7 May 2015, Anno Domini
National Day of Prayer
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. (Jer 6:16-17)
It causes me deep personal grief to write, year after year, words of warning to the members of our Church on the declining State of our American Republic. Duty and conscience, however, compels us to make national, as well as personal, assessments of our character and act to amend it in ways that are pleasing to God.
From the inception of our infant nation in 1776, the Lord our God has favored our industry, our religious life, and our arms, too, in battle. Wherever the Star Spangled Banner has waved in ages past, it has only evoked sentiments of respect and admiration for a people whose nation is founded upon Godly principles and Providential Guidance. Yes, it was the Hand of God that set our feet upon the solid ground of Duty (to God and our fellows), Honor (in our national and personal character), and, finally Country (not right or wrong, but always when in the right). Just as God’s Holy Spirit moved upon the face of the deep at the beginning of Creation, so did that same Spirit move upon the face of the deep faith and patriotism of the American people at our national creation.
How sadly have we turned from the God of our fathers and gone whoring after the cheap figurines and idols of the world. We are rapidly becoming a purveyor of every imaginable evil, and have forsaken the Holy Institution of Marriage for a perversion and an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. We have allowed our babies to (symbolically) pass thru through the fire to Molech. (Lev 18:21) It is no coincidence that this counsel is followed by yet another condemnation of our perverse ‘new moral.’ Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. (Lev 18:22) To learn the fate of any nation that commits, or even allows the commission of these gross sins by stranger in the land, simply read the remainder of Leviticus 18, and the last half of Romans, chapter 1.
I remember a different America than what we see today. Anyone of my age, only 72 years, will know the same America I remember. It was a nation devoted to biblical morality and which sought virtue ahead of wealth. It was an America in which the Lord’s Prayer was recited at the beginning of each school day along with the reading of a Psalm and the singing of the first verse of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” This hymn-tribute to America, by the way, was also sung in every Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States until the late fifties.
Our Ship of State has sailed into strange and threatening waters. We have placed those of low morals and lower character in high possessions to navigate our ship. We find ourselves faced with contrary winds and a hostile sea. It is high time America resets her sails; though difficult to tack in unfriendly winds, we must do so now or perish as a nation “Of the people, for the people, by the people.” We cannot control the winds – they are sent by God; but we can adjust the sails. Perchance God will send us following winds that will carry us into calm seas and harbors. But there can be no return to America’s ancient greatness without returning to the Heavenly Benefactor who made us great in the first place, the Creator to whom our Declaration of Independence refers.
Let us all devote this month, this year, and, if necessary, this decade to earnest and devout prayer for our beautiful homeland. Let us pray God will restore the hearts of our people to a humble and penitent dependence upon Him and His Holy Word. Let us pray God will once again raise up from amongst us leaders who place the values of faith and righteousness ahead of the next election. I f we do not turn to God now, we surely deserve our present “leadership” and may anticipate the coming dissolution of the American Republic.
For Our Country.
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LMIGHTY God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favour and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honourable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogancy, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (1928 Book of Common Prayer)
In Christ,
JERRY L. OGLES
Presiding Bishop of the Worldwide Anglican Orthodox Communion
Bishop of the United States
St. Andrew’s Parish
