Scattered, Not Quite Cohesive Thoughts About America, My 4th of July Sermon, and Being an American Christian

This is rambling and probably not organized very well, but it is honest:

As we approach the 4th of July holiday, the decision is once again before me as a preacher: how do I address this national holiday, if at all? This has led to several weeks of questioning, praying, and thinking. Here are some assorted thoughts/questions/options:


- I could decide not to address the holiday at all in my preaching. I'm pretty sure that I could not get away with ignoring the holiday altogether in my congregation. There is an impulse in me to not pay a bit of attention to this national, secular holiday. To simply preach the lectionary, choose some good, strong hymns of the church and let my people celebrate in ways and times of their choosing. That option has theological and ecclesiological merit.

- I could simply give in to the patriotic impulse and focus the whole service on America and the holiday. Actually, that's not really an option. And I really couldn't do that. We're not in church to praise and worship America. We're not in church to praise and worship God for America. It's not ultimately about America. We come to church not to serve country, but to serve and worship God. And I do believe that the choice, in this instance, is that stark.

- Of course, as is usually the case, I choose a middle way. I believe several things about my task as preacher:

○ My focus is God and what God is revealing to me/us in Scripture.

○ I must tell the truth, to the best of my ability and using my best understanding, as guided by the Holy Spirit in preparation and delivery.

○ While the desires of the congregation are not my primary concern in preaching, I believe that my preaching should be relevant to the lives of my parishoners and I should also be concerned with what my church is concerned with.

In this particular case, the holiday will be on everyone's mind when they come to church Sunday. I can either work against that by ignoring it, indulge that by simply echoing empty patriotic platitudes, or I can draw that through the prism of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So my plan is to be truthful about being a Christian and being an American, as best I can with my limited understanding, through prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As I begin to prepare for my sermon in earnest, I have been pondering the Scriptures that I have chosen for this Sunday.

Mark 12:13-17

13Then they sent to him some Pharisees and some Herodians to trap him in what he said. 14And they came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? 15Should we pay them, or should we not?" But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it." 16And they brought one. Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" They answered, "The emperor's." 17Jesus said to them, "Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's , and to God the things that are God's." And they were utterly amazed at him.

Philippians 3:18-21

18For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. 19Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.

In the Mark passage, the Pharisees attempt to trap Jesus in a false dilemma: which is it, Jesus, Caesar or God? Jesus easily dismisses their attempt at entrapping him by stating that there are things that properly belong to Caesar (in this case, money marked with the image of the Emperor) and there are those things that properly belong to God. This leads to a question: can we demarcate things that do not belong to God? What is the theological justification of "private property", especially in light of Acts 2:44 ("All who believed were together and had all things in common.") As I understand it, we (Christians) like to live as if there are aspects of our lives that we can deem as "secular" or "public" - places where our commitment to Jesus Christ is not determinative or definitive. Are those areas where another role or aspect of our identity trump our identity as Christians? Paul, in the Philippians passage, would answer emphatically: No! If Jesus is Lord, really and truly Lord, then He is Lord over everything in my life and every aspect of my life must be understood in light of Jesus' lordship. Obviously, this means that if I take seriously the Lordship of Jesus (or, to put it another way, if I take seriously my status as a "citizen of heaven") then I cannot place my identity as an American in a place of prominence over and above my identity as a Christian, ever.

And here is where we must be truthful and clear. Many American Christians make little or no effort in thinking about possible places of conflict or contestation between being an American and a Christian. Most middle class American Christians have not given sufficient thought (in my humble opinion) to the differences and distances between the Kingdom of God and the nation/empire/idea of America. Consequently, there is a lot of rhetoric about the U.S. being a "godly nation" (or perhaps this only applies to certain Americans, if you live in a city or vote Democratic, in the minds and rhetoric of some, you don't fit the mold) or we talk about how America was founded as a "Christian nation" (not exactly historically accurate). Here's my disclaimer: I love this country, its history, its ideals, its messiness, and its complexity. I am fascinated by the American experiment and our bumbling towards some semblance of justice and liberty by fits and starts. We have failed many times and still do, but it has been spectacular (in the sense of this whole thing being a spectacle).

As much as I love this country and its history, I do not have "faith in America", I have faith in God. This is a sinful nation filled with sinners. Like every other nation that exists or has ever existed. America is not specially blessed, it is not chosen, it is not the "new Israel", whatever that means. We err, at times grievously and at great cost to millions across our world. We over-consume and are too often careless about the costs of our consumption. We are petulant and hubristic. We will face the judgment, like every other nation. I'll close up this posting with a quote from Tony Campolo: "Don’t get me wrong, I love the United States of America. It’s the best Babylon on the face of the earth, but it’s still Babylon and it’s not the kingdom of God.”

Until next time, may God bless you and keep you.