Earlier today various ceremonies took place across the United States to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. These ceremonies culminated in a moment of silence to a god of the people’s choosing. If a participant in these ceremonies didn’t believe in God or in a god, that was okay too. For them, silence is only a gateway to oblivion and the politically correct ceremony would not offend their belief in nothingness. As a matter of fact, the moment of silence means that no one should be offended. Rather than acknowledge the existence of God, we just pretend he does not exist, or if he does exist, that he won’t be bothered that we just choose to ignore him. However, it is a dangerous act to publicly ignore the living God.
America has become a morally rudderless nation. A moment of silence is quite fitting for our moral indifference. Millions of unborn are slaughtered. The marriage bed is no longer the place for physical intimacy; our laws now say that anyone and anyplace is the right setting for what God exclusively decreed for marriage. When a “natural” disaster occurs we turn not to God but to our own spirit and arrogantly proclaim that we will prevail. Our universities teach that the Bible is an irrelevant bit of fiction and is the product of male chauvinists who hate women. We owe our progress not to God but to the random selection of the evolutionary process.
Despite all of this the people of America know that bowing before silence is stupid. Years ago Jonah preached a message of repentance to the great and wicked city of Nineveh. The king of Nineveh was cut to the heart by the call of judgement. When Jonah declared the city would be destroyed the king didn’t rely on opinion polls or focus groups to see how the message was received. As Romans 1 teaches, he knew that the city was wicked and totally subject to the wrath of God. The king did the unexpected – he repented!
May we be committed to bringing the gospel into our everyday lives. The gospel’s message must be our daily message. America has become a place of wickedness, just like Nineveh. And just like Nineveh, our hope is the mercy of God.
Talk about God and his ways first to your children and then to all who will listen. Do this as you walk along the way, as you sit down, and in all that you do. Our nation needs more than silence has to offer if we are to survive.