In God We Trust?

Our suggestion box sermon question reads, “Our money says, 'In God we trust.' As a nation, do we?” At first the answer would seem to be “Yes.” The United States is one of the most religious countries in both the northern hemisphere and the western hemisphere with 53% of Americans saying religion is very important to them. The average household owns 4 Bibles. Our Declaration of Independence invokes God. And in the 1950s, the phrase “In God we trust” was put on our coins. If you take what we say as evidence, then you would have to say that America puts its trust in God.

Of course, we have overwhelming evidence that people can say one thing and do the opposite. Politicians on both sides say that they have the nation's best interests at heart and then totally disregard the common good to pass legislation with an eye only to whether it will get them re-elected. Companies advertise how much they are doing for their customers while cutting corners that reduce the quality and safety of their products and services. Church leaders talk of the importance of Biblical and moral values and then violate them personally or support those who do.

Before we consider whether our nation really puts its trust in God, let's look at what the Bible says about the actions that should issue from having faith in God.

Jesus' brother, James, was keenly aware of the disparity between what Christians say and do. He wrote, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26) The Greek word for “spirit” can also mean “breath.” Breathing is one of the vital signs nurses and doctors check to see if someone is healthy or not. And its absence is a sign that someone is dead. James is not saying that we are saved by works and not by faith; he is saying that just like a healthy person breathes well, a Christian with a healthy faith does good works. In this he is in agreement with Paul who wrote, “For by grace you are saved through faith and this is not from yourself, it is the gift of God; it is not from works so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) We are not saved by good works; we are saved for them.

In his letter James says that at the heart of our faith should be such things as taking care of the fatherless and widows and keeping yourself free from the world's vices. (James 1:27) He goes on to say that a person who has faith in Jesus shows no preference for the rich over the poor. (James 2:1-9) The person who puts their trust in God is merciful. (James 2:13) Those who believe control their tongues and don't engage in gossip, boasting or lies. (James 3:3-10) They seek wisdom from above, love peace, are gentle, impartial and without hypocrisy. (James 3:17-18) They should be humble, not given to self-indulgence, be patient in suffering and help the sick. (James 4:10; 5:5, 10, 14)

How does our nation stack up against these virtues which should naturally flow from faith? Consider ancient Israel. There was a tithe collected to help the impoverished, including resident aliens. (Deuteronomy 14:28-29; 26:12) The edges of fields were not to be harvested so the poor could glean them for food. (Leviticus 19:9-10; Deuteronomy 24:19-21) Every 49 years debts were forgiven and economic slaves were freed. (Leviticus 25:39-41) Helping the poor wasn't left to charity alone; it was part of the law!

The most disadvantaged, now as it was then, are women without husbands and children without fathers. Ever since the Great Depression of the 1930s, our federal government has had programs to aid families with dependent children. We offer food stamps, educational help and housing benefits. But the qualifications change according to which party is in power. When I went to nursing school in the late 1970s/early 1980s, many of my classmates were single mothers who were only able to become LPNs because of a government program that not only paid for their schooling but also paid them to go to school as if it were a job. That enabled them to pay for daycare and buy food. When administrations changed, that program was discontinued, despite the fact that it was responsible for helping a lot of single mothers learn valuable skills, get jobs, get off welfare and decrease the shortage of nurses which has persisted to this day.

Since then, most of the changes in welfare, regardless of which party is in power, have been based on the assumption that the vast majority of people getting assistance are lazy rather than unfortunate. So we punish them with piles of paperwork, new hoops to jump through, and ultimately only give help to those below a poverty line that has not changed in decades. We are more willing to subsidize those who run their companies into the ground or those who ruin the world's economy than the poor—probably because the latter cannot afford lobbyists. Do we meet the Biblical standard for helping the poor? The answer is a heavily qualified “Yes”...so far.

Do we as Americans keep ourselves undefiled by the world's vices? Given that the porn industry in the US generates between 10 and 15 billion dollars a year, that there has been an expansion of gambling as a revenue stream for most state governments, that we see the horrific toll taken by the abuse of both legal and illegal drugs, and the fact that the majority of those who identify as Christians do not have discernibly different lifestyles than non-believers, I would have to say “No.”

Do we show a preference for the rich over the poor? Our media is flooded with news about celebrities including those who have received that status, not through talent, but through wealth and fame. We have celebrities both providing or taking joy rides to space rather than spending that money on those in need who are on earth. Our laws give the rich breaks that the poor don't get. Part of that is due to the fact that while only 9% of Americans are millionaires, more than half of those in Congress are millionaires. Those who are not millionaires going into Congress usually make good money as consultants and lobbyists after they leave it. And the combined wealth of members of the current White House cabinet and presidential appointees is $460 billion. Do we show a preference for the rich over the poor? That's a resounding “Yes.”

