4 July 2021, Anno Domini (the 245th year of American Independence)
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HE Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. (Isaiah 61:1)
In the midst of perilous times, I believe it incumbent upon our people to examine themselves as a nation and as a people in the face of grievous abuses against the Perfect Law of Liberty and the natural order that the God of Nature has instilled into His Creation. If these times are not most perilous to the Christian principles upon which our nation was founded, I would be at a loss to imagine what would describe our present age and predicament more suitably.
Looking to our common society and character as Americans in the same nation founded by our patriotic Founders, how do we in our present age measure up? Are we the same Americans that braved the ocean deep to come and establish a home in a land hitherto unsettled and uncultivated amidst unfriendly natives, scarce resources, and unknown customs? Are we the same Americans who fought, under overwhelming odds, a great land, and greater sea, power to gain our freedoms of speech, religion, and self-determination – and won that war?
Are we the same rugged Americans who carved out a nation from the wilderness and fought our bloodiest war between brothers and thereby established a stronger Union? Are we the same young Americans who fought, bled, and died in the trenches of World War One to make the world safe for democracy; or braved the fierce enemies of the European and Pacific Theaters of Operation during World War Two to prevent the enslavement of whole nations to totalitarian dictatorships? Are we the same Marines who slogged through the ice and snow of the Chosin Reservoir of Korea in defense of a people whose language and customs were alien to our own?
My friends. Is our American society the same that just half a century ago valued the handshake of an honest citizen to be of more worth than a signed contract today; a people who would neither countenance nor tolerate perversion of our youth or the intentional deprivation of our rights and liberties granted by God and enshrined in our Founding Documents – the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution?
I venture to say that we are NOT those same Americans. In all our great wars and battles of the past, the blood of the entire nation was offered as security to stand against any invader. It is not so today. We have a paid volunteer military whose blood we offer on the altar of freedom in lieu of our own. Though that military is dedicated and patriotic, it is no substitute for an entire nation whose sacrifices are all presented on behalf of the defense of freedom. Even our youth are being taught, with impunity, to hate our nation, themselves, and all the principles that underlie the foundation stones of this great nation that is unsurpassed in the annals of history for its blessings granted by the Providence of God.
Perhaps it is high time the American people awaken to the true values of freedom and liberty, take uncompromising pride in our flag and Founding documents, and restore the memory of our great men, women, and institutions of the American Republic to the public forum and our schools. A beneficent God will favor our undertakings that reciprocate His blessings on this land – One Nation, under God, with Liberty and Justice for All. If we fail, how will our Maker respond? “But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. (Jeramiah 34:16-17)
The Independence Day Propers are found on Page 263-264.
Independence Day.
[July 4.]
The Collect.
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ETERNAL God, through whose mighty power our fathers won their liberties of old; Grant, we beseech thee, that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain these liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle comes from the Tenth Chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy beginning at the Seventeenth Verse:
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HE LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: he doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen..
Today’s Gospel started in the Fifth Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew beginning at the Forty-Third Verse:
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ESUS said, Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
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