Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Is there any hope for America? Acts 17:6 Dr. Evan O’Neil Kane was the chief surgeon at Kane Summit Hospital in New York City. He was 60 years old and had been practicing surgery for 37 years. He was especially interested in anesthesia. You see, Dr. Kane practiced medicine back in the early part of the 20th century, when the only kind of anesthetic used was general in nature—and it often had complications. Patients were sometimes left paralyzed and on occasion, died. Dr. Kane wanted to somehow prove a theory of his by finding a guinea pig and attempt surgery using only local anesthetic. Finally, he discovered someone willing to help him experiment. The patient needed his appendix removed, so he was scheduled for surgery. On February 15, 1921 the patient was prepared and rolled into the operating room. During his career as a surgeon Dr. Kane had performed over 4,000 appendectomies. He made the initial cut, clamped the blood vessels on the way in while he located the appendix. He, then, skillfully removed it as he had done so many times before. Through it all the patient experienced minor pain, recuperated very quickly and was released from the hospital two days later.   Dr. Kane proved his point! It was a milestone in medical history that a person could be operated on using only local anesthetic while still awake. By the way, did I mention that the surgeon and the patient were one and the same? You see, Dr. Evan O’Neil Kane operated on himself!   This morning we want to do exactly what Dr. Kane did…spiritually. I want you to be wide awake when you do it. This is major surgery. But we’re not going to use a scalpel; we’re using God’s Word. Hebrews 4:12-13 says, “For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”   Today we’re concluding our series, Kingdom Principles in a Political World. After working through various issues facing our country, we want to ask the obvious question: Is there any hope for America? Yes, we’re the answer! The Church of Jesus Christ is the answer.    The problems of our culture are no more and perhaps even less serious than the problems facing the early church. God’s solution for this world is not sociological, educational, financial or even political. The only cure for what ails our world is spiritual, just like it was in the first century. But unlike us, those early Christians revolutionized their world. Acts 17:6 says of them, “Those that have turned the world upside down are come here also.” They didn’t rattle their world, they revolutionized it! And we need to ask, “Why aren’t we doing the same thing?” We must admit that not only are we not turning our world upside down, I’m not even sure that the world knows that we exist. Obviously, this has implications for the Church in the world, but our responsibility is here – in Burlington, Wisconsin!   Recently, the local McDonald’s closed so a new one could be built. People throughout the community have been talking about it. Some have been going through withdrawals and had to go elsewhere for their Big Mac attack. But what if our church closed? What if tomorrow Grace Church ceased to exist? Would our community even know it? Would it leave a spiritual hole? Or, would they drive by in a year or so and say, “Oh, yeah, that’s where that church used to be…what was the name of it?”   Folks, we have a problem. I want to make a difference, don’t you? I want my life to count for something more than a moment of silence or a small obit in the local paper. That’s why we want to take the scalpel of God’s Word and do some soul surgery. Let’s cut out any cancer that might kill our church or render us ineffective. If you’re taking notes… 1. There is no hope for America, if the Church does not repent. G. K. Chesterton, the famous theologian, after seeing a series of articles on “What's Wrong with the World?” sent a short letter to the editor. “Dear Sir: Regarding your article 'What's Wrong with the World?' I am. Yours truly, G. K. Chesterton.”  He’s right. We’re what’s wrong with the world.   If we look at the religious activity in America today, it would appear we’re in the midst of a Christian renaissance. There’s a Bible-believing church in virtually every town and more mega-churches than ever before. We easily tune into Christian radio stations, television programs and can find thousands of evangelical web sites. We can shop at Christian bookstores, purchase books or Bible study materials on nearly every spiritual topic. There are scores of Christian colleges and universities, not to mention online schools. You can work for hundreds of different Christian ministries. At Grace, we have folk who work at two different parachurch ministries. The visibility of Christianity in the American landscape may be higher than it has ever been and continues to grow.   Yet if we look at our society at large, it’s increasingly debauched. There are more divorces, more psychiatrists, more suicides, more financial counseling, more debt, more teen pregnancies, drug and alcohol abuse, more community organizations and less transformation. More youth groups but more gangs, more income but less giving, more leisure time but less ministry, more sermons but a shrinking Biblical worldview.   So how are these realities occurring simultaneously? How can such a proliferation of Christian activity have so little impact on society? One explanation for the coexistence of such contradictory realities is that the Church – God’s people – has failed in being what God has called it to be.   