A few weeks ago I picked up a book at our local free bookstore called “Lincoln’s Devotional” with an introduction by the American author and poet Carl Sandburg. Evidently, President Abraham Lincoln carried a signed copy of “The Believer’s Daily Treasure; or Texts of Scripture arranged for every day in the year,” and the book I have (published in 1957) contains the reprinted text of that 1852 book plus the introduction by Sandburg. Although Lincoln’s Christian faith seems an enigma to historians, Lincoln himself is quoted as having said, “When any church will inscribe over its altar, as its sole qualification for membership, the Savior’s condensed statement of the substance of both law and Gospel, ‘Thou shalt love the lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and thy neighbor as thyself’ that church will I join with all my heart and all my soul.” I cannot claim to have any great understanding of this man’s faith, but based on my knowledge of history and the influence he had on this nation, I believe that these 365 scriptures and accompanying stanzas must have had an impact on the decisions he made and actions he took.
Tonight I was at a banquet where one of the speakers was talking about his interest in John Quincy Adams. In addition to being the fifth president of the United States, JQA was a secretary to an ambassador to Russia when he was 14 (!!!!) and after his presidency was elected to the US House of Representatives from Massachusetts and served 18 years there. His had a reputation for fighting hard against slavery. Every Congressional term he would introduce legislation to outlaw slavery and every term it would be voted down. He gave fiery speeches condemning slavery and was repeatedly censured by the House. For his 18 years he did all he could to fight slavery. In his last term in Congress, he met and became friends with a backwoods freshman representative from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln only served two years in the U.S. House, but before JQA collapsed on the House floor while giving a speech (and died within a few hours), he passed along to Lincoln the spiritual, intellectual, and moral baton that would be a part of the bloody end of legalized chattel slavery in the United States.
John Quincy Adams is largely forgotten by much of the world, but some of his quotes are certainly worth considering. “Try and fail, but don’t fail to try.” “No book in the world deserves to be so unceasingly studied, and so profoundly meditated upon as the Bible.” “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people… it is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Tonight’s speaker shared a JQA quote that I’ve probably heard, but still caught my attention: “Duty is ours; results are God’s.”
Six words but so much meaning. To modern ears, “duty” can sound like an old fashioned graceless hammer of empty work. But true duty, especially as God defines it, is honorable, respectable, and worth a lifetime of work. I believe both JQA and Abraham Lincoln knew and did their duties to God and the nation. And because they were faithful in that, God brought wonderful results out of that dedicated work.
“Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
“For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NIV)
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'” (Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV)
God,
Thank you for calling us your children and giving us a hope and a future when we know you as Lord and Savior. Help us to fear you and keep your commandments. Help us to do what you call us to do – to seek you with all our hearts and do our duties – so that when you judge our deeds you will find riches and goodness. Help us to have courage to do hard things like John Quincy Adams and Abraham Lincoln, and thank you for the reminder that your sovereign hand is upon us when we obey your commands. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the facing of this hour we ask in Jesus’s name. Amen.
“God of grace and God of glory,
on thy people pour thy power;
crown the ancient church’s story;
bring its bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the facing of thls hour,
for the facing of thls hour.
Lo! the hosts of evil round us,
scorn thy Christ, assail his ways!
From the fears that long have bound us,
free our hearts to love and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the living of these days,
for the living of these days.” by Harry Emerson Fosdick (1930)
