Why Seek New Solutions when the Old have Served us Well

There had been little unusual about this sermon delivered March 14, 1983:

“Disintegration in our nation’s social order – crime, alcoholism, drug abuse, family instability, divorce, corruption, poverty, inflation…- can simply be explained: God’s clear instructions concerning life have been disobeyed. The Bible has become a closed book.”

The Pastor then prayed:

“We thank Three, Father God, for the Bible – the incredible Book, ancient in origin, contemporary in wisdom, justice and truth…Help us see that we deprive ourselves of a wealth of resources when we neglect the Bible. For in it and through it we come to know Thee and Thy love for us, and we learn to know ourselves, our needs, and the provision Thou hast made for us…”

The only thing that might strike us as extraordinary about this sermon was the fact that it was preached on the floor of the United States Senate by its Chaplain (1981-1994), Richard C. Halverson, who had preached many similar messages during his term of office.

Why is this remembrance significant? Today we are told that we are not a Christian nation nor have we ever been so! While it is true that our Constitution gives no legal basis for the establishment of a Christian theocracy, Halverson’s sermon and also those of his predecessors make it clear that this great nation had always drawn its inspiration from the God of the Bible.

Our first president, George Washington, insisted that his Continental Army be amply served by chaplains. We understood that any military victory had to be based upon his army maintaining the spiritual high-ground that only the biblical faith could provide.

The evidence of the centrality of this Faith in the development and function of this nation was ubiquitous – so ubiquitous that the Preamble of every State Constitution gave recognition to the “Almighty.”

Why is this important to remember? Ours has been one of the greatest civilizations that humanity has ever known. We therefore need to ask, “What has made it great, and can we continue to be great if we divorce ourselves from our very traditions that have made us great? How long can we stand if we continue to banish every mention of our God from public discourse?”

The Progressives answer that this is a new world requiring new answers. However, new answers have often been tried – the French, Spanish, Russian, and the many sexual revolutions - but always with disastrous results. What reason do we have to believe that these answers will work today? If we lacked tried and proven solutions, blind hope might be rationally more appealing.

U.S. Senate Chaplaincy – a Dying Light?

Despite all the misguided talk about the alleged “separation of church and state,” prayer has always been a part of the Congress of the USA. “The inclusion of a prayer before the opening of each session of both the House and the Senate, traces its origins back to the days of the Continental Congress, and the official recommendation of Benjamin Franklin, June 28, 1787”:

·        “I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel . . . I therefore beg leave to move— that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that Service.” (Wikipedia)

We have come a long way. Just how far, in three short decades, was illustrated to me by the homilies and prayers of Senate Chaplain Richard C. Halverson (1981-95). In 1981, he warned the Senate:

·        No great nation or empire was defeated from without before it had rotted from within – spiritually, morally, ethically. America will be no exception. She will be destroyed not by forces without, but by her own decadence….the need is critical for her people to take a stand against the conditions contributing to the pollution and corruption of American life. Secular humanism, materialism, hedonism, self-indulgence, sexual permissiveness, drunkenness, drug abuse – a cancer is ravaging America’s health and strength. ((No Greater Power,  46)

It made me wonder what type of homily the Senate is now feeding upon. Are their hearts still being convicted by the Truth? Halverson concluded with this prayer:

·        What will it take, O God, to make us know that we cannot do it alone? What calamity must fall before we humble ourselves and acknowledge our dependence on Thee?...Lord God help us. Quicken our minds to seek Thy wisdom, our hearts to repent, our wills to obey Thee. Return us to the noble dependence on Thee by which our forefathers persevered against incredible odds to give us our grand national legacy. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

What light had been shed upon our Senate! Halverson had predicted that without the Lord at our center, we will rot. Can you begin to smell the stench?