"Hey, I'm not a lumber jack or a fur trader and I don't live in an igloo or eat blubber or own a dog sled, and I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzie from Canada although I am certain they're really, really nice.

   Uh, I have a Prime Minister, not a president.

    I speak English and French, not American and I pronounce it 'about' not 'a boot'.

    I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack.  I believe in peacekeeping, not policing, diversity not assimilation, and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal.

   A toque is a hat; a chesterfield is a couch.

   And it is pronounced 'zed', not 'zee', 'zed'.

   Canada is the second largest landmass, the first nation of hockey and the best part of North America.

   My name is Joe, and I am Canadian.  Thank you."

   So goes the Canadian rant.  It swept our nation last year during the hockey playoffs.  It was reported that whole stadiums stood and cheered as Joe delivered his speech from massive jumbo-trons.  During Canada Day celebrations Joe did a multi-city tour repeating the rant for appreciative audiences.  It was fun, humorous, a little bit stirring and got lots of publicity for the beer company.  They have a new commercial out this year, just in time for our nation's 134th birthday.  It's a Canadian anthem of sorts and it is meant to instill a sense of nationalism and a thirst for all that is truly Canadian.  The singers are folks just like you and me, except for Captain Kirk who delivers the last lines, a true Canadian who has lived most of his adult life in Los Angeles.  The closing shot is of a case of beer being dropped on a table and the voice-over encourages us to discover our Canadian roots.

   O that we would truly discover our roots, the foundations of this nation.  For I believe that if we looked back we would discover that our nation is not founded upon the fur trade, a national railroad, free trade, or French language rights.  And I know that our nation's foundation has nothing to do with beer.

   Rather, the foundation of our nation is spiritual.  It is a psalm and not a rant that guided our ancestors as they formed the Dominion of Canada.  That's right, a psalm - a psalm that makes no reference to hockey, no mention of toques, or igloos, but it does have passion, and it does have vision.  It is written from the heart, stirred by the Spirit of God himself, as the author looked at his nation and his nation's leaders and wrote not about what was, but what could be, if God were truly made King, if he were truly Lord of a nation.  It is a psalm that our nation's founders adopted as their own and longed to become a reality in the new Dominion of Canada.

   Today I want us to dream a little, to take a moment on this, our nation's 134th Birthday, to discover our country's roots.  Let's take a moment to dream again about what our nation could be if God were truly made Lord.

   There are times when we get so caught up with what is, that we fail to dream of what could be.  But we Christians are a people of hope, and should always be ready to show the world what could be through faith in God.  It's not that we Christians have this dream of a utopian society here on earth - no, we know that humanity's heart is too corrupt for that to ever happen.  Because of our belief in the pervasiveness of sin, we know that the ideal nation will never exist.  It will not exist until Christ comes again.

   But at the same time we must also realize that we worship a great God who has come in the person of Jesus Christ and, because of the cross, is now ruler over all things.  He is sovereign over all things, over all times, over all nations.  Read Daniel 4 and pay attention to verse 17 and you will discover that God is sovereign over all the kingdoms of this earth.  ["The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men." (NIV)]  So we must proclaim him as Lord and dare to dream what would happen to our nation if we recognized his Lordship.

   The psalm that guided the founders of our nation was Psalm 72.  Open your Bible to the psalm and let's discover our spiritual roots and dream of what could be if God were sovereign of our nation.

   If God were truly made Lord, we would discover first that our leaders would practise justice and righteousness.  Verses 1 through 4:

"Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king's son.  May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.  May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness.  May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.
(Psalm 72:1-4) (NRSV)

   If God were truly made Lord we would discover first that our leaders would practise justice and righteousness.  Justice is that quality of leadership that knows right from wrong and is not afraid to stand and fight for the right, and punish the wrong.

   Righteousness is that quality of character that is pure and holy.  It is the seeking after that which is Godly.

   Notice in our text that they are qualities that belong to God, and the psalmist asks God to give these qualities to the king and the king's son, that is, the leaders of the nation.

   That first verse is inscribed in our House of Parliament in Ottawa.  It is a prayer that our leaders would practise God's justice and righteousness.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if Canadian leaders practised righteousness and justice all the time?

