Over the last weekend I heard the patriotic hymn “God Bless America” several times. Some of the renditions were absolutely amazing. The vocalist sang with such passion and energy it was hard not to be moved. On one occasion the camera panned the audience and a number of people appeared to be enraptured by the music. Others were more interested in their image being on the jumbo-tron. Personally, I think this would be a better national anthem than the “Star Spangled Banner”. But this is the opinion of a musical dunce, so take it for what it is worth.
As I watched the presentations or performances, I couldn’t help but ask; “What do we mean by ‘God Bless’?” I wonder if it is taking God’s name in vain? We can sing the song and mean nothing by it. If we take God’s name as meaningless or mean nothing by it we are taking it in vain. I wondered if by “bless” we are thinking of the lowest form of blessing; “Give us prosperity, stop inflation, provide for us more and better stuff so that we can indulge our appetites.” Maybe we mean something a little more noble, but nonetheless still focused on what we want: “Give us peace, safety and security at home and from enemies around the world.” Nothing wrong with these in and of themselves, but is that all we mean by ‘God Bless America’?
Do we want God’s blessing or do we just want the good stuff He can provide? Ask anyone who has lived any length of time and they will tell you that growth, maturity and strength are developed not in times of ease, comfort and prosperity. These best character traits are more likely developed in times of difficulty, suffering and hardship. If courage, strength, and toughness were developed when times were easy Army boot camp would be a vacation at a seaside resort.
So, when we say ‘God Bless America” what do we mean? God’s blessings are always good, His character could give nothing else. That is not to say all His blessings are always pleasant, pleasing or what we desire. In fact, the history of God blessing His people is one we might call tough love. What my children wanted for supper and what was good for them were not always the same thing. They were blessed with what was good for them, not what they asked for or wanted.
When God blessed Abram He began by calling Abram away from everything he knew, loved or with which he was familiar. When God blessed Moses with the role of being the law giver, it began with 40 years in exile. It also required 40 years of wilderness wandering with a group of people that would try his patience time and again. When Israel suffered from an addiction to sex, luxury, and comfort (sound like any nation we know) God blessed them with the destruction of their cities and capital, conscription of their best and brightest into emperial service and 70 years of Babylonian captivity. Before God would bless His people with the incarnation of the Son, the Jews would be politically broken, internally divided and taxed to near starvation.
Not all of God’s blessings are punitive and severe. “For You bless the righteous person, Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.” Psalm 5:12 The operative word there is “righteous”. A person or people who are righteous might have reason to expect the pleasant (from our perspective) blessings of God. However, I don’t know anyone who would describe contemporary America as righteous.
So, if God were to bless America what might it look like? If a spoiled child is consistently behaving poorly it is unlikely that additional indulgences will rectify the problem. Rather the spoiled child might be given intentional and carefully directed corrective discipline. Or as former Alabama governor Fob James put it, “A butt whipping and a prayer”. There is nothing wrong with peace, comfort, and prosperity. But if a person or people believe that these things are most important and that for which we ought to live and work, then they might be blessed if those things were removed.
On the evening of September 11th I was out doing church visitation. As I drove, I passed a Hooters’ and on the marquette there was posted, “Pray for America''. I thought that perhaps our nation was waking from its moral slumbers. For the next 3 weeks or so, church attendance was up and people were talking about spiritual and eternal things. But within a month things had returned to what might be called a secular norm. What will it take for God to bless America with a deep and lasting turn to Him? I am almost afraid to ask.
So then, let us pray, “God bless America”. But let us also pray, “Give us the strength and wisdom to learn from and endure with grace such a blessing.” One final thought. In addition to our praying, “God bless America” we need to admonish our people to say and live, “America Bless God”. That may take us near the beginning point we need.
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