Hosanna

The following is an excerpt from a sermon by Russ Ramsey. To hear the context, you can download the free podcast called "The Rabbit Room Podcast." I transcribed this from Episode 12, so any typos or grammatical mistakes are mine. I pick up around the 24:08 mark, where Mr. Ramsey is discussing Luke 19:28-44, particularly verse 38.

--begin transcription
"Blessed is the King!" - those are strong words in the ears of Caesar. And everyone knows they mean Jesus. Some of the Pharisees who are present, they go up to Jesus, and they say, "Hey! Stop this! Make them shhhh! Because You know what could happen if this gets back to somebody in the higher ups."

...

See, Israel had struck a compromise with Rome and it is insidious when you look at it. The compromise was this: they (Israel) could continue their worship practices so long as they obeyed Roman rule, paid their taxes and kept the peace. But any hint of insurgency was going to be dealt with, make no mistake, swiftly and without mercy. And this, for Rome, was just brilliant. Because, think of it, Rome had persuaded Israel that their right to worship the God that their national identity was built upon was a privilege that was granted to them by Caesar. That is just politically brilliant. If you want to be an oppressor, and you don't want to constantly have to be bullying people to keep them in line, and their national identity is built upon their worship of one God in stead of many, let them. But make sure that they understand that you can take that privilege away in a heartbeat. And then they will worship with the knowledge that their privilege of worship is granted to them by Caesar. What this does, is it takes the religious leaders and it divides their loyalty between the God of their Bible and the ruler of their occupying force.
--end transcription

There is much more that Mr. Ramsey has to say, but this knocked me down with its available application to today's American Christians.
It is a brilliant political plot, indeed, to make sure that all religious Americans are constantly reminded that their religious freedom hinges on America's existence and domination. With an unspoken hint of "the ends justify the means," it's a quick jump to a holy war.
I do believe that God has blessed America. I balk at attempting to assign a reason for that blessing (or a reason for that blessing's apparent waning).
If America ends (and I have NO idea what that means), I will still be able to praise my Lord and Savior: Jesus, the Christ. Nor will I be beyond the reach of His Love.

Come, Lord Jesus.