Obviously, when I’m speaking of the failure of the Church, I’m talking about the people of God as a collective group. There are many individual Christians, dynamic local churches led by godly pastors who are having a solid Biblical impact. Yet I have to confess as I look inside my own soul, that more often than I want to face – I’m more American than I am Christian. I too easily fall into the rut of American religiosity rather than radical, life changing Biblical Christianity. If we want to make an impact for the Kingdom of God, we’re going to have to get intense about our faith. We’re going to have to get a little radical. So what’s the problem? Well, we’ve veered from the original blueprint.   a) We’ve not allowed Jesus to build His Church, Matthew 16:17-18 (p. 694). There are some 325,000 evangelical churches in America with a total membership of 112 million people. Some 50 million Americans claim to have had a “born-again” experience. America has just over 300 million so one sixth of Americans claim to be born-again. Professing Christians then are about 18% of the population. It’s estimated that homosexuals make up about 6% of the population. But let’s be honest, who’s making more of an impact on American culture…Homosexuals or Christians? I think that we’d have to say homosexuals are making more of an impact.   Jesus does not end with “I will build my Church,” He also says, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” That qualifying statement forces us to look a little closer at how the Church is to function in the world. You see, God intends for His Church to be a powerful force in society – a force powerful enough to lessen the effects of sin. But we must also admit that Hell sure seems to be doing a good job of stopping the Church. We’re not that powerful, redeeming influence on society that we’re supposed to be. Yet if Jesus said that Hell can’t stop His Church, what’s the problem? If the Church, as we know it is being stopped, then the Church we see must not be His Church. Too often we’ve thrown away the blueprint. We’re not allowing Jesus to build His Church. We’ve not dedicated ourselves to understanding and obeying God’s instructions for the Church. Instead, we’ve done things our way, we’ve built our church and put His name on it, and it just doesn’t cut it.   Obviously, this is far too complex for one message or one point. The core problem is this – it’s our church, not His Church. It’s about what we want, what we need, what we expect, rather than what He desires. It’s about visible success rather than spiritual success. It’s American consumerism.   The average Christian in a church today continually asks, “What am I getting out of this? Are my needs being met? Are my kids being taken care of? Do I feel good here? Does this meet my expectations? Am I being served?” And we get it honestly because nearly every other facet of our society caters to our needs and seeks to make us happy. But in the church we’re to be interested in making only one Person happy – and it’s not me and it’s not you – it’s King Jesus. I don’t come to church so I can be happy; I come so that I can learn to be holy. It’s not about me, it’s about Him. It’s not so that I can be served but so that I can serve. b) We’ve forgotten what we’re supposed to be. For the most part, the Church has forgotten its purpose. The Church has mistakenly defined itself in terms of a building where people gather once a week so that they can get an emotional pick me up and feel good enough to make it through another week. That’s not the purpose of the Church, that’s a benefit. The sole purpose of the Church is to be the dynamic, living body through which God can accomplish His work for His glory. God has called us to infiltrate the culture with His righteousness. What we’re talking about is revival. Turn to Acts 19:17-20.   When the Church is what the Church is supposed to be, it has an impact on society. The Church should affect how people behave and treat one another. When the Church is what it’s supposed to be, Christians are distinctly different. It’s not that they don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t chew. It’s that’s they seek to be holy, loving, gracious, kind, content, joyful. They want to worship. Yet the average Christian today is more concerned about when the service will end rather than when it will start. They want to get their weekly notch on their church attendance gun but have forgotten that we gather to worship our awesome God.   God left the Church here so that those on their way to hell can get a glimpse of what heaven looks like, when heaven resides in their midst. Every believer is to model Christ in every aspect of his/her life and thereby preserve the culture from the destruction of sin. Our world is in real trouble. It doesn’t know how to fix Mr. Humpty-Dumpty. But the greater tragedy is that the Church has forgotten to fix Mr. Dumpty. In fact, much of the Church has forgotten that it’s even supposed to know how to fix Mr. Dumpty.   