The year was 1774, and in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Provincial Congress issued a directive that pastors should observe a day of Thanksgiving on December 15. The colonists of Massachusetts were struggling under the recent passing of the Intolerable Acts, especially the Quartering Act, and were perhaps not in a mood of gratefulness. England was slowly squeezing the life out of the colony, and the long train of usurpations and abuses[1] foisted upon the patriots were onerous and prohibitive. Something had to change. A sermon of thanksgiving would hardly solve their problems. Still, Reverend Isaac Story, pastor of the Second Church of Marblehead, MA, followed through with the directive given him, and he poured forth from his heart a sermon of gentle remonstrance and pleasant remembering, helping to bring the colonists back to forgotten principles.
Sermons played a pivotal role in the life of the Mass Bay Colonists. Boorstin writes, “In New England, the sermon was far more than a literary form. It was an institution, perhaps the characteristic institution of Puritanism here. It was the ritual application of theology to community-building and to the tasks and trials of everyday life.”[2] Story chose that day in December, Psalm 122, for his passage, a song of Ascents. The Psalmist makes mention of Jerusalem, and Story, throughout his sermon of thanksgiving, draws his congregations’ attention to the responsibilities they have of promoting the peace and security of their Jerusalem: the colony. To complete this task, Story instructs the colonists in patriotic servitude, commending them to love God and serve their neighbors.
But how should they go about this great calling in 1774, as they suffered under the Intolerable Acts and high taxation? Rev. Story calls them to pray and remember that, as Christians, they are to defend the honor of their God and His house. If they keep this at the forefront of their minds and hearts, they will remember their duty to one another, recalling that they must treat one another with love and justice. After all, “true patriotism necessarily involves in its nature love to God and benevolence to mankind, which are the primary fources of all virtuous actions: and if a person’s zeal for his country doth not flow from such principles, from regard to God, and pure disinterested benevolence to men, it cannot be reckoned truly patriotic….”[3] Story continues to state that those who do not take their inspiration for patriotism from God and His Word will be weak and fall prey to anything that scares them.
Reaching back into the annals of antiquity, Rev. Story brings to the minds of his parishioners the history of the Roman Empire. Hic et more Patrie sincerus… Here the love of the country is sincere! He recounts the virtue, intelligence, scholarship, and ingenuity possessed by those leading Rome to glory, and he reminds his listeners that the Romans accomplished this because the love of their country was sincere; they were patriotic! They embraced liberty, their constitution, and the rule of law, and the empire flourished. But when the Romans took their eyes off their patriotism, the empire crumbled.
What, then, should be the response of the colonists? Story tells them to foster heroes who have their country’s interests at heart and thank the Lord for raising up patriots to defend their liberties and religion, allowing them to be unified in law and spirit, enjoying their rights and free privileges.[4] And when they recognize this excellent union that they enjoy with one another, they can cry out, “The finger of God is here!”[5]
And then, as if in anticipation of what he potentially stirred in the hearts of his congregation, Story cautions them that revolution and parting from England and George III is not the answer. Instead, they must count their blessings, praising God for their forebears who came to the New World, for their families, and remember to repent of their sins and promote the Gospel. Perhaps Story was playing it safe and attempting not to run afoul of the British living in the colony. Nevertheless, his congregation in Marblehead was the largest in New England,[6] so it can only be surmised that his call to patriotic duty had a significant effect in 1774, just as it should today.
Story encouraged his congregation to call out in wonder and joy over the unique way in which their new country was founded and rejoice in the union of mind and spirit they enjoyed. May Christian American citizens heed his clarion call and exclaim, “The finger of God is here!” acknowledging the powerful and thrilling way in which God called His people to a New World where they could worship Him in freedom and enjoy their God-given rights.
[1] Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence.
[2] Boorstin, Daniel J. The Colonial Experience. New York: Random House. 1958.
[3] Story, Isaac. The love of our Country Recommended and Enforced : in a Sermon from Psalm CXXII, 7 : Delivered on a day of Public Thansgiving [sic], December 15, 1774. Boston : Printed and sold by John Boyle, 1775. Sabin Americana: Sabin Collection Number, 92275.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid. 17.
[6] “To Thomas Jefferson from Isaac Story, 27 October 1801,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-35-02-0430. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 35, 1 August–30 November 1801, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008, pp. 515–517.]
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