Dear Church,
On Sunday, I preached about Uniting the Divided States of America.
2 Chronicles 7:11-14 11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, 12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. 13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
According to this passage, the need for healing and unification in America is in the hands of believers who need to live and act according to the name by which they are called.I see four roadblocks to unity, four obstacles that we actually, as Christians, have the power to overcome.
1.Pride will postpone unity.Verse 14 tells us that step one for healing and unity to come to our land involve the humbling of God’s people.We are to humble ourselves.When we can so easily point the finger at someone else and blame them for the mess America is in, we need to stop and ask ourselves what we have done to promote unity and peace.We need to consider that perhaps at times we have been or are being part of the problem.Humility is an attitude that accepts responsibility.
Prayerlessness will postpone unity.Our prayers should begin with an examination of ourselves.Are we doing everything we can to bring unity to our country?Are we demonstrating love, kindness and respect in our own family?Are we slamming doors, yelling at one another, and saying things we regret or should regret?Are we grateful for what our parents are providing or are we complaining that it isn’t enough?Have we stopped speaking to members of our family for petty reasons?Are we building up our spouses and children?Are we making it a priority to spend time together?How do we speak into the country’s life if our family’s life isn’t a united effort?Peace and unity begin in our homes, and the way we raise our children sets the stage for the next generation and how they will relate with one another.
We are admonished in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 (NIV) 1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone– 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
Peaceful and quiet lives are the result of the prayers of God’s people.We can live peacefully and quietly no matter who is in authority if we are doing our job to pray.I would call that healing, how about you? Look what Paul went on to say to Timothy about praying for leaders and those in authority:3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
People, including those in authority, will be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth as we pray!What are we waiting on?Let’s pray!If prayer will allow us to live in peace and if prayer will transform our leaders who aren’t godly into godly people, let’s pray!
3. Wrong priorities will postpone unity.Verse 14 tells us to seek God’s face.That is where our focus and attention is to be—on seeking God. I believe some of our problems are a result not of secular humanism or new age thinking, but they are the result of the church being asleep on the job and/or seeking the wrong stuff.
4.Practicing sin will postpone unity.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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.If we are looking at God, seeking His face, we aren’t looking at the temptations of this world.As we seek His face, we are actually turning away from gazing at that which is evil.
We cannot practice Christianity and sin at the same time.The two aren’t compatible with one another.The reason so many unbelievers are disillusioned about Christ is due to the sin they see perpetuated in the lives of people who claim to be Christ-followers.
By God’s design, it is to be the holiness, the purity of His church, that points to the difference it makes to be someone who belongs to God.Is there a stark contrast between the church and the rest of the world? I suppose we can only answer that question by examining ourselves as individuals.
Christians, we can’t live dislocated from God and think we will be used of God to bring healing to our nation.I fear perhaps the greatest divide in America isn’t between Americans, but between Americans and God.We can make sure we are aligning ourselves with Him in an effort to see healing for our nation.
We have the ability to impact mass healing, healing on an enormous scale, if we, the “called out” people of God will live as such.In humility, through prayer and by giving God our full attention, and through turning completely away from sin, let us ask for God to unite these Divided States of America.
Let’s help healing come to these Divided States of America.
Amen.
