United States of America
Independence Day
[July 4]
Appointed Collect, Epistle and Gospel
O 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.
[See additonal prayers below]
Deuteronomy x. 17 & St. Matthew v. 43
Devotions:
Eve of Independence Day: Psalm xxxiv, Isa xlix. 14-21, II John
Morning: Psalm xviii:1-20, Isa xxvi, Jn viii. 31-36
Evening Psalm cxxi, cxxii, Deut iv. 1-14, Gal iv. 26-v.1.
Declaration of Independence
God Bless America - Kate Smith
"[Independence Day] ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more."
[John Adams]
Other Homilies MMV
Our founding fathers were men who feared the Lord and endeavored to follow the command in Deuteronomy, "Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve." A review of the early documents of our nation clearly shows that the people revered the Lord and strove to ensure that the institutions they established to govern their temporal affairs were in accord with the tenets of the Bible. The result was a land where freedom and justice prevailed, a place where all manner of folk from around the world were attracted, and still are, as a land of freedom and opportunity.
General George Washington said, "To the distinguished Character of a Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the most distinguished Character of Christian."
Patriot Patrick Henry said, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Diplomat and later President John Quincy Adams said: "The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: It connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government and the principles of Christianity."
We are faced with many challenges today including the control of our borders, illegal immigration, and terrorism from those who hate us for what we are. In all of this concern with our security, we are to remember God's command that we should exercise hospitality for the stranger, "Love ye therefore the stranger." We are to do this in the same way as the Father in Heaven loves the stranger and provides for him. Our Lord Jesus took this to even a higher level of perfection as he commanded us to, "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."
America has traditionally set the standard for justice and mercy. After WWII, our actions in Germany and Japan demonstrated the essence of the command that our Lord gave us. Today, in Iraq, we continue as a nation to try to obey this command by trying to rebuild the country and to work closely with the people to establish a land of freedom and justice, ruled by law, and tempered by mercy.
Finally, we should be concerned with those who wish to see God removed completely from everything public. We have seen the recent actions to take "God" out of oaths, the pledge, public symbols, and from buidings. The hymn below is our National Anthem, written as Francis Scott Key observed the English bombard Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812. I recommend you take time to sing or read through all four verses. We normally just hear the first verse, but look closely at the fourth verse. In it you will find the source of the motto on our coins today, "In God is our Trust"
Let us pray:
ALMIGHTY 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 BCP
O Almighty God, who givest breath to every living thing, and of whose power it is that peoples, nations, and kindreds of men stretch forth the curtains of their habitations; We give Thee hearty thanks for that spirit of brave adventure to which this nation owes its birth. We rejoice in the insuperable courage of those who, loving liberty and knowledge, have pushed away the veil of mountains and of seas, and have sought light and freedom for themselves and their children; and we pray that Thou wilt give to us the same spirit, and make us a people worthy of these heroic ideals and traditions. Grant us grace ever to witness for Thee among the nations. And hasten the time, we pray Thee, when all the peoples of the earth shall dwell together in righteousness and peace, and war shall be no more. All which we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ, our most blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.
[Book of Occasional Services 1914]
O Lord our Saviour, who hast warned us that Thou wilt require much of those to whom much is given; Grant that we whose lot Thou hast cast in so goodly an heritage may strive together the more abundantly by prayer, by fasting, by almsgiving, and by every other appointed means, to extend to others what we so richly enjoy; and as we have entered. into the labours of other men, so to labour that in their turn other men may enter into ours, to the fulfilling of Thy Holy will and our own everlasting salvation; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
[Book of Occasional Services 1914]
at the raising of the flag
Almighty God, who in days of old didst lead forth Thy people arrayed under the standards of their tribes to march into a land of liberty which Thou appointedst for them, and to overcome all their enemies; Look upon us who are also Thy people; behold and bless that which we do this day. Grant that this flag which we are about to raise in Thy Name may be to us a constant reminder of the loyalty to which we are called, in the service of our country and in the fulfilment of our duty to Thee. Enable us so to live that the honor and purity of our flag shall never by us be sullied with dishonor, shame or crime. Where it waves there let justice, truth, and purity prevail. Preserve this Thy people who live under the standard of these United States from all discord and division, from all selfishness and covetous desires, and fill them with a true sense of the honorable position of duty to Thee, their fellow men and the other nations of the earth, which Thou hast called us to fill. As we follow this flag going before us may it never lead in any way that is contrary to Thy will, but rather, as we follow on, let us fulfil every purpose which Thou hast for us, that walking in a straight path, and in brotherly love before Thee, we may one by one, and as a nation, be protected in our own lives and in National integrity and honor, and finally be found as those who have fought a good fight and, having finished an appointed course, shall receive their reward in the presence of Thee their Eternal Lord and King. Grant this, O Father of all, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.[Book of Occasional Services 1914]
The Reverend Mark Carroll 2004 updated 2009
Deuteronomy x. 17
THE 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.St. Matthew v. 43
JESUS 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.HOME