Readings for today: Jonah 1-4
Happy 4th of July! Today I’m praying for spiritual revival for our nation. A revival on par with what happened in Nineveh in Jonah’s day. A revival that would reach the halls of power. A revival that would break out in the streets. A revival so complete it would include the rich and poor. Great and small. Black, white, brown. Republican and Democrat. I’m praying for God to do a work so mighty. So obvious. So clear that it simply cannot be denied. And I am praying for God to get all the glory.
But let me be clear. I am not praying for revival so that America will be great again. Revival is never about us. Never about our wants. Our needs. Our desires. Revival can never be about our own greatness and it cannot be about our own glory. America, like any nation on earth, will only be great as she seeks the Lord. As she submits to His will. Confesses her sin. Repents from her wicked ways. Friends, our hope is not in democracy. Our hope is not in capitalism. Our hope is not in our military might and power or even the freedoms so many brave men and women have died to protect. Our hope is in Jesus Christ. He is our only hope in this life or the next. His name is the only name given under heaven by which we might be saved. His life, death, and resurrection is the only way we find redemption.
So I am praying for revival. I am praying we have the courage in our nation to face our checkered past. I am praying we have the humility in our nation to acknowledge our tragic failings. I am praying we find the strength to repent for the full measure of our sin. This can only come from the Holy Spirit, of course. Only by turning to Him can we find what we need to move forward into a brighter and more glorious future. The people of Nineveh believed God. They heard the Word and they got on their knees. Though they were a great city in a great empire, they humbled themselves before the Lord. They turned from their evil ways. They turned from their violent ways. They turned from their oppressive ways. And God saw their hearts. He relented of the disaster He was preparing for them. And over 100,000 people were saved.
A dear friend of mine shared recently with me that he believes we are living through extraordinary times. He is a pastor. He is a community organizer. He is a leader of non-violent protests in his city. He is African-American and serves a predominantly white congregation in the Deep South. When I asked him how he is feeling about the state of our country, he was excited. He believes there has never been a better time to preach the gospel and that’s why he’s on the front lines in his own community. He is out there sharing Jesus. Like Jonah, he is walking the length and breadth of his city calling for people to repent and place their trust in Christ. He is an inspiration to me. Now he knows how difficult things have become. He is not blind to the challenges of the global pandemic or the racial tensions or the economic shutdown. He is very aware of the impact these things have had on the people he loves and serves. But he also knows this is a time when the very ground beneath our feet has been shaken. Lives have been stripped down to the studs and there is a new openness to the gospel’s call.
Friends, we are living in extraordinary times in our extraordinary country. The task of forming a more perfect union has now come to us. The call to fulfill the vision of a nation where all people are created equal remains. Every generation must accept their responsibility to engage the hard work of bending the moral arc of the universe towards justice and peace. We cannot rest on the work of those who have come before. Each of us must now take our place. Shoulder our part of the load. Bear the responsibility God has called us to bear so that we can leave this nation in a better place than how we found it. Again, not for our sake. Not even for the sake of future generations of Americans. But for the glory of God alone. May we hear clearly the call of the gospel: “Whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” America will find her greatness as she repents before God and gives herself away for the sake of the world.