This July Fourth our nation will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. This celebration is officially known as the United States Semiquincentennial (that’s a mouthful!). This yearlong commemoration marks two and a half centuries of American independence from Great Britain. There are two federal initiatives which are spearheading various events throughout the year. One is America 250 a non-partisan, congressional commission established in 2016 focusing on public service and grassroots community events. The other is Freedom 250 established by a White House task force to create a public-private partnership to organize large-scale, national festivities with the theme: “Salute to America.” Individual states (North Carolina being one of them) have also formed individual commissions to highlight local revolutionary and regional contributions to our country’s multi-century journey of freedom. So, what exactly are we celebrating?
To answer that question, we should start by looking at the original document that started all this – The Declaration of Independence. Allow me to quote just the first three sentences:
When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which imped them to separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, …
This document goes on to say that whenever “any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and institute a new government.” It goes on to list over 18 ways that King George abused his governing powers, became “a Tyrant” and as such became “unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”
To further explain what we are celebrating, let us turn to another historical text – The Pledge of Allegiance. Originally it was written in August of 1892 by a Baptist minister by the name of Frances Bellamy. In 1923 the U.S. Congress changed the term “my Flag” to the phrase “the Flag of the United States of America” so that everyone (native and immigrant) knew to which country they were pledging their loyalty. In 1954, during the height of the Cold War with the atheistic U.S.S.R., President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill into law that added the words “under God” to once again show America’s faith in her Creator.
So, from the very beginning of the founding of our country and throughout our 250-year history, the USA has at least acknowledged a belief in “our Creator” or “God” in reference to the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible. Those of us who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior believe in a personal God who is very much involved in the affairs of human history. Therefore, this summer as we think about ways to safely celebrate our country’s 250th birthday, individually and corporately let us remember God’s promise to us in 2 Chronicles 7:14 – “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.” Have a peaceful and happy Fourth of July!