O Say Can You See

In Romans 8, Paul establishes the concept of hope in the Christian faith, a hope that can give us confidence that even though we don't see the outcome, we can know that God is at work.  Beginning
in verse 22, we can read:
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

We can become discouraged in the here and now; perhaps we are looking for answers, but the answers aren't coming.  The circumstances of life may be so overwhelming that we are either in despair or on the edge of it.  Through Christ, we can have hope, and that is a message that is needed in the troubled times in which we live.  It's a hope that can motivate us to step out and follow God's direction, a hope that we can know will bring true change.

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When we experience the hope of Christ in our lives - Christ in us, the hope of glory, we have the
potential to profoundly impact the world around us. Paul laid it out in Romans 15:
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
14 Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.
15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God,
16 that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Francis Scott Key was an attorney from Maryland.  At the time of the bombing of Fort McHenry, he was negotiating a prisoner release.  Baptist Press has recently released an article about Key, which says:

In 1814, he wrote the poem "Defense of Fort M'Henry" after watching the all-night bombardment of Baltimore's Fort McHenry from a British ship during the War of 1812. Key had gone aboard the ship as an American envoy to negotiate a prisoner release and was not allowed to disembark until after the attack.

In the morning, the sight of an American flag still waving over the fort inspired Key's poem, which he soon had set to music. Under the title "The Star-Spangled Banner," it became the national anthem more than a century later.

Key possessed, no doubt, a hope that the flag would still be flying over the fort the next morning.  That hope was fulfilled.  But, Key had another hope in his life - the hope of Jesus Christ, and he was someone who was used effectively to share Biblical truth.

In 1824, Key joined the American Sunday-School Union's board of managers.  David Francis, who is retired from LifeWay Christian Resources wrote in a book called, Missionary Sunday School, according to the article that "the ASSU's aim was to start Sunday Schools across America where individuals from lower economic classes heard the Gospel and learned to read and write 'using the Bible as a primary text.' Sunday Schools typically comprised children 'who rarely or never attend[ed] church,' and adult classes often formed as a secondary ministry.

The article goes on to say:

Key chaired an 1830 ASSU meeting in Washington which instituted the "Mississippi Valley Enterprise," a campaign that established west of the Appalachian Mountains more than 61,000 Sunday Schools for some 2.7 million pupils over the next 50 years, Francis wrote. Many of those Sunday Schools developed into churches, some Baptist, in areas previously without an evangelical witness while others became weekday schools before the era of American public education.

The story says that the ASSU had included these words in its Annual: "His frequent and liberal contributions to our funds, and his readiness at all times to vindicate the principles and advance the usefulness of the Society, furnished unequivocal evidence of his interest in our cause."

The Baptist Press report also included some words about not only the past effectiveness of Sunday School, but its potential for future impact. Francis stated, "Nowhere else in the world has Sunday School been embraced like in America. Nowhere else in the world has the idea of a constitutional republic been sustained like in America. Two ideas. Both of God. At the same time. Spreading together across a continent..."

Ashley Clayton, who is a vice president at the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, was also quoted. The article related that Clayton...

...said Sunday School once again could contribute to a spiritual renewal in America.

"The reason for that," Clayton told BP, "is Sunday School is not just a leader or preacher. It becomes an army, from preschool all the way through your oldest adults, that has the potential of reaching more and more people."

Sunday School classes, Clayton said, are "high-leverage events" because they include Bible study, fellowship and opportunities for all attendees to serve the Lord by meeting physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

As in Key's day, Sunday School maintains unique ministry power in America, Clayton said.

"Americans tend to be socially oriented," he said, "and because of that, the small groups of Sunday School provide a great platform" to reach and disciple them.

Well, there's another aspect of Key's spiritual life that he integrated into another verse of The Star-Spangled Banner.  Time magazine reported:

“In God We Trust” was first added to U.S. coins during the beginning of the Civil War, when religious sentiment was on an upswing and concerned Americans wanted the world to know what their country stood for. Many wrote to Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase on the matter, and he agreed with their arguments. Congress passed his act requesting the addition of “In God We Trust,” adapted from a lesser-known verse of Francis Scott Key’s “Star-Spangled Banner,” and the first two-cent coin with the phrase was minted in 1864.

Not only did Key coin (pardon the pun) a phrase; which in the song was "in God is our Trust," but he lived out that trust.  What a challenge for us - we can say that we trust in God, but we can consider whether or not our lives reflect that phrase.  Our confession of faith in God can be certified by how we allow that faith to govern our actions.  As James says, faith without works is dead.

We can also remember the emphasis on small groups, in this case, Sunday School, that was a passion for Francis Scott Key.  And, we can think about how Christian fellowship is built in the small groups in which we participate.  No matter what the size of the church, if people are plugged into smaller groups, it creates an atmosphere for spiritual growth.

We can be challenged to look for ways in which we can grow in the Lord - individually through prayer and Bible study, interactions with our Savior; as well as collectively through the Church.