Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. (Matthew 22:21)

Happy 222nd birthday to the United States of America!

The country seems to be doing reasonably well economically. We are not at war. We have our problems, but they are not as apparent as they are in times of recession, depression, cold war, or hot war.

This week we have had our parades. We have seen our share of fireworks. The celebration has had its fill of memories.

This Fourth of July is well summarized not in great issues but in the spirit of this cartoon which appeared in The New York Times. (Gary Brookins, Richmond Times-Dispatch, North America Syndicate. Used by permission.)

Today, as I talk about God and country, I could go to one extreme or the other. Times of greater crisis tend to trigger more severe attitudes toward our nation.

Nonetheless, there will be those pastors who will attack our nation. They will do what they can to spoil our celebration. There are those who take pride in debunking the memories of our forefathers. Those same voices emit harsh tones when speaking about our current leadership. They deplore the commercialization which so easily marks this holiday. If there were not elements of truth to what they say we would not be so threatened by them. God forbid that we take this choice occasion to point out all America's wrongs.

At the other extreme, there are those who would drape their sanctuaries with red, white, and blue bunting. Pulpits become political platforms as the greatness of America is exalted. Some will eulogize these same forefathers, attributing to some who were actually deists and secular humanists an aura of godliness. I always get a little amused when I run into the super patriot who quickly says, "My country, right or wrong!" I wonder if that person would have actually joined the revolution in 1776. With that mentality, he would probably have been a Tory, defending the Crown, no matter how many were its abuses.

When I pastored in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on several occasions I was invited to give the invocation or benediction at the public ceremonies of the "Daughters of the American Revolution." They do some wonderful projects, preserving historic landmarks. However, I sometimes wonder whether any of them would have even allowed their names to be remotely associated with the revolution, so conservative are they in their political viewpoints. We forget that our forefathers were "revolutionaries." They picked up arms to fight the British. The battle of Lexington was anything but a pleasant affair. Our forefathers were rebels who used unorthodox methods to throw off what they considered to be foreign tyranny. Their regiments did not march in lock-step precision as did the British. They functioned as snipers from hidden positions behind trees, ambushing the foreign occupiers, using violence to accomplish what the Chinese in Hong Kong have just accomplished by more peaceful means.