Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day. It is also Independence Day for the United States of America. This is an interesting coincidence of dates on the calendar, a holy day appointed for the divine service and a day of national celebration and remembrance. For some churches this will mean a coordinated celebration, a worship service with patriotic songs and symbols of national pride. For other churches this will be taken as an opportunity to denounce, decry, and despise the nation in which we live. In my judgment, neither of these are appropriate in the Lord’s service of worship. Tomorrow we plan to do what we do every Lord’s Day: pray, sing, confess, hear, and receive God’s blessing in the means of grace. We will pray for our nation just as we do every week from the pulpit. We will thank God for the freedoms we enjoy, because the Lord is the source of our liberty. We will confess the sins of our nation and pray for repentance and revival, without any political grandstanding. We will do this not because we do not love our nation or desire to celebrate her independence under the blessing of God, but because we recognize the greater gift of liberty from sin and condemnation which we have received in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Independence Day is a great holiday and ought to be a time of holy remembrance and celebration. It is not wrong to say that. It is not wrong to thank God for the blessings we enjoy as a nation. To say we are thankful for America does not mean we deny the reality of our historic and present sins. Many woke evangelicals (and more than a few politically progressive Reformed leaders) are acting as if Christian nationalism and white supremacy are the greatest threats to the visible Church today, but our decision not to have the deacons sing I’m Proud to Be an American before the sermon does not mean we agree with that (rather ridiculous and socially convenient) assessment. It simply means we recognize there is a time and a place for all things, and the divine service on the Lord’s Day is not the time or place for national celebration. We won’t be singing Happy Birthday in the worship service to any of our members whose anniversary of delivery from the womb happens to fall on the Lord’s Day either. But that does not mean we should not give thanks to God for national independence (or the day of our birth). These days are holy too, not by the Spirit’s appointment but insofar as the believer celebrates them to the glory of God (1Cor. 10:31).
Our prayer list this week includes both the collect for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity and a collect for American churches on Independence Day. I hope this form of prayer will be helpful to you as you acknowledge God’s gift of liberty for our great nation and pray for his continued blessing upon us.
O ETERNAL God, through whose mighty power our fathers won their liberties of old; Grant, we beseech thee, that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain these liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
