MAKE AMERICA GOOD AGAIN

Sermon Summary, Mar 13, 2016, “Make America Good Again”

We’re finishing our series on where faith and politics meet; not to take sides, Jesus didn’t come to take sides, he came to take over!  What do we mean by “Make America Good Again”?  Alexis de Tocqueville aptly said, “America is great because she is good, but if she ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

We believe we are a good nation, but a quick read of the paper will show we make many opportunities to be good again: Our schools are leaving too many children behind; we are too good with our prisons; not so good with families with over 40 percent of our children born out of wedlock destining too many to a life of poverty.  We are not so good with basic needs: Water with lead extends far beyond Flint, MI; nutritional food is too expensive; our Veterans need care; we have too many homeless including whole families.  And the list goes on: abuse, perversion, drugs.  We have lots of opportunities to be good again.

And we have had visionary leaders who have called us to be good.  JFK asking “not what our country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”  Asking what we can do to make our country good again.  Reagan calling us to “be a bright, shiny city on a hill.”  Asking us to be good again so that we can be a beacon to the nations.

Of course Reagan was not the first to call us to be a city on a hill, Kennedy did so as President-Elect and added another biblical injunction “For those for whom much has been given, much is required.” (Lk 12:48)  And we know that it was from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, that we are called to be salt (to be good) to be that city, to let our light shine, so that our good works can be seen.  We are called to be good. Jesus used the remainder of the Sermon on the Mount to tell us what was required from relationships, to family to praying for others, loving our enemies and ends with the Golden Rule. Others are important if we are to be good.

And what did Jesus’ Bible (the OT) say? In hundreds of places we are called to be just, to do lovingkindness, to be righteous (ie to be fair, to actively pursue compassion and mercy, to do the right thing). To be good, a vision of good for leaders and people.

Teddy Roosevelt was our most popular President.  His father taught him to view the world in terms of right and wrong and to always view himself as being on the side of right.  When his father died, he pledged to live his life as his father would have wanted him.  He fought corruption and unfairness and demonstrated compassion at every level. He held two press conferences a day to keep his vision in front of the American people.

When you cast our ballot this year, seek out a visionary that you believe can unleash America to be good again.