Today is the 4th of July. 228 years ago, the Declaration of Independence was signed by the representatives of the various colonies to put their cause before a candid world. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. Among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Many point to the language and the character of the Founding Fathers to show that this nation was begun on Christian principles. Any honest reading of the documents will show that. A biography of the founders show that most were devout believers and followers of Christ. Others like Jefferson and Franklin who were not orthodox believers understood and appreciated some of the strengths of the Christian faith that permeated the colonies and the young republic.

Do you know what united the various peoples of the colonies into one people? Was it just the oppression of the British crown? This was only part because different colonies felt more oppression than others. I think the main reason that these various groups were united and viewed themselves as one people had to do with events that happened in the generation preceding the American Revolution—a revival that changed society here and in the British Isles. It was called the Great Awakening. Preachers held special services and the people crowded to them. When the throngs could not be contained in buildings, the people would gather in the fields by the thousands to hear the Word of God preached. People’s hearts were moved and their lives were changed.

There were many preachers during the Great Awakening. John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards are well known, but the biggest name of the era was George Whitfield. Professor Harry Stout of Yale University says that on average every man, woman and child personally heard Whitfield preach 9 times. All this was without TV, radio or even PA systems. Whitfield was bigger than any rock star today and far more influential. The people were united behind one message—the gospel of Jesus Christ. So united, that a generation later people in Georgia began to care about people in New England as their fellow countrymen.

To find the Christian roots of this country, you have to go back further than the American Revolution in the 1770s, further than even the Great Awakening of the 1730s and 40s. Go back to the founding of New England. In 1620, 384 years ago, the pilgrims founded the Plymouth colony. Before they got off the boat, William Bradford and George Carver wrote a document under which the new society would be governed. It was the Mayflower compact.

As you were reminded at our service last Sunday night, the reason for their whole adventure to the new world was undertaken for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith. They made a covenant with one another and with God. The first words of the Mayflower Compact were not proclaiming who they were and what right or power they had. The first words were: In the Name of God. Amen. Sure, there was economic opportunity and freedom in this adventure, but make no mistake about it, these pilgrim came in order to set up a society that was truly Christian. The redacted history books that teach our children that the pilgrims are just people who took a long trip are leaving out an important part of the story.

Move forward 10 years to the founding of Boston, 374 years ago. Before that colony began, its vision was laid in a sermon by John Winthop. The people gave assent to this vision by electing him the first governor. The believers and even the skeptics had to be impressed by his vision for New England. The sermon was written while Winthrop was on board the Arabella, before reaching the New World. The name of the sermon was A Model of Christian Charity.

It not only had an impact on the beginnings of New England, but it continues to inspire the imaginations of Americans. It so captivated President Ronald Reagan that he had it read (in part) at his funeral by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (whom he appointed as the first female justice on the Supreme Court). One of the things that caught Reagan’s ear was Winthrop’s use of our Lord’s words, You are a city set on a hill. Reagan and others have rallied to this image.

Many Americans have seen this county, not just as a land of opportunity and freedom, but as an example, as a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. Lady Liberty’s torch symbolically shines across the waters as a beacon for freedom. Can you not remember those who saw that example and set up a little lady liberty in Tienemann square back in 1989? The sad truth is that we have not always been a good example, but in spite of the darkness of our national sins and errors, a light is shining.

In Winthrop’s vision, what was the example that he wanted Boston to be? What was the shining light leading them on their errand into the wilderness? Was it the idea of a free land? Freedom was a big draw for the Europeans who came, but it was not the beacon that called them here. Freedom is still one of our treasured words and core values as Americans, but it cannot be our central value. No society can be founded on freedom for freedom’s sake. If everyone is free to do whatever they want, those freedoms will bump up against each other. Absolute freedom, without something underlying it, is nothing more than anarchy.

Was Winthrop’s vision a place of economic expansion? People came to these shores with the idea of getting richer. The opportunity was here. They could get land and produce. This country is the economic powerhouse of the world. It is still the land of opportunity. People stream across our borders because of the prosperity that can be had here. But getting rich quickly or slowly was not the heart of Winthrop’s vision.