c) We’ve forgotten our purpose. A father took his son and one of his son's friends on a fishing trip. They got to their campsite and everything was perfect. The weather was warm but not hot, the lake was calm, and they even had a level campsite. They put up their tent, cooked their dinner, and went to bed anticipating several days of great fishing but when they woke up the next morning; they discovered that a cold front had come in during the night. It was now in the low 40's and a cold wind was blowing. They stayed in their tent most of the day and occupied themselves telling stories and playing silly games with one another to make the best of a bad situation. They went to bed that night hoping things would be better the next day but the next day was more of the same. Only now, it had begun to rain. Once again they tried to wait it out and occupy themselves in the tent, but by the end of the day, everyone was on edge, crabby and angry at one another. Finally, they decided to pack up and head home. The moral of the story is they discovered that when fishermen don't fish, they fight.   Have you ever wondered why there are so many squabbling, griping, grumbling Christians? We keep looking for that church where everyone gets along. The problem is not “locational”, it’s “vocational”. We’ve forgotten our purpose. Jesus’ last words to us were, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”   You know the only thing more exciting than leading someone to the Lord is having someone that you led to the Lord, lead someone to the Lord! Because then you’re a spiritual grandparent!   But we’ve bought the world’s lie, that excitement or fulfillment is a new house or a new car or a new gadget or that dream vacation or new carpet. We think it’s finding the right person or the right job. It’s not. It’s not even raising your kids and seeing them succeed. While there’s nothing wrong with any of those things, they will never satisfy the Christian. Salvation was never meant to be stored and kept, it’s meant to be shared.   The reason that the Church is so unhappy is that it is filled with Christians who aren’t living out their purpose. Friend, God didn’t save you just so that you could go to Heaven. He saved you so that you could bring as many others with you as possible. If you have a right relationship with Jesus Christ, you want others to know Him too…you can’t help it. His name is wonderful and He’s so wonderful, you just have to share Him.   d) We’ve joined forces with the Enemy. In Matthew 12:30 Jesus says something frightening, “He who is not with Me is against Me.” 1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” James 4:4 “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” During that first century after Christ lived on the earth, His disciples were closely aligned with God’s agenda. They knew their purpose and turned the world upside down. Today it’s more accurate to say that the world turns the Church upside down.   In the human body, the immune system prevents disease from destroying the body. But in the disease we call AIDS, the immune system stops functioning properly. It’s unable to successfully fight off the germs and viruses that attack the body. Because of this failure the common cold can easily become a fatal case of pneumonia.   Society too has an immune system that protects it from the destruction of sin. It’s us – the Church. However, the Church suffers from the disease of spiritual AIDS, which has greatly diminished its effectiveness. The Church is having so much intercourse with the world that it’s become sick. With such an affliction, the Church has lost its spiritual strength; it’s lost its ability to ward off the evil forces that would conquer it and has also lost its ability to protect society from the devastating consequences of the viruses and bacteria of sin.   Like the world, the Church has failed to recognize the authority of Scripture. We conveniently accept what we wish to and reject that which we view as old-fashioned or irrelevant. We’ve taken what God calls sin and given it a more palatable identity. Rather than functioning as a peculiar people committed to God's agenda, the Church functions as warmed-over, humanistic religion. It's not so much that God's people have stopped believing in God but that they’ve chosen to believe in a humanistic God—a God who gives out ten suggestions, not Ten Commandments.  That’s why our marriages, the way we raise our children, the way we educate them, the way we spend our money, the entertainment choices we make, the way we talk, the way we behave, our values and priorities are nearly identical with lost people. We’ve allowed ourselves to become so saturated by the world's agenda, standards, and methodologies that we’ve lost our identity as God's people. By spinelessly adopting the world's standards, the Church has failed to judge itself according to God's standards and has failed to make itself pure for God's use. Because the Church can't get its own house in order, it has very little to say to the broader society.      Since we’ve put the world's agenda ahead of God's, we’ve lost the ability to bring God's long-term, spiritually oriented solutions to society's problems. But that’s not the way it’s supposed to be. The world should be coming to us. It should be looking at us and asking, "How do you get your stuff to work?" It’s time for the Church to be God's alternative in the world. It’s time for the Church to provide God's perspective and God's solutions to Mr. Dumpty's problems. It’s time for the Church to seek, obey, and fulfill its God-given mission in the world. 