   Certainly our nation was established 134 years ago through the work of one man in particular who practised righteousness and justice.  The Prime Minister of England, Prime Minister Gladstone, was a devout Christian man, and was to a great extent responsible for the first colony in history to ever gain its independence without a shot being fired:  Canada.  Because Gladstone had certain principles in his life as a devout Christian, because he sought to practise justice and righteousness, he was able to develop an outlook - not of an empire-builder or a power-monger - but of a conciliator.

   Give the king your justice, O God - it is a prayer that we Christians ought to pray for our nation's leaders.  I don't know about you, but I would not want to be Prime Minister, or leader of the opposition.  I don't always agree with them, but I thank God for them.  I thank God that they are willing to undertake such a mammoth job, and we need to uphold them in prayer and ask God that they would not be blinded by power, or greed, or any of the temptations the office carries, but that they would practise righteousness and justice.

   Let's read on:

"May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.  May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.  In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound, until the moon is no more.  May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.  May his foes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust.  May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts.  May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service."
(Psalm 72:5-11) (NRSV)

   Here the psalmist is speaking in picture language.  He is praying that the leader of his nation would be so effective that his name would last forever in the history books of the nation (verse 5), that he would bring growth and blessing to the people (verse 6), that peace would abound (verse 7), and that his rule would extend to the western limits, that is Tarshish, the south, north, and eastern limits (verses 8 through 11).

   The psalmist prays for a nation that will be endless and universal in its influence.  Do we dare dream such a dream for Canada?  Isn't it arrogant to dream such a dream?  Perhaps.  Perhaps such characteristics are reserved only for the kingdom of God.  But do we not pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."?  Thy kingdom come.  Why not pray that for Canada?  Why not yearn for God's Lordship, for the reign of God, to be so evident in our nation that peace abounds and other nations come to pay us tribute, not because of our self-righteousness, but because of what the Lord God is doing in our land?

   In a sense, this concept of other nations paying us tribute has been realized.  There are times when we get a taste of it, and I'll tell you when:  when you are travelling overseas and you are able to wear our flag with pride on your backpack, and that Canadian flag is recognized and honoured by the countries that you visit.  I know an American pastor who is ministering here in Canada.  He recently got his Canadian citizenship.  He did it to identify with his congregation, but one of the benefits of Canadian citizenship is a Canadian passport, honoured and respected the world over.

   How do we get that respect?  We get that respect by being part of a nation that seeks to have God as Lord.  I know we miss the mark so often and so miserably, but we Christians need to continue to pray that God's Lordship will be realized in our Land.

   It was the prayer of the founders of our nation.  They took verse 8 of this psalm and made it their motto, that he may have dominion from sea to sea.  Today if you go to Ottawa you will see that verse inscribed in the arch of the peace tower.  We need to discover our Canadian roots and continue to pray that prayer, that he would indeed have dominion from sea to sea.

   Let's read on - verses 12-14:

"For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper.  He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.  From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight."
(Psalm 72:12-14) (NRSV)

   We have seen how the Lordship of God would affect the leadership of our nation, now we see how it would affect the least of our nation.  God's word says, the needy, the poor, the weak, and the oppressed would find comfort, help, compassion, and safety in a nation that recognizes God's sovereignty.  We often think that it is the middle-class that will benefit from a society that is Godly, but that is not necessarily the case.  It is the weak, the poor, and the oppressed that God seeks to minister to.  Their lives are precious in his sight.  And so it must be that we remember the plight of the poor in our country, that we Christians be ever vigilant and, like the Good Samaritan, be willing to give all we have to bandage up the beaten, the poor, and the needy.  God's banquet table is filled with the lame, the dispossessed, and the hungry.  God help a nation that forgets its poor; God help a church that forgets the poor.

   Again, one of the founders of our nation, Alexander Mackenzie, is a model for us.  Alexander Mackenzie became a Christian in Scotland before immigrating to Canada.  When he came to this nation, he did very well as a businessman.  When he became Canada's second Prime Minister he was known for his prayer life and his social activism.