In fact, he spends quite a bit of time in the sermon warning against the evils of materialism. God will throw them out of the land if they "shall be seduced, and worship other Gods, our pleasure and profits, and serve them." They were supposed to share out of their abundance in ordinary times, and in times of dire need, they would share as much as it took for the benefit of their brothers and sisters. To those who were bent up on stockpiling a fortune for their own life and their own children, Winthrop asked what they made of Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:19: Lay not up for yourselves treasure on earth where moth and rust corrupt and thieves break in and steal. Rather, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth nor rust corrupts and thieves cannot break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Much of the sermon, while it recognizes the blessings of prosperity, recognizes the evil of materialism. Materialism is making things your god and goal—trusting in things to save you in times of need, rather than obeying the Lord. Winthrop knew the pull and the danger of materialism and he preached against it from the beginning.

What was the light of Winthrop’s vision? What example did he inspire the New Englanders to be? What was the heart of this city set on a hill? Here was to be a city founded upon the love of God in Christ. Not a city built on human love and goodwill alone, but a city built on the Love of Christ Jesus.

Was he naive? Perhaps. Was he trying to set up a place where the Kingdom of God could be seen in greater purity and clarity? Absolutely. Under this vision, New England would not just be a place where Christian truth was affirmed. It was to be a place where Christian love was actually seen in the day by day working of the city. You don’t even have to understand or agree with the vision to be impressed. It is breathtaking.

What would it look like? If a city had its governing principle built on real love, what would it be like? Winthrop cited Micah 6:8: What does the Lord require of you but to act justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. A city built on Christian love would be guided by justice and mercy. As Christians, we will not cheat one another. We will not take each other’s things or spouses or good names. We will not be those who have to be dragged into court in order to do what is right. This justice is also guided by the golden rule of our Lord Jesus: Do unto others as you would have them do to you.

Mercy is love looking at our neighbor in need and meeting that need. In fact, we do not see the need as our neighbor’s alone, but as our own need. Because we are actually members of one body, our neighbor’s concern is our concern. Winthrop quotes St Paul, Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is offended and I burn not? This rule of mercy is also guided by the golden rule: just as you would have the help you need, so give to others.

How was this ethic to be enforced? Can we force love and mercy? If it is forced, then it is no longer love. If we take from one and give to the other, we have given the other a right to receive. This is no longer justice or mercy.

My words may sound overly political, but I want you to understand the Holy Scripture and this vision of Winthrop’s. I believe that the welfare state in this country owes its existence in part to the vision of John Winthrop. We should be a society that looks after those in need. Unfortunately, the welfare society is founded, not on love, but coercion. When your money is taken by governmental force and given to another, the end may be what is good (helping the poor) but the means is not justice, mercy or love.

The government takes what it wants and gives according to some calculation. Some who receive may actually need more than the government calculus will allow. Some may need less or none at all. Where is the justice? Where is the mercy? And most of all, where is the love? When we are forced to give, our hearts become calloused. We stop listening to the needs of others because we already gave, not at the office, but at the tax booth. And so our hearts are impoverished because we no longer look on our neighbors with love. We figure that caring for them is someone else’s job.

If this ethic of justice and mercy is not primarily to be enforced by the power of the government, what will make this new society work? Winthrop says this. First, this love among Christians is a real thing, not imaginary. This isn’t just good feelings. This is a group of people with hearts changed by the Holy Spirit. Secondly, this love is as absolutely necessary to the being of the body of Christ, as the sinews and other ligaments of a natural body are to the being of that body. It is real and without it, the body of Christ is only a legal fiction. Thirdly, this love is a divine, spiritual, nature; free, active, strong, courageous, permanent; undervaluing all things beneath its proper object and of all the graces, this makes us nearer to resemble the virtues of our heavenly father. This love of Christ has actual power to change us. Fourthly, it rests in the love and welfare of its beloved. When we love with Christ’s love, we desire the best of those we love.

Who are we to love? First, those who are believers. The Apostle says, let us do good to all men, especially to those who are of the household of faith. We have a special bond with those who are part of the body of Christ. Those who were starting this colony were Christians and those who lived under the pale of Christendom. But the law of love does not stop there. We are to love even our enemies. This love was to be extended to all. That would make New England a city on a hill and a model of charity (charity is the old word for real love).

Did they succeed? Pointing out their failures is easy. The record of the settlers’ dealings with the natives who were already here is spotty at best. The record of our dealings with those who were brought here from Africa as slaves (or their descendents) is also a sad one. Yet as big as these failures are, the real threat to Winthrop’s vision came from something else. Winthrop himself warned what would happen if they were seduced, and worship other Gods, our pleasure and profits, and serve them. The blessing of Providence would leave. The wrath of God would come. When they became so enamored with the things they could acquire that they forgot their focus of Christian love, then they would cease to be a model of Christian charity. They would be weighed, measured and found wanting.

