Sermon

Sermon    07-06-14                       Leviticus 25: 8-12               Isaiah 43:18-21

Having today, July 6th, fall on a Sunday, our holy day, and coming at the end of our nation’s three day July 4th holiday weekend, hopefully sparks within us all a sense of thanksgiving and reflection.  Thanksgiving at being the rich benefactor of the best of all worlds; citizens in this, the freest nation in all of human history, and membership in the church of Jesus Christ.  And on this three day weekend, as we celebrate our nation’s birthday and the blessing of independence which citizens of this nation have gloried in for 238 years now, we would be wise to give thought and find inspiration in the ways that our faith and freedom blend and what being the benefactor of those blessings call us to in the course of our daily lives.

            I must take a moment to give thanks to the Rev. Forrest Church, whose book The American Creed, I’ve read and re-read in recent days and whose writings have been both the inspiration as well as the source of much of the material and illustrations for my thoughts today.

            The great English author, GK Chesterton, once remarked that “America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed.  It is truly a nation with the soul of a church.”  (Church, op cit, p. xii)  That is to my ears, wonderful and high praise, remarks worth considering, debating, and reflecting on in order to determine their accuracy.  The sense of the American Creed that Chesterton speaks of and which Church reflects on in his book, comes in the opening words of the Declaration of Independence. 

            “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” 

            These words sprung from the minds and hearts of our founding fathers, were spoken aloud, debated with passion and good intent, written down and affirmed by the signatures of the elected representatives of the original thirteen colonies.  We know that in the days, weeks, months, years and decades since, that these words have inspired men and women to seek and honor life in this great nation; a search that has come at great cost and through many obstacles, since freedom is a value in the good life that the hearts of men and women crave as deeply as food and water.

            It was not easy then to pursue these values.  It is not easy now.  As easy as living in freedom sounds, we have seen over the years of our nation’s history that this level of freedom for a nation’s citizens is not always easy to protect, defend, or at times, live with. 

            Those who first came to the shores of this continent did so in an effort to find religious freedom.  Daring to cross the high seas, in boats which we would likely not declare seaworthy in this day and age, and bringing with them, just enough provisions to get a start in a new land, they drew their inspiration from the history of their faith, which told of those bold enough to hear God’s call to venture into the wilderness.  “Behold I will do a new thing,” God declares in the words of Isaiah.  “Now it shall spring forth.  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert…to give drink to my people, my chosen.” 

            These pilgrims drew further inspiration from the words and preaching of John Winthrop, who became the first Governor of the MA Bay Colony.  Winthrop preached an inspirational sermon on board the ship Arbella, shortly before the passengers of the ships in that caravan, disembarked and founded the city of Boston in 1630.  Winthrop challenged and inspired those onboard to give thought to the burden that settling in a new land would bring them.  “For we must consider that we shall be like a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are on us.”  (op. cit. p. 6) 

            This Biblical image, which comes from the words of Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount, was later used by President Reagan to inspire our nation and the world at a challenging time in history.

            Faith and divine inspiration have always been a part of the American Creed.  Having said that, in our nation, a place of the highest religious tolerance and diversity, we are also always mindful of the separation of church and state.   This is not a phrase that is in our Constitution.  It comes from a Supreme Court decision, but as we seek to blend our citizenship and our discipleship, we are wise to realize that many others, both in our nation’s history as well as throughout the world, have found ways to blend their religious and political passion, while being mindful to respect those places where they need to be separate.

            One of the greatest interfaces of faith and freedom comes in way that our nation and the church affirms, respects and seeks to honor the individual.  The laws and courts of our nation continually seek to find ways to allow for an individual to follow their heart and be free.  We do not live in a land where the majority rules other than through the election process (and we can debate the wisdom and justice of the Electoral College process another day), but instead we live where the rights of individuals are safeguarded by the Constitution.  It is, as the courts and media remind us daily, a work in progress.  But what a joy to live in a land where that work continues, and God willing, continues to progress.

            In the wisdom of those who first started to shape the vision of individual freedom, the Declaration of Independence proclaims a new and