"It is said that Mackenzie would walk the streets of Toronto in the 1850's during a bad economic depression, and find a man without work who had a family to support.  He'd bring him home, put him up for the night, give him a bath and a meal and a new set of clothes, take him out early in the morning, and find him a job through friends in business."
(David Mainse, 'Impact Canada 100', Crossroads Family Ministries, Burlington, Ontario, circa 1992.)

   O that we would be a nation under God's sovereignty, realizing that the King of heaven has held nothing back from us his servants, so we too are called to generously give to those in need both here and abroad.

   Let us continue - verses 15-17:

"Long may he live!  May gold of Sheba be given to him.  May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all day long.  May there be abundance of grain in the land; may it wave on the tops of the mountains; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field.  May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun.  May all nations be blessed in him; may they pronounce him happy.
(Psalm 72:15-17)

   We have seen how when a nation comes under God's rule, the leadership of the nation is blessed with righteousness and justice; the nation is expansive and enduring; the least are blessed and helped.  And now we see the material and spiritual blessings.

   Materially, gold and grain and fruit, all ancient measures of prosperity, come flowing into the society.  This does not mean that a nation that has God as sovereign will become rich.  Riches are not always a blessing, but it does mean that wherever God is honoured and served, and wherever righteousness is pursued, prosperous times will almost inevitably follow.  Families will become stable, and parents will care for, educate and promote the well-being of their children.  Unproductive members of society will be reclaimed and assisted in becoming productive.  Virtue will be a part of the workplace and wealth will be created through industry and hard work.  History proves that Christianity has contributed such material blessings to numerous nations, while nations that have persecuted the followers of Christ and repressed Christianity have suffered for it.

   As for spiritual blessings, the second half of verse 17 echoes the promise of spiritual blessing given to Abraham when God first called him, saying, "all the peoples of the earth would be blessed through you."  It is as God's Lordship is realized in our nation that other nations are blessed with an awareness of his sovereignty and eternal reign.

   Well, this brings us to the last two verses of the psalm.  We began our study desiring to discover our roots.  We have discovered that they are spiritual; our nation was formed by Godly men and women with a dream of a nation under the sovereignty of God.

   Then we asked, "What would our nation look like if God were truly made King, if he were truly Lord of our nation?"  We discovered that the leadership of our nation would rule with justice and righteousness, and the least of our nation would be treated with compassion.

   We have dreamed a little, and learned that this is a good prayer for us to offer on behalf of our leadership.  But there is this left to say, and that is that prayer and dreams need legs.  That is, we must practise what we pray for.  If we truly want our God to reign supreme in our land, he must reign supreme in our lives.  If we want our leaders to practise justice and righteousness, we as a people must always be willing to practise justice - that is, standing up for what is right and being willing to stand against the wrong, even when that is unpopular.

   If we want our nation to be generous with the poor, the needy, and the weak, then we must be generous.

   If we desire God to be sovereign in our nation, he must be sovereign in our lives.  Do you see the genius of it?  It is as we Christians live under God's rule and Lordship, and we permeate society, that society is changed.  The rule of God begins to touch and transform lives that are living under his rule.  History proves it.  During the time of John Wesley, Christians began seriously living under God's rule, truly seeking to obey him, and English society was transformed.  On the social scene, the gambling fever of the day stopped; alcoholism dropped.  On the political scene, William Wilberforce appeared, and slavery disappeared from the British Empire.  Lord Shaftesbury transformed the industrial scene, bringing to an end the worst exploitations of women and children in factory and mine.  In other words, a whole nation came under the rule of God as individuals came under the rule of God.

   My friends, it can happen again; it can happen with a small group of people.  Wouldn't it be interesting to see what would happen if for one week we all endeavoured to consciously and intentionally live under God's rule?  I wonder what kind of transformations we would see in our workplaces, in our homes, in our neighbourhoods, in our country?  I would suggest that it would transform our world.

   Will you try it?  If you will, then take your Bible, and as a prayer of commitment, pray these last two verses with me, seeking to make God sovereign of your life.  Read these last two verses out loud with me as a prayer:

"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.  Blessed be his glorious name forever; may his glory fill the whole earth.  Amen and Amen.
(Psalm 72:18-19) (NRSV)

Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - July 2001