Look again at our text this morning. You know this passage. If you are like me, you have meditated on it as a direction for your life. I hear the text and I ask myself, "How can I love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul and mind? How can I love my neighbor as my self? Am I doing the loving thing? Am I saying the loving thing?" These are all good questions.

But I want you to look at these commands in a different light. Let us ask a different question. "How can we live together so as to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and strength? How can we love each other in a way that makes our society different? As the old hymn says: Let us love our God supremely. Let us love each other too. Let us love and pray for sinners, ’til our God makes all things new. Do we know how we are to act towards God and our neighbors? We are to love them.

Do you see the difference? No longer are the main pronouns I and you, but we. No longer is emphasis on my personal ethics and my personal sanctification, but on our ethics together and our being sanctified as the body of Christ.

Too long have we Christians fallen for the secularizing push that says, "Religion is just a matter of the heart. It is private. It should remain private." Our lives are not lived in isolation. Our faith is not an isolated part of our lives. The love of Christ is the driving force of our lives and rules our speech and actions. It is not a time to be silent about who we are in Christ. It is not a time to hide the light of Christ’s love under a bushel basket. If someone else is comfortable in spouting their secularist dogma, they may. But we who know the grace of Christ live and breathe the love of Jesus Christ. We will act and speak and think in that love.

A couple weeks ago, our elder encouraged us as the Church of Jesus not to be silent on moral issues of our day. He is right. We are not to be silent on issues that threaten to impact the morality of our society. We write our representatives and take part in the body politic. We should do this with savvy and boldness. Why do we do this, because it is the right thing to do? Even more, it is because we love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind; and we love our neighbor as ourselves.

The love of Christ compels us not to be silent. We must speak. But it is not enough just to speak. Do not think that culture wars in which we are engaged are won or lost based on legislation. Do not think that the love of Christ can be fully demonstrated by words alone. This is what is wrong with much of the Evangelical Church in America. We have the right doctrines. We are right on the issues, but we do not demonstrate the radical love of Christ. Where is the fire that drives us to act in love? It is not enough to be technically right. It is not enough to be Christians in name only. Real love calls for real action because we really love the Lord our God with our heart and soul and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves.

It is one thing to resist the assault on the family that has gone on for a generation. It is one thing to stand up and be counted among those who proclaim that marriage is between one man and one woman and not some other arrangement. But what will we have lost if we win that battle and still family after family crumbles with divorce, crumbles with estrangement between parent and child, crumbles in ability to be a place of true Christian nurture?

We need to bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ’s love. That means we encourage each other in our marriages. When we are in trouble we seek help from one another and we give help and encouragement when we need it. We do not look around pretending that everything is fine when it is really breaking apart at the seams. We have programs for marriage enrichment and we come to them together. We have classes on raising children and we come to them together. Why, because it is a good thing to do? It is because we really love the Lord our God with our heart and soul and mind and our neighbor as ourselves.

We speak against abortion, but it does not end there. We show love to those who are in difficult pregnancies. We show love to them. We tell them the Word of God and also the forgiveness of God in Christ. Why? Because really love the Lord our God with our heart and soul and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves.

We support the Mooresville Pregnancy Center with our money, time and prayers. Through it we help young mothers learn about caring for their babies and learn what the Bible says to young mothers; we show the love of Christ to those who really need it. Why? Because we really love the Lord our God with our heart and soul and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves.

This church has reached out to people in need, both people within our church and people outside. I don’t need to tell you what generosity is. You know how to reach deep when the need is deep. John Winthrop would be happy, but more importantly, so is our Lord Jesus Christ. Why do we do this? Because we really love the Lord our God with our heart and soul and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves.

There are so many other ways that the love of Christ is being shown in our church and through our church into this community. I will save them for another day. But let the love of Christ flow through us. Let our members and our neighbors see this love coming through us. May it go out like a tidal wave, knocking over unrighteousness and winning hearts, not by strength of argument or force, but by the wooing power of God’s love. We cannot love in name only. It must be real. If it is real it must be powerful. Human good will is not enough. We need the power of Christ’s love flowing through changed hearts. That is what we need to be a model of Christian charity and a city set on a hill. That is a founding vision of this land. In it is life. Winthrop’s words still call to us: