AMERICA AT 250—REMEMBER WHY YOU WERE RAISED UP

AMERICA AT 250—REMEMBER WHY YOU WERE RAISED UP

Two hundred and fifty years ago, a nation was born.

The God who governs history appoints the rise and the fall of kingdoms. No nation stands forever by its own strength, and no empire secures its future merely by the greatness of its wealth, its armies, or its technology. History remembers many powers that once appeared invincible. Today they survive only as stones, ruins, and memories.

America, remember why you were raised up.

You became strong because generations crossed oceans believing that tomorrow could be better than yesterday. You became prosperous because countless hands—free and enslaved, welcomed and rejected, celebrated and forgotten—labored to build what no single people could have built alone.

Forget neither your triumphs nor your wounds.

Remember the Indigenous peoples who first walked this land. Remember those carried here in chains, whose tears mingled with its soil. Remember every immigrant who arrived with little more than hope, every refugee who sought safety, every laborer who believed that dignity was still possible, and every child who dreamed that tomorrow would be freer than today.

If you forget them, you will forget yourself.

The measure of a nation is not the height of its towers but the depth of its mercy. It is not the size of its treasury but the breadth of its compassion. It is not the reach of its power but the justice with which that power is exercised.

The Cross forever overturns the pride of nations.

It declares that love is greater than domination, sacrifice greater than privilege, mercy greater than vengeance, and service greater than glory. A nation that refuses this wisdom may gain the world for a season, yet lose the very soul that gave it life.

Therefore, America, do not close your gates to hope. Open your heart before you open your markets. Heal before you boast. Welcome before you judge. Lift up those who have fallen before celebrating those who have risen.

Do not become a firework that dazzles the night for a fleeting moment before disappearing into darkness. Become instead the dawn that quietly returns every morning, bringing warmth to the weary, courage to the fearful, justice to the forgotten, and hope to the nations.

If you would lead the world, first learn to bear its burdens.
If you would be called great, first become a servant.
If you would preserve your freedom, first protect the dignity of your neighbor.

May America become not merely the most powerful nation of its age, but one of its most merciful.

May this land embrace the suffering of the Cross, that it may become an instrument of healing for a wounded humanity.

Immanuel.

God with America.
God with every nation.
God with all humanity.

Amen.

Pastor Steven G. Lee
St. GMC Corps
July 4th, 2026