A Better Country

05Jul
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith…he stayed, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—descendants were born, ‘as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.’Yet all of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.
-Hebrews 11:8-16


Two years into a revolutionary war with England, five of the founding fathers of the United States of America, by faith, shouldered the task of writing a Declaration of Independence from the British Crown. It was 1776 and all five, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston, would certainly earn death warrants from the British Crown for their work. They risked all to act on faith that the work of creating a country based on a set of God-given human freedoms, was correct and divinely ordained.


Even the authors did not see their work as perfection. Later, they knew the Constitution was a living document. In it, they provided the mechanism for others to build upon it. Yet, by faith, they wrote, sometimes from the crucible of bitter discourse. They set in motion the founding of a better country, equipped with the tools to carry-on their work. They would never see the full fruition of the task they shouldered. Indeed, the full fruition is still evolving in a world they could never have imagined. Yet, even as they died, they glimpsed the first steps of America as a living democracy.


The willingness to risk all to pursue inheritances promised by God can be frightening, thankless work. The human agents of Divine creativity often do not live to see the full, promised inheritances. Indeed, God’s servants often die reaching to craft God’s plans. Ask Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, Jesus, Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King.


Where does that leave you and me in the summer of 2025? Surely, we do not see ourselves as biblical or cultural giants, quill in hand. We face cultural unrest, global foment, and often a sense personal inadequacy. And our knee-jerk prayer: “Lord, what can I fix; what can I do to make this not feel so bad?” It is simpler than that.


I can do what the agents of God’s commissions have done before. I can keep my eye on God’s assignment; “Love one another as I have loved you.” I can challenge stale convention and division through informed discourse (including listening). I can deepen my relationship with God; sometimes by shaking my fist at the Great I Am.


At a granular level, I can hold close to my mate, I can overtly love and nurture my family every day. I can build a simple and Godly home. I can burnish my friendships with gratitude and generosity. And I can accept strangers as fellow seekers who have a story to tell. It’s all simple stuff Americans have done for generations under the rights set forth in the founding documents of our better country. It is all stuff the Biblical patriarchs did in pursuit of the legacy God promised them. We have all said “Yes”, acted on truth, loved boldly, risked all, and worked tirelessly to realize the promise. And when we got it right, we never asked, “What’s in it for me.”

Simple Gifts - Yo Yo Ma and Alison Krauss


Thank you, Lord, for your abiding place in our homes. Calm us, that we may delight in the refuge you promise under our roof…where fear, confusion, and inadequacy have no place…where only Love and encouragement and spiritual integrity abound. Though others may choose otherwise “…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Amen.

Old TestamentPhilosophyPentecost

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