As an immigrant from the Islamic Republic of Iran, I am extremely grateful and honored to live in Canada, a glorious and free land. My homeland is known for its lack of freedom of speech and religion, and it has experienced many hardships, including the 1979 Islamic Revolution, ongoing economic struggles, an eight-year-long war with Iraq, and decades of ongoing conflict and hostility with Israel and the United States since the revolution.

Yet Iran, historically known as Persia, is a country with over 2,500 years of culture and history. It is known for its beautiful art and architecture, traditional cuisine, rich literature and poetry, and many contributions to science, medicine, and education. Its people are resilient and hopeful, continuing to long for freedom, justice, and peace despite these challenges.

Freedom to Hear, Believe, and Worship

Though I am mindful of Iran’s ongoing struggles and pray for the underground church to flourish and grow, as well as for the country to experience revival and profound transformation, I am deeply grateful for the place God has brought me to. Living in Canada has given me the freedom to hear the Gospel and receive Christ as Lord and Savior without the fear of persecution, imprisonment, or death. For now, I can worship Him openly and corporately with other believers and share His Good News freely. These freedoms are gifts that many don’t fully appreciate until they have experienced life without them.

While the current dominant Canadian political views and policies do not always reflect biblical values and there are many areas needing improvement, I trust that God remains sovereign and that Christ is actively at work. I also recognize that Canada’s history is not without violence, prejudice, pain, and injustice. At the same time, I believe that God, in His providence, worked through many of the imperfect people who helped build this nation, some of whom were guided by the Bible and Christian values, to shape a society marked by peace, opportunity, and relative freedom. Today, I believe and pray that God continues to reveal the truth of the Gospel, build His Church, and bring healing and restoration to many areas of our country.

Our True Citizenship and Lasting Hope

Canada is a place of many blessings and freedoms, but no earthly nation is or can ever become perfect. Our ultimate hope and citizenship are in the Kingdom of God (Philippians 3:20). As God’s people, we are called to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and not to conform to the patterns of this world.

God transforms His people into new creations by making us alive in Him and renewing the way we think. Then we will be able to discern and follow His will, which is good, pleasing, and perfect (Romans 12:2). Transformed and free people have the power to bring lasting and meaningful change to their families, communities, and nation, though such changes require ongoing commitment and vigilance to endure.

God Keep Our Land Glorious and Free

As Christian Canadians, we recognize that when we sing “O Canada” and declare “God keep our land glorious and free,” we are offering a prayer. It is a heartfelt plea for the Lord to watch over our nation with His truth, grace, and protection. This includes freedom from enemy invasion, oppression, injustice, idolatry, and all kinds of sin.

Our Creator “…wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people…” (1 Timothy 2:4-6a). True freedom and justice comes by accepting the truth found in Christ and His Word, and it is the Church’s Great Commission to make Him known among the nations.

Holiness, Witness, and the Call to Repent

Yet, we must also realize that our witness and proclamation is directly connected to our holiness. We are not just called to verbally proclaim the Gospel, but also to let our identity and actions speak loudly of God’s love and transforming power.

God has said, “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). While this promise was originally given to the nation of Israel, I believe its principle applies to all who call on God’s name, including believers in Canada today. As God’s people, we are called to humble ourselves, seek Him earnestly, repent from sin, and pray for His forgiveness and restoration in our own land.

I believe that as Christians living in Canada, we must live in humility, continually seeking God’s face in prayer, admitting our sins, turning away from evil, and actively working to loosen the chains of injustice (Isaiah 58:6). The Church is called to follow in the footsteps of our Savior by proclaiming good news to the poor, release for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and freedom for the oppressed (Luke 4:18).

It is through this corporate, faithful obedience and dependence on God that our land can experience healing, restoration, and social renewal (Psalm 107:20). God is a God of justice and reconciliation (Micah 6:8; 2 Corinthians 5:18), who calls His Church to carry His message of forgiveness and redemption to all people from every nation with great love and honor (Matthew 28:19-20; Ephesians 4:32).

Apostle Paul writes that, “God brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world [including Canada] to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. We are Christ’s ambassadors [in Canada and abroad]; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).

We are to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” (1 Peter 3:15), not with force, violence, or disrespect. Without love our spiritual gifts and all our efforts in trying to bring the message of salvation and reconciliation to our neighbours will be little more than a gong show (1 Cor. 13). 

A Canada Day Prayer and Commitment 

This Canada Day reminds us that it is ultimately God who keeps us and our land glorious and free. A “glorious” land is one marked by goodness, dignity, and the flourishing of truth and righteousness. At the same time, His people have a responsibility to uphold and steward both freedom and biblical justice.

Let us walk in humility and repentance, seeking God’s face in prayer regardless of the moral and political changes in our country. Let us proclaim to all nations within our nation, through our being, doing, and telling, that Christ is supreme over Canada. Let us preserve the message that His saving work through His life, death, and resurrection is available to all who repent and believe in the Son of God.

My prayer is that Coastal Church will continue to be courageous, standing on guard for the truth and remaining deeply rooted in Christ and the inerrant Word of God. May we love God and our neighbor through every good deed and word, all for the glory of our Father in heaven. Let us commit ourselves anew to being faithful witnesses of His grace and truth in Canada and beyond. Amen.