-five colonists with one hundred Indians “ gorged themselves with fish and a great store of wild turkeys”. That was the first American Thanksgiving celebration.

 It is always proper to praise and give thanks to God for who He is and for what He has done for us. That is why for this month of November, I wish to share with you from the Word of God the theme of Thanksgiving.

 This morning, I will preach on,  “ Thanking God for our Country”. This is because, on Tuesday, Nov. 5,  the citizens of this country will go to the polls to participate in the greatest privilege of electing their leaders- to have a say in how our counties, our states should be managed. The right of franchise is the genius of a democratic system. We thank God for democracy, for freedom, liberty, and freedom in the pursuit of happiness.   Lord willing, the next Sundays, I will encourage your hearts with this messages:  “ Thanking God for our Church”, because, November 11 is a significant day in the life of our church. That was the day, 10 years ago, when God gave us this building and property, by way of a miracle, and we need to thank God for it. And on November 24- it will be our Everybody’s birthday. You see, we are a family- we celebrate our birthday together, and what a privilege it is to be part of the family. That is why I will be preaching on  ”Thanking God for our Family”.

 To begin with this morning, let us turn to Romans 13: 1-8. First, from this text we will learn WHY we should thank God for our Country. Second, we will see WHY we should be thanking God for our country. Third, we will note HOW we can thank God for our country.

 In this particular passage, Paul taught about the Christians’ relationship with governments. Or, to speak about it in our common understanding, it is about the relationship between the church and the state. In here, too we find the reasons why we need to thank God for our country.

 

  1. Notice in verse 1, Governments are established by God. In verse 2, it is an institution of God. If you can recall in the story of creation, God created all things good. Everything that God made or established is good. This is also true with the family and marriage. It is good. This is so because God made or established it – or the Design and the Plan of God are always perfect.

 However, this is not to say that today, governments or families are perfect. As you may also recall, sin came to ruin the perfect plan of God. That is why today, we live under governments with flaws – some greater in degrees than some. Our Scripture also does not say that all governments are good. As a matter of fact it has been reported in this week’s Filipino paper, that the Philippines now ranked 11th as the most corrupt country in the world – together with Zambia, Romania, and Pakistan.

 Nevertheless, we still need to thank God for our governments because:

 

  1. God has delegated to governments authority. And authority is needed for governance and for order. If there is no order then comes ANARCHY. And society will never survive for long under anarchy.  Individuals need to learn how to live with each other under some form of order. In fact, Lord Chief Justice Camden, more than two hundred years ago wrote, “ Tyranny, bad as it is, is better than anarchy; and the worst of governments is more tolerable than no government at all.”  No matter how evil, governments are to be recognized and respected only for the preservation of Order. Governments must have laws, for if there are no laws there will be no order- without order, there will be no progress.

 

  1. But having said this,  I believe that the Bible does not teach that we simply withdraw and do nothing when government does things that are evil. For governments in the plan of God are to dispense justice, as in vs. 3-4.  They are to protect by dispensing justice to its citizens. They are to protect the right and punish the wrong. They must protect those who live peacefully according to the dictates of their conscience (v.5). When governments do not live up to these expectations, citizens have the right to “ resist” – meaning to stand up for what is right. For the New Testament also teaches that when Cesar demands disobedience to God – he is to be resisted- even unto death, for we “ought to obey God rather than man”.

 With these in mind, I now want us to come to the realities of life in America. We need to thank God for America because here we are so blessed.  We must admit that America is not perfect, but we dare say, that today, America is the best that the world can offer. This is even meaningful to us, who have chosen to come to live in this ‘ land of the free.”. Last Sunday, through the pictures we have seen of what’s going on in the other parts of the world politically, economically, and above all religiously – we really have NOTHING TO COMPLAIN! Three things we need to thank God for:

 

1.      We need to thank God for America – Politically. I am not an expert on political science and governments. But by observation and facts, America with all its faults, is still the best political experiment that civilization has come up with. Monarchy, Dictatorship, Socialism, Communism – they all have failed miserably. Today, democracy with all its warps is still the best form of government. And this is America, and as our constitution states, “every citizen shall not be deprived of life, liberty, or property , without due process of law.” … and we have in the bill of rights: the freedom of speech, assembly, religion, and redress or grievance  against the government.