Are we merciful as a people? Remember that justice is getting what you deserve and mercy is getting less punishment than you deserve. So forgiveness is mercy. Do we forgive? It depends on the persons involved and the crimes committed. Once again we forgive celebrities almost all of their misdeeds from adultery to drunk driving to violence. But if you are not rich or famous, you generally are given no slack. If you are undocumented, you get neither mercy, nor even, as we are seeing, justice. A disproportionate number of those who have mental illnesses or who are intellectually disabled have trouble receiving the proper medical and legal help. We Americans love a good redemption story but we will not pay for one. Often those who seek to turn their lives around must find help from churches and non-profit organizations. So are we merciful? “Yes” and “No,” depending on who you are.

Do we control our tongues? If we did, social media would dry up and blow away. Do we engage in gossip? Sadly I know intimate details about people I didn't even know were celebrities simply by turning on my phone and looking at the news. Do we seek out the truth even when it seems to discredit our most deeply held beliefs? Or do we lie instead? Who are we kidding?

Do we seek wisdom from above, that is, from God? Well, we have lots of people who selectively search the scriptures and then cherry pick verses that back up our prejudices. They tell us what we want to hear—that God wants us all to be rich and successful in worldly as well as in spiritual terms. Rather than wisdom, we like the idea of being street smart and pragmatic. We don't really look for wisdom that tells us God might ask us to make personal sacrifices and take unpopular stands, much less get crucified for our faith. So that would be a “No.”

Do we love peace? Have we ever fought unnecessary wars? Have we ever fought wars that weren't for defense? Did we ever deliberately bomb civilians? As a society are we peaceful or do we have one of the highest murder rates of any rich western country, 3 to 5 times higher than Europe? Is the US rate for rape 7 times higher than the average for Europe? Does our entertainment center primarily around violence? What about our most popular video games? Do we love peace? Not according to our actions.

Are we impartial? We can choose news sources slanted to our personal political and social views. Are we hypocritical? The comedy of “The Daily Show,” John Oliver and Seth Meyers consist largely of showing video clips of prominent people contradicting what they said before. Politicians and their supporters will be vocally for some action or against the same action depending on whose side is doing it. They will say we can't afford to pay for something that benefits some people and then turn around and spend the same amount to benefit other people. When your principles change depending on which people are being helped and which are being harmed, that's hypocrisy.

Are we humble? If so, why do we have so many publicists, PR firms and people whose job is to handle the press? Why do so many rap songs seem to be peons to the rapper himself for his coolness, prowess with the ladies and conspicuous consumption? Why do so many of our kids aspire to be internet influencers? It's hard to get a promotion today without doing a lot of self-promotion at work. We prefer hype to humility.

Are we patient in suffering? No. We like quick fixes. As a nation we are bad at dealing with complex, long-term and ongoing problems. We will throw all the technology and science we have at acute medical crises. But afterwards, should the patient need long term care, he or she will definitely be treated as a second class citizen. Ask anyone with a chronic illness, like long Covid, Ehlers Danlos, or ME/CFS.

How do we treat the sick in this country? Studies show a nurse should only have 4 patients or the death rate for all of them goes up. Did you know that the state of Florida allows one nurse to take care of up to 40 patients in a nursing home? To make the math easier, let's say the nurse has only 36 patients. In a typical 12 hour shift, all things being equal, she can only spend 20 minutes per patient. That includes giving them meds, which in some cases means crushing them and either putting them in applesauce and spoon feeding the patient or flushing them down a gastro-intestinal tube, as well as doing dressing changes, checking blood sugars, drawing up individual doses of insulin, calling doctors to inform them of test results and receiving new orders, making sure the patients are eating, pooping and peeing in the proper amounts, admitting new patients, and documenting it all. That doesn't include the nurse eating lunch or going to the bathroom. The reason: the owners of nursing homes have lobbyists in Tallahassee.

A study found that states deliberately raise the reading levels of forms to enroll children in Medicaid. For every level they raise the language on the form, there's a 47% reduction in successful completions of the form. They know that doing that as well as making the forms longer keep poor kids from getting medical help. Paperwork matters more than people and money matters most. Do you think God feels that is helping the sick?

So do we trust God, in the sense of believing his diagnosis of what is wrong with us and following his orders to get better? On the whole, no. We pay lip service to God. We pride ourselves on our outward declarations of faith but our society isn't noticeably more godly than the more openly secular European countries.

Part of the problem is that we want God as our ally, not our Lord. We want Jesus as our mascot but as not our divine Master. We don't want to give up any of the freedom we have to choose how we live, despite the fact that we don't make very good choices.

Can America become a nation which truly trusts in God? Only if we as individuals take seriously what Jesus said about showing God's love by obeying him. (John 14:15) And only if we take seriously what he said about treating others as if they were Jesus. (Matthew 25:34-46) As James wrote, we need to be doers of the word, not just hearers only. (James 1:22) Our faith, like our Bibles, tends to be something we leave on the shelf to gather dust. We are like the guy who loves his car so much he never takes it out of the garage. It may be a beautiful thing to admire but that's not what cars are for. They are meant to be taken out into the world and put to use. Not unlike our faith.

This sermon was first preached on May 2, 2010. It has been revised and updated.