2. There is hope for America though because of Who God is. On a wall in Auschwitz, the liberating Allied troops found this scratched out when they liberated that Death Camp in 1945: “I believe in the sun, even though I don't see it shine. I believe in love, even though I don't see it expressed. I believe in God, even though I can't hear him speak.” What kind of person who had endured such horror could write these words of promise and hope? Only someone who deliberately chose to see the unseen. If there is hope for America, that is what we must see. Let me suggest four reasons why I believe there’s still hope for America.   a) Because God is a merciful God. The Psalmist cried out, “Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD” (Ps. 25:6-7). Even the rebellious prophet Jonah knew God was merciful, for he said, "I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity" (Jonah 4:2). Just as God spared the wicked city of Nineveh in Jonah’s day, so He may yet spare America. As God told Jonah, "Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” (Jonah 4:11). If God had dealt with our country on the basis of what we deserve, we’d have ceased to be a nation long ago. God may soon say, “Enough” and pull the plug on America, but because of God’s great mercy, there’s still hope.  b) Because of the Abrahamic Covenant. God may spare America because historically, America has been pro-Israel. God promised Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen. 12:2-3). One of our nation’s wisest choices has been its consistent support for the Jewish nation. God is not through with the Jew, and while America has committed many sins, for which we deserve judgment, as a nation we’ve consistently been a friend of Israel…and God has blessed us for it.   c) Because of God’s strong hand of providence in the founding of America. Those who founded this country, unlike other nations founded at the same time, did not come here in search of gold but in search of God. Those familiar with American history know that this is a miracle nation. No other country has so cooperated with God’s worldwide plan of getting the gospel to the far ends of the world (Rev. 5:9). Countries like England, Germany, South Africa and others around the globe today are free because of America. God has sent revival to our land in the past…it could happen again…and give us a few more generations to serve the Lord.   d) Because there are so many Christians in America. Rememberwhen Abraham prayed and asked God to spare Sodom in Genesis 18? God agreed to spare Sodom if He could find within it ten righteous souls. As you recall, tragically, ten could not be found. While we’re not blind to the glaring evils of our nation, there’s no other major country on earth with as many Spirit-filled, Bible-believing Christians as America. The judging hand of God has never fallen on any nation in history that had the percentage of Christians that this nation possesses. Consequently, while we don’t think God will destroy America, I think that we can expect Him to discipline her. Nations, like many individuals, can rarely be trusted with great blessing. The good life in America is not conducive to faith in God. The nation of Israel had that same problem and God disciplined them to get them to return to Him. With our AIDS epidemic, financial crisis, climate and weather issues – perhaps God in His mercy is giving us a wake-up call. 3. The hope for America is unlimited with a healthy Church. “These men turn the world upside down." That was how a pagan, secular society described the 1st century church (Acts 17:6). It was the acknowledgment that the presence of Christians radically transformed the social order. Wherever Paul preached the gospel and established a fellowship of believers, cultural impact occurred. In Thessalonica riots broke out (Acts 17:1-9). In Corinth Christian influence was so strong that political means were sought to halt its spread (Acts 18:1-17). In Ephesus, the gospel's impact on people's lives shook up the economic order (Acts 19:20-41).   But God never intended the social impact of the Church to be limited to just the 1st century; He intended social impact to be normative for the Church at all times in all ages. When the Church is being the Church as God intended it, it will always make a difference in society because God's program is not neutral.   a) God’s people can impact society. As God's people, we have the ability to make an impact on society. We can and we must. Christ came to earth to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). When we operate under His authority, we’re the only entity on earth that can defeat the works of Satan. But to be effective in the battle, we must know who we are and how we are to live. We must realize that we exist for a spiritual purpose. We have a divinely mandated mission to accomplish.   Sin in our society is out of control. Society is approaching total destruction. But like Lot in Sodom, too many Christians are playing at Christianity and are covert with their faith. Apart from Sundays, most of us show little evidence that we belong to the Kingdom. Our righteousness is personal and private. It’s a righteousness that says, "I truly believe that this or that is wrong, but I won't speak out or tell anyone else how to live." So we piously close our eyes to the evil that surrounds us. We're not serious about impacting culture. For the most part, we're only serious about our personal peace and affluence. But that’s not what God has called us to be!   b) God’s people are the only hope. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made clear what the Church is to be and how it is to impact the world. He explained that His disciples were the only ones who could bring His perspective to society. So He explained what kingdom people are supposed to be like, how they’re to function, and how they’re different from non-kingdom people. He said, “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world…Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:13-16). These two metaphors, salt and light, illustrate the role of God's people in the world. The only way this world will get the help it needs is if it has salt; the only way the world will get the help it needs is if the light is shining.   The second crucial point of this passage isn't very clear in our English Bibles. However, in the Greek text, the position of the word "you" indicates that Jesus meant that "you and you alone" are the salt of the earth. His Church is the only entity that can ever be salt to the earth. Nothing else—not charities, politics, or causes—can ever become salt. Only God's people are salt. Yet many of God's people today either never knew or have forgotten that they alone are the salt of the earth. As a result, they’ve jumped on the world's solutions and are amazed when those solutions don't sprinkle salt on the earth's misery. Only God's people can be salt. And if God's people are not salt, then the earth is in trouble; it has no hope. Like Sodom and Gomorrah, a saltless earth will be destroyed.   As salt, we’re to preserve the world from spiritual decay. We’re to make a lost world thirsty for Jesus, the living water. As light, we’re to attract those in darkness to Christ, Who is the light of the world, and ward off – and even frighten – those who are determined to live in darkness. Light is so distinct from darkness that it only takes a small spot of light to make the darkness fly away. For example, all we need to control darkness is a flashlight; wherever we point that light, it overrules the darkness. The greater the darkness, the brighter the light will shine. It isn't necessary to have a huge crowd of people to light up a spiritually dark world. Just a few bright lights can do the job, just a church like us.   c) God’s people are to minister in the world. True ministry is getting out where the action is and touching lives. Much so-called ministry today is confined to the four walls of the church building. The salt stays in the salt shaker and our light never goes beyond those four walls.   Please don't get me wrong. Being in church is good and necessary, but the world doesn't see our light when we're in church. A church is similar to the huddle in a football game. A team gets in a huddle to figure out what the next play will be and to make sure everybody knows what to do to make it happen. But the 65,000 people sitting in the stadium didn't pay $50 just to watch eleven guys huddle. They want to see what difference the huddle makes in the game. I'm afraid many Christians today get high on the huddle. And while we're happy in the huddle, Satan is out there scoring touchdowns.   God's people are not doing God's good works when they're huddled up in the church. Our good works start when what happens on Sunday morning is transferred into the community on Monday. Our ministry is to be out in the world where our works can be seen—like the light of a city on a hill.   And while we're doing good works in public, we must do them in such a way that they bring glory to God. We don't do good works for our own glory or because it's the right thing to do. We do good works for God's glory. When people see our works, they should "ooh and aah" at what God has done. Only the Church can do good in a way that glorifies God.   d) God always begins with a person. One of the greatest revivals in the Old Testament was during the reign of King Josiah. This godly king surrendered himself completely to the Lord. Scripture records for us simply “Josiah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 22:2), and “He walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left" (2 Chr. 34:2).   God always begins with one person – a Noah, an Abraham, a Joseph, a Moses, a Deborah, a Ruth…will you be that one?   Conclusion: When Augustine's friends heard of the fall of Rome, they hesitated to give the news to their beloved mentor. Augustine loved Rome and they knew he’d be deeply hurt, But he responded by saying “Whatever men build, men will destroy…let's get on with building the kingdom of God.” That’s what God is calling us to do, build His kingdom!   Sure, we can invest our lives in saving America, but we can best save America by building the Church, because we know that the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. Any investment we make in the Church has virtually no risk because Christ has guaranteed its eventual success! We can’t allow our battle with a debauched culture to obscure the biblical priority of the Great Commission. Evangelism and discipleship transcend any culture or political regime.   So what is God saying to us? We can best clean up the world by first cleaning up the Church. Paul had nothing to say to the pagan culture of his day except that unbelievers should repent. There was little use telling unbelievers that they should reform society, shut down the temple of prostitution, and get on with family values. Paul knew the problem was much deeper—it was not a matter of reformation, but transformation. The hope for America is not political, it’s spiritual. We have the cure in the Church but we must first take the medicine ourselves. We can’t expect a lost world to believe that it will transform their lives, if it has not first transformed ours!