Abraham Lincoln understood

05 Aug Abraham Lincoln understood

Happy Tuesday y’all!

My daughter gave me a great book for my birthday! It’s about the last year of the Civil War and the radical changes that took place amidst the bloodbath of those 4 years of warfare in what had been & would return to being, the United States. It was a well-written history…really engaging such that I spent a good bit of my time searching the internet for bits of that history I either had never studied or had forgotten in the intervening years. I’ll get to the really mind-blowing part here in a minute in Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address.

But first…let’s keep the important family business in front of us!

1. Zoom Bible Study Catch-up (Jeremiah 18:1-12)
   Friday – 9th August 2024 @ 1:00 p.m.
   Join Zoom Meeting  —  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83006349720  —  Meeting ID: 830 0634 9720
2. There are a number of events right at our doorstep that bear mention…claim these dates!
   1. August 18th…a special morning tea & worship event…
   2. August 25th…worship & soup…a creative & fun way to be together as a disciple community! If you’d like to bring soup that morning, please call Liz & let her know.
   3. LWF AGM – 6th October immediately following worship. We have much to thank God for this year again. Also…this might be a good time to talk with a current Steering Team member about your role in leadership in the coming year.

With each of these we’ll be trying out some different ways to worship & experience word & sacrament together. For them to go well, it’s best if you’re there. Enjoy the different style of experiencing God’s Word and the interactions within the body of Christ that is Living Water Fellowship. AND…since this will be something different from the norm…invite a friend who wouldn’t otherwise join in a traditional style of service.

Now back to the exciting history and Abraham Lincoln. He was a man of intense Christian faith, and saw the world through the lens of a Biblical worldview. In attributing ending slavery as the issue which spawned the Civil War, he was aware that God had permitted the institution of slavery to persist for a time, but now God had decreed the slaves must be freed & the war was God’s mechanism for doing so: “He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came.” The war would not only bring the horrors of slavery to an end, but punish both North AND South for their hand-in-glove partnership in it. While the Southern states held slaves, the Northern states engaged in commerce with the South & profited from the very same blood, sweat, & toil of those slaves. In Lincoln’s view, God held both guilty & both would be punished until the slaves were freed & the Union restored. He would continue:

Fondly do we hope ~ fervently do we pray ~ that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the slave-owners’ two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.’

In many ways, he fully understood what we’ve been seeing in Jeremiah. God establishes the various nations of the earth so that in each his justice & righteousness – his power & glory – the good beautiful & true might be seen & lived, fostered & flourish. God establishes nations so that in every place its people might worship him & live in the abundance of joy that only a right relationship with God can give. But when a nation, in this case the United States, permits injustice, oppression & evil to bend the necks & break the spirits of its inhabitants…that must be judged & punished until it ceases.

As Jesus wept for his nation, “As Jesus drew closer to Jerusalem & saw the city ahead, he began to weep. ‘How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, & peace is hidden from your eyes…’” – Lk 19:41-44          “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets & stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. Now, look, your house is abandoned & desolate.” – Mt 23:37-38  President Lincoln mourned for his.

Two things strike me: (you knew there’d be three didn’t you?)

1. Our Western world is root, stem & flower planted in the soil of Biblical Christian faith. We don’t get to where we are in any other way than through the spread of Christian faith & the associated outgrowths of it. Whether the current climate likes hearing that or not…without Christ at the heart of Western civilization, that civilization does not exist. It is the very fundamental fabric of our world & the current efforts to drive Christian faith & practice underground will do immense damage.
2. It seems to me more than ever that we should be praying for our civic leaders at every level….praying for our country & the countries of the Western world that live out some semblance of democratic government…and for those nations that know only tyranny, that God may free them without strife & raise up leaders after His heart.
3. And yes a third thing…Christ’s mission to bring all the prodigals home remains our call. The tide of a nation turns as the hearts of its people turn to Christ. Pray for that & boldly share your faith in much the same way Lincoln shared his with the nation.

See you Sunday!

John