 

2.      We need to thank God for America – Economically. Despite of its great depression, the Enron and World Com Scandals, despite the Federal and the State government deficits,- we sure are experiencing hard times. But this phenomenon is world-wide. And come to think of it, we are here in America.

The contrast has been displayed in a London Newspaper in July when at the left side of the headline was a picture of  man – skin and bones due to malnutrition in Sudan – and on the right side of the front page was a picture of a woman suing McDonalds blaming the chain restaurant for her obesity.

 Just to emphasize the obvious, and you don’t have to answer loudly my question, While the rest of the world is suffering for lack of clothing, food, and shelter:  How many shirts do you have? How many shoes do you have? How much food you have thrown out of your refrigerator this week?

 Or, suppose, today we will collect all the loose change in your cars including the pennies that we often do not count)- and if we only average $ 1 per car, and if we have one hundred cars here- then we have $100.  –meaning this is P 5300.00. This is already one month  salary of a pastor with a family in a barrio in the Philippines. One month of food, transportation, and schooling of their children. By the way – WE ARE BLESSED – TO BE A BLESSING!

 

3.      We need to thank God for America – Religiously.  Thank God we can meet

today to worship God as we want- Thank God we can have a church building. We can be here from 1 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon – or whenever we want to meet- however we want to sing and pray, to read and study the Bible – all of this without fear that any one will come to arrest us, to put us to prison, to put us to death.   On the other hand, if anyone comes to disturb our worship, we can put him in prison instead…

 This is government that Calvin only dreamed of: a government that can offer its citizens with “ tranquility, gravity or modesty, and piety”.

 It is only under this form of government that we can say with William Sangster, although diagnosed with progressive muscular atrophy, and knowing that there is no cure for it still made this four commitments:

      I will not complain, I will keep my home bright, I will count

      My blessings, and I will turn my sickness to gain.

 

With these blessings, that we cannot count, How then can we express our thanks to

God.

1.      We need to Pray for our Country and its leaders…

For peace , order, and justice will prevail. We have it now- will this be forever,

Or are we already seeing some signs  that it might not continue for long.

1 Timothy 2: 1 – for them to lead the country in peace, quietness, godliness, holiness.

 

2.      We need to Participate in the workings of democracy. “ This is the government of the people, for the people, by the people.”

a.       We need to go out to vote – we are responsible for the kind of people who will lead us… We need to vote and elect those who are for Godliness. Campolo says, I am not Pro- Republican, nor Pro- democrat.

But I am pro-Righteousness. Elect the candidate because of his character, his abilities, and of his desire do right in accordance with the values of the Bible.

b.      We need to participate in the political process – if you have the heart for people and the character and abilities to perform the office – ran for that office. In this day and age, we need a Daniel to be in the house of congress, or a Nehemiah in the White House.

c.       We need to participate by doing our obligations – not just enjoying our privileges.  Rom. 13: 6  WE be honest with our taxes .and in doing so also have your voice heard in the use of your taxes.

3.      We need to Preach the Word- Matt. 5:16 – In a democracy, we have the freedom to preach the Gospel and win souls for Christ.  Bill Bright says, “ America is key to world evangelism. Because we are free to send missionaries, free to support them. This is the best approach to making a difference in our society.

As souls are saved- their lives are transformed by God. They become godly men and women – they can make a difference in their homes and in the society and country as a whole. And we can do this within the atmosphere of freedom.

 

This month – let us fill our hearts with thanksgiving. Let us thank God for America. Let us thank God that here in America we have our freedoms to live in peace, to earn a decent living, to raise our family making them healthy in body, and in spirit.  Let us thank God for His blessings, so that in turn we can be a blessing to many others.