Grady Simpson, Pastor
July The Fourth, Two Thousand and Twenty-Six
Remembrance
To all my friends, near and far, this is not a sermon; it’s a remembrance of what was and of how it is now.
Reading Isaiah chapter 1 shook me emotionally and spiritually. After reading and praying over it, I felt led to write this brief reflection for the Fourth of July.
People often ask me whom to vote for and whether we should pay taxes. Because of their frustrations, people have told me they feel useless and unappreciated by our government and by the local church.
My answers to their concerns always lead me back to Isaiah chapter 1.
At the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin whether the delegates had created a republic or a monarchy. He famously replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” According to the National Park Service (NPS.gov), this exchange was recorded in the journal of James McHenry, a Maryland delegate.
Secondly, consider the preamble of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self‑evident, 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.” (Gilder Lehrman Institute)
So what happened? Where are we now? The explanation is clearly told in Isaiah chapter one. Verses 1–23 show that we bear much of the blame. We have fallen from our moral duties, resulting in our faith failing from generation to generation, right up to this day
We are compared to an ox and a donkey in verse 3. God said, “They are more reasonable than we are.” (Paraphrased by me.)
Even our government cannot measure up to the standards of the ox or the donkey (see verse 23).
So what do we do to fix the problem?
2 Chronicles 7:14. It says: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land”. (Bible Hub)
Isaiah’s call still stands today: to repent, to seek justice, to defend the oppressed, and to return to the Lord with our whole hearts. God has already given us tools to use to change things: prayer and a republic. You have an extra power and privilege. The vote to keep your republic.
