Today is patriotic Sunday. It is a day we celebrate our independence. It is a day we celebrate being a nation. It is a day we are thankful for the blessings God has given us here in our country. I think if we spend some time considering what we have here we all can be grateful for the privilege to live in the United States. If we feel unappreciative, then a quick trip to any other country in the world will quickly help to change our mind and make us realize what a blessing it is to be living here. We typically take for granted our freedom and wealth and security. What other country has millions of people who want to live in it? And part of the reason living here in the United States is so desirable is that there are no limits on your dreams here. As long as what you aspire to do is legal you can pursue whatever you want. You can completely follow your dream. I think of the young Austrian boy who dreamed of coming to America. He wanted to be rich and to become somebody important. He decided the way to make it was through body building. So he worked out in gyms hours and hours every day and grew stronger and more muscular. When he was 20, he became the youngest ever Mr. Universe and he kept the title for a number of years. Then he came to the America and tried to make it into movies but his accent was too thick and he could not be understood. But finally he made it. He ended up making millions of dollars. He was rich. Then he ran for governor of California and he won and he became somebody important. Arnold Swartzenegger pursued his dreams and attained them. And his is not the only success story of people pursuing the American Dream. There are many.
What is your dream? What do you want for yourself? And if you have children, what is your dream or desire for them? This week’s Time magazine cover article was on “the American Dream, Is It Still Real?” What is the American Dream? The American dream succinctly put is as follows, those who work hard and play by the rules will be rewarded with a more comfortable present and a stronger future for their children. The idea is that here in the United States, it doesn’t matter whether one’s parents were wealthy, it doesn’t matter if one’s parents were educated, if one works hard enough and is really determined, one can win a better life. That’s what the American Dream is all about. The Time article questioned whether that premise is still true. It pointed out that median household incomes have remained stagnant for more than a decade and when the figures are adjusted for inflation, Americans are making less now than when Bill Clinton was in the White House. It is more difficult now to achieve and then to retain middle class status for many people because prices for certain key goods—health care, college, and housing—have gone up faster than income. So what about your dream? What about your future? Is your dream and future riding on the United States economy?
In our Scripture reading from Hebrews we see Abraham leaving his homeland to go to another place that God had given him as an inheritance. Abraham was an immigrant like Arnold but his move from Ur to Canaan was a matter of faith. What is interesting to note is that Abraham chose not to live in a house in one of the cities. He could have. His nephew Lot chose to do so. Not only did Abraham choose not to live in a house in a city, but neither did his son Isaac nor his grandson, Jacob. They chose to live in tents. They chose to not sink their roots into the land in that way. The reason we are told is that they were looking forward to a heavenly city that has foundations whose architect and builder is God. Their eyes were not on what they could achieve and get here on earth. They were looking forward to a heavenly city. In that heavenly city they were looking forward to settling down. And because that was where their focus was, that was where their heart was, the reading goes on to say, because of that, God is not ashamed to be called their God and indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
What about you; what about me? To what are you looking forward? Where is your heart? That is what it boils down to, doesn’t it? What do you want out of life? Is your life all about the American Dream? Is getting ahead, making money, and being comfortable all there is for your life? If our economy falters will your life dreams fall apart? That is a real question for all if us because we live in a materialistic society. For the target audience of the Time magazine money and things are their life. That is all they have for their life. What about us, are we like, Abraham, looking forward to a heavenly city? Or is heaven only something we think about when we are confronted with death? Otherwise we have no time to consider what will happen after we leave this world. (pause)
In our Gospel reading Jesus tells his followers to be perfect. The word perfect in the Greek is the word “teleos” which means perfect in the sense of being complete. In the context it means fully developed; brought to completion. And what does this have to do with Abraham living in tents or the American Dream? Just this, as much as we live in a wonderful country, one that we love and for which we should be extremely grateful, even though we have all this, we need to think like our father in the faith, like Abraham. We need to have our hearts set not here in beautiful Sarasota, in a beautiful house or in some financially secure situation; not here in our beautiful and wonderful country, but we need to have our hearts set on that heavenly city whose architect and builder is God. Setting our hearts on that city is what helps complete us as followers of Jesus. It is that mind-set that helps to fully develop us as Christians. It helps us to be perfect, to be mature, and to be complete.
God has indeed blessed America. He has blessed us with wealth, power, and freedom. God has blessed us by letting us live in this wonderful country. God has given us the freedom to worship him without fear. He has given us so much here and right now. We have so much for which to be thankful, we have so much to celebrate. But let us remember that this world is not our home. This wonderful country is not our final destination. The American Dream is incomplete. Let us in fact be perfect, let us be fully developed in our faith and perspective and let us set our hearts on that heavenly city whose architect and builder is God.
