During 1998, the most publicized event in the US was the scandal surrounding the Clinton presidency. One could not turn on a television or radio or pick up a newspaper without being inundated with information about Clinton’s sexual transgressions and the corresponding cover-up. In August of 1998, Willie R. Frye, this writer’s father, delivered a sermon at Mt. Airy Friends Meeting entitled The Sins of America. In the introduction to the sermon, Willie discussed the national outrage regarding the president’s behavior. Willie observed that during his lifetime, he had never observed such a national outcry of condemnation. He suggested that Americans had “gone too far down the road of self-righteousness which breeds arrogance and which precludes us from examining our own sins.” Willie reminded congregants that Jesus rarely spoke of sexual sins. According to scripture, when Jesus spoke to the Pharisees about the nature of sin, he said, “you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; you blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel.” (Matthew 23:23)
Willie described the shock of Americans on August, 7, 1998, when US embassies in Tanzania and Afghanistan were bombed killing 257 people and wounding 5500. He described the swift retaliation by the US in bombing sites in Afghanistan and Sudan. In spite of Congress’s dislike of President Clinton, legislators supported his swift military action.
Although this sermon describes events of almost two decades ago, we are still in the throes of military conflict in the Middle East. Willie’s prophetic voice still speaks to us. Excerpts from the sermon Willie preached about The Sins of America follow:  (Continue Reading Here)