A Nation Under God



This is the address given by Billy Graham on the Inaugural Weedend, Presidential Prayer Service at the Washington Cathedreal, Washington, D.C., January 20, 1985.

We are gathered here today because we know that our nation and its leaders need the help of God. Here we affirm that not only are we free and independent people, but in a far more profound sense we are people dependent upon God. Only if we maintain that attitude will we have the strength and wisdom to fulfill our responsibilities. We are in danger if we overlook the spiritual dimensions of national leadership.

Over twenty years ago President Kennedy had in his pocket a speech he was to deliver at the Dallas Trade Mart. At the end of the speech he was quoting from the Bible these words: “Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain” (Psalm 127:1). This service today is appropriate because our President and Vice President take their oaths of Office while placing their hands on the Bible.

It is true that we are a pluralistic nation. we have a Constitution which guarantees to allof us human freedoms, of which religious freedom is foremost. In America any and all religions have the right to exist and to propagate what they stand for. We enjoy the separation of church and state, and no sectarian religion has ever been—and we pray God, ever will be— imposed upon us.

It is most often in religion that the world find its value systems and its moral guidance. In the past few years I've been many places where masses of people were looking wistfully for Moses (The Ten Commandments) and Christ to show them the way. Only the living God can fill the moral vacuum that exists in our world.

In our pluralistic state we have learned to live with each other and to respect each other's religious and political convictions. But at the same time, whatever our religious conviction may be, we're all aware that we're dependent on a power higher than our own.

To say that we're living in a critical moment in history is an understatement. Most of the people of the world are praying that God will bring an era of peace to our world. Today we face new challenges that previous generations never dreamed of. Some are unparalleled opportunities; some of these challenges, however, are unparalleled danger which threaten the continued existence of civilization on this planet.

The greatest threat, however, lies deep within our own hearts which are infected with greed, hate, and lust. The fact that our media carry daily stories of wars and terrorism and crime and social injustice testifies that something is wrong with human nature. All over the world people are trying to do something about the void in their lives and the need to atone for their sins and failures. They have a need to seek guidance and wisdom from their god or gods. This is why we have religions.

Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ came on that first Christmas night, to bring peace between God and man, and between man and man. Unfortunately, man rejected His offer of peace, and we've been suffering ever since. Jesus taught taht human nature has to be changed by being born into God's family.

We were born the first time into the human family with the moral disease called sin. We can be born into God's family with sin forgiven and victory over sin . But God Himself has to change us, if we are willing to allow Him to do it. Then it is possible for us to live in peace with ourselves, our families, in our communities, and between nations.

Confusius in his Analects gave us the Silver Rule; the Bible give us the Golden Rule. However stated, it means that “I will love my neighbor as I love myself.rdquo; But in my natural state I cannot do that. God must perform a miracle in our lives and change our lives.

During the next four years many of you here today will have to make decisions of state perhaps greater than any of those made by your predecessors. Because of modern technology, you will hold in you hands the destiny not only of America but of the entire world.

Christ said, “What shall it profit a man, if he....gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). I believe that applies to nations as well as to individuals, for a nation that loses its spiritual courage will grow old before its time. Even if we gained all our material and social objectives, but lost our souls, i would be a disaster.

As you work to lead this nation to new heights of social justice, peace, and economic prosperity, you also have the opportunity to lead thsi nation to its greatest moral and spiritual heights. This is a tremendous opportunity and an awesome responsibility. Jesus once said, “Unto [whom] much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48). Those who have the greatest power always need the greatest guidance.

These's a truth reiterated throughout the teachings of the various religions, but especially in the Bible, that no man rules except by the will of God. There's a mandate that is higher than the ballot box, and it comes from God. WE have a responsibility not only to all the people of America and to the people of the world, but also we have a great responsibility to the God of our fathers. And someday, as we stand before Him, we will have to give an account.

In less than two hours President Reagan and Vice President Bush will place their hands upon a Bible and take their oaths of office. The will be putting their hands on the Book from which we have received our ideas of freedom and justice and our value system. In circumstances of great joy and in circumstances of great sorrow and anxiety other Presidents have done this also—whether on a plane in Dallas, or on a porch in Vermont, or against the majestic backdrop of the United States Capitol.

The afternoon President Reagan will toss an imoportant coin to decide who kicks and who receives the ball in the Super Bowl. Millions of Americans will be glued to their television sets as the 48ers and the Dolphins decide the professional football championship of 1984.

When President Reagan was governor of Califoria, he took his eleven-year-old son, Ron, to see the Los Angeles Rams play in the Coliseum. The Rams were young Ron Reagan's favorite team, and they lost that day. After the game Mr. Reagan and his son went to the dressing room where they greeted the coaches and the players. While they were there, the team dropped to their knees for a time of prayer together.

Governor Reagan later wrote to Coach George Allen saying, “I just want you to know that I walked out of that dressing roon with my feet of the ground. To be there with an eleven–year–old by when his heroes dropped to their knees in prayer was something I'll never forget and for which I will always be grateful. Nothing a father could tell his son would ever match the impact of that moment.

Prayer should be the habit for everyone on this team we call America—whether elected official or private citizen, whether before a difficult event or after it, whether in victory or defeat. In an increasingly complex and dangerous world, we need to drop to our knees and acknowledge our dependence on God.

I believe that God is calling us as individuals and as a nation today to repentance and faith in Him. To repent is to acknowledge our need of the Great Physician in our lives. To have faith is to accept His prescription for the healing of our souls and begin to act on His instructions.

Could this be the beginning of the new beginning, in which we will put into practice the things our religious state teaches us? I've been abroad a great part of this year, and since coming home I have sensed a new optimism, a new patriotism, and a growing religious faith among the American people.

A few years ago I was asked to go to Plymouth, Massachusetts, to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the landing of those early Americans. At the very beginning those early Americans dropped to their knees in prayer.

And it is my prayer that today will be the beginning of a new beginning spiritually, in which we will be a nation on our knees, depending on that same God. On this solemn occasion as a great nation goes forward under its chosen leaders, may all of us, private citizens and leaders alike, go in the stength and wisdom and the courage whcih we can only receive from God.

Our first President, George Washington, said “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible,” and he was right. This is what has helped make America great. God bless President and Mrs. Reagan, and Vice President and Mrs. Bush, and all of those in this administration, during the next four years.

Copyright © 1985 by
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Box 779, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55440