Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’  But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’”

When Jesus walked the earth there was no Church. There was Judaism but the children of Israel were not really observing the Law of Moses because their leaders had embellished and fabricated the Law into their own version and liking. In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus attempted to explain that the law was a matter of the heart and not merely a set of rules to follow.

There was no Church but there was the Temple. Nonetheless, Jesus explained that the Temple would be destroyed and raised up in a new form: He would be the New Temple. We are members of His Temple when we participate in the new birth through confession, repentance, embracing Jesus as Savior and Lord, and receiving the Holy Spirit.

What about baptism? Jesus confers baptism. John the Baptist stated:

“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  (Matthew 3:11)

The Church merely confirms and gives witness to His baptism. If any church supplants the ministry of Jesus with its own embellished and fabricated traditions, it no longer serves as part of the Body of Christ. Let us be clear: any Evangelical church, Pentecostal church, or Liturgical church may be quite legitimate. It may truly represent the Body of Christ. But it may not. It certainly will not based on its own traditions and definitions. We the institution to administer a church, but ministry is not an institution.

Our debate and discussion about the Church often centers around the question of which church is the true one. Jesus has already settled that issue. The Samaritan woman at the well tried to distract Him with a discussion about religion:

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”  (John 4:19-24)

We need broader a vision of the Church within which we seek a deeper understanding of Jesus’ ministry and teachings. (See The Ecumenical Church.)

Unity was the watchword of our founding fathers. Just before signing the Declaration of Independence Benjamin Franklin uttered these words:

“We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Franklin created a well-known political carton “Join, or Die” and first published it in his Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754. The most popular American flag of its day showed a snake divided in parts representing the thirteen colonies. The slogan was: UNITE OR DIE.

The enemy of God understands the significance of unity. Jesus explains:

Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?  (Matthew 12:22-26)

Satan does not divide himself, but he will attempt to divided the people of God. Division is one of his best weapons. He is a liar and distorts the truth. That is what many political demagogues attempt to do, to gain their own advantage. It is not a sign of great leadership.

Abraham Lincoln was one of our greatest leaders. He would often take a potentially unpopular position in an attempt to bring people together for a greater cause than some momentary political advantage. On June 16, 1858, more than 1,000 Republican delegates met in the Springfield, Illinois, statehouse for the Republican State Convention. They chose Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for the U.S. Senate, running against Democrat Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln delivered this address to his Republican colleagues, here presented in part:

A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South.

Lincoln lost the election, some would say, because of this speech. However, history and righteousness were on his side. Because he was willing to risk for a right cause our nation eventually moved forward, with God’s help. What type of leaders do we have today? Do they seek to unite us behind noble causes or do they attempt to divide us for their short-term political gain?

Here is what Walt Whitman thought of Abraham Lincoln:

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up–for you the flag is flung–for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths–for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

Lincoln died in pursuit of a noble cause. His closing words of the Gettysburg Address still ring true:

It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us–that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion–that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

God of our fathers, whose almighty hand
Leads forth in beauty all the starry band
Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies
Our grateful songs before Thy throne arise.

Thy love divine hath led us in the past,
In this free land by Thee our lot is cast,
Be Thou our Ruler, Guardian, Guide and Stay,
Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.

From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence,
Be Thy strong arm our ever sure defense;
Thy true religion in our hearts increase,
Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.

Refresh Thy people on their toilsome way,
Lead us from night to never ending day;
Fill all our lives with love and grace divine,
And glory, laud, and praise be ever Thine.  Amen.

On this Memorial Day weekend let us remember all those who have sacrificed their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.” Are we now so willing to give up the liberties and freedom for which these brave souls fought? Are we willing to turn our nation over to leaders who neither believe in God nor fear Him? I am reminded of the words of the Apostle Paul:

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?  (Galatians 3:1-3)

We began our nation under God. Now we have a sacred choice concerning whom we will believe in and serve. What is our prayer? What is our song? What is our belief? Is God still the architect of America or are we building a nation by our own strength and godless philosophy?

If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.(2 Chronicles 7:14)

By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”  (Genesis 3:19)

There is a price to pay for sin. Jesus paid the price of our sin but his death on the cross did not eradicate all the consequences of our sin. The quote from Genesis seems to rule out an entitlement mentality. But some might say that this quote is Old Testament. What does the New Testament say? If we are looking for a justification for entitlement we need to avoid the teachings of the Apostle Paul:

For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies.  (2 Thessalonians 3:10-11)

The entitlement mentality sets up a dangerous precedent. It can lead to unrealistic expectations on the part of others and rule out any personal responsibility. Our nation is at peril when an ever-increasing expectation on the part of our people overtakes a decreasing sense of personal obligation or commitment. The utopian state has never worked nor can it because it ignores the laws of God.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:1-3)

We should know the answer. The real question is this: Do we have the discernment to judge an orator’s true nature? Let us not rely on our minds alone, because the orator may be appealing to part of our fallen nature without us realizing it. Better that we should pray and seek the true Savior for direction.