Americans are known throughout the world for our independent spirit. We take pride in the fact that we have the choice to determine our own destiny. A person born in poverty here in America is not bound by imposed social class levels to prevent them from rising out of poverty to becoming wealthy or even attaining the highest office in the land, the President of the United States. Our society is geared to reward those who work hard and especially those who come up with innovative ideas.
Most of us know the story about two college students who chose to think outside of the box and became corporate billionaires, because of their innovative ideas that led them to making it possible for people to have personal computers. These computers that most of us now take for granted are possible because two guys refused to believe that their dream was impossible to achieve. It is this same spirit of hope and optimism that built this nation into the super power she has become. Although we are facing economic hard times, there remains this spirit of hope that these times of hardship will pass and that better times are to come.
Yet, with this spirit of individualism we have forgotten the key ingredient to success that our forefathers and foremothers understood. That key ingredient is Jesus Christ. The founding fathers of this great nation knew that without God’s approval all of their work would be in vain. This is why the United States Constitution was written in accordance with the Word of God, the Bible. From these holy writings came the belief of God given rights. By acknowledging the existence and sovereignty of God, the writers of the Constitution laid the foundations for a nation built to withstand the winds of time. So what has happened to bring this great nation to the brink of bankruptcy?
When the stock market crashed in the fall of 2009, unlike the crash that set off the Great Depression, people of all different income levels were affected. This economic disaster was across the board, because Wall Street had become trusted as the safe place in which to invest for our futures. Now many are facing a future much different than they had planned as pension funds and 401Ks have been cut in half or more. Unemployment continues to rise as businesses are forced to cut back or even close down. Many have lost their homes as real estate prices have plummeted.
While these are all tragic, there is an even greater tragedy lurking over the horizon and that is the loss of hope. For without hope, we as a nation will be facing a bleak future with no end in sight. Yet, I believe that this is the time when we as Christians hold the key to the future for our hope is not in earthly things, but in Jesus Christ.
The Bible warns us to not put our faith or hope in anything other than the Lord God. We are not to even put our faith in ourselves, which goes against everything we as Americans have been taught. Yet, in the Book of Proverbs from the New American Standard Bible we read,
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil."
Sadly, many have taken our heritage and perverted the foundation given to us by our founding fathers. Instead of putting their hopes and dreams in the Lord, they have put their hopes and dreams in themselves. They have turned away from God and made themselves gods. They have created God in their own image of what they think God should be and have forgotten that we humans have been created in God's image. Worst, they have taken the Holy Scriptures and revised true meanings of the Word of God to fit their own agendas; thereby elevating their thoughts and beliefs above the traditional beliefs and values held by the universal Church. The Bible describes such idolatry as 'evil' and those who do such things as 'evildoers'.
The psalmist warns the righteous, those who put their trust in the Lord:
"Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land. Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity."
This past week, we began advertizing our new place of worship where we will begin worshiping on Sunday, October 24th. It is so important to remember as we go forward in Christ, that there are those who do not wish for us to prosper. In fact, they are angry that our new church even exists. It is tempting to want to become embroiled in the fight that these evildoers keep wanting us to enter. Yet, if we stoop to their level than we will miss the goal of growing deeper in our relationship with Christ and in making Christ known to others. We will be fighting from our own strength without the Lord's help.
God has not called us out for this purpose. Instead, the Lord God has called us out to fulfill His purpose and plans. These plans are grounded in Jesus Christ. Instead of becoming upset over what our enemies are doing to try and stop us, we need to keep our eyes focused on Christ in whom our hopes and dreams rest. It is the Lord who will deal with our enemies as long as we keep out of the fight they want to have with us.
As for these hopes and dreams the Lord as put into our hearts for the lost, especially those living here in Fort Myers Beach and the surrounding area, we need to pay attention to what the psalmist instructs the righteous to do. He writes,
"Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday."
We have already seen God's favor towards us for this new church. First, we were granted favor to begin our church within the sacred walls of another church by our brothers and sisters in Christ. Then out of the blue, we were given a generous grant. A grant, I remind you that we did not even seek. A grant brought to us through the Spirit of the Lord from another church many states away from us. We have been given favor to rent our own worship space in a building that allows us to have free advertisement on
Estero Boulevard, the main drag in town. Something as a new church we need if folks are going to know we exist and where to find us.
Not only does this new place of worship bring us to the people, but we will be able to start holding worship services on Sundays. Plus, the earliest date we can start is St. Raphael's Feast Day, which just happens to fall on a Sunday this year. Finally, we have been invited by the owner of the Shrimp Fleet to host the Shrimp Fleet Blessing in 2011. We did not go to the shrimpers and ask them for this opportunity, instead, God sent them to us through the bungling of those who seek our demise as a new church. It will be our new bishop from the Gulf Atlantic Diocese in the Anglican Church of North America that will be blessing the fleet on a Sunday that accommodates the Shrimp Fleet.
We are seeing firsthand what happens to those who seek to put Christ first and those who seek their own agendas. This has all happened within a few short months. I remind you and tell you these things, because they are signs from the Lord of God's favor towards us. It is absolutely amazing what God has and is doing for us. Instead of grumbling about what we don't have, we need to start rejoicing over what Christ is already doing for us. If we want to continue in God's favor, then we have to keep our backs to our enemies and our eyes on Christ. For as St. Paul wrote in his second letter to Timothy, it is "not according to our works, but according to His (meaning the Lord's) own purpose and grace" that we have been called to begin this new church. St. Raphael's by the Sea is not ours, she belongs to the Lord. She is the Lord's doing, not ours. We are just being obedient to the Lord by doing what God has called us to do.
On a much larger scale, I truly believe that if we as a nation stop trusting in our own understanding and start seeking the Lord, then we will once again know the prosperity that can only come from God the Giver of all good things. All we have to do is count our own blessings we have already been given here in these few months to know that in Christ all things are possible. It only takes as much faith in God as the size of a mustard seed to change the world for good, for Christ.
