In preparation for that day I would like us to journey through a declaration of repentance that I first read two years ago on Friday, July 31, 2009. The next few days we will walk through this declaration:
We gather here today as citizens of the United States of America and as citizens of God’s Kingdom. Our American citizenship being conferred to us by mutual place of birth and residence in God’s providence; our Heavenly citizenship being purchased for us by the finished work of Jesus’ death and resurrection on the cross in which we corporately trust. We recognize that as members of both this earthly and heavenly kingdom, it is our sacred duty and trust to bridge the gap between our nation and the Almighty. It has fallen to us, and to our watch, to bear witness of His righteous judgments in the face of impending calamity. We now endeavor to sound the trumpet of a watchman thus commissioned by God and stationed upon the ramparts of our great nation. (Ezekiel 33:1-7)
On behalf of our national sins and to any degree in which we have personally partaken we do now repent for:
The Sin of Arrogance and Indifference towards the Poor: With humiliation do we admit that we have failed to embody the purest form of religion – to minister to orphans and widows in their distress. Our appetite for personal convenience has become louder than the innate pang we feel when looking upon a fellow man in the hour of his great need. We have preferred those of ample means while trampling those with meager. In doing so we practically deny the existence of Our Just Creator supposing that we will not be held to account for the compassion we have shown to all of Your creatures. For the sin of neglecting the poor, of selfishly hoarding the gifts that You freely give, and of arrogance against those who have been made stewards over less, we repent. Exodus 22:5 – Leviticus 25:35 – Deuteronomy 15:7 – Amos 4:1-2 – Matthew 19:21 – James 1:27; 2:1-9
Lord we are guilty; we beseech You to have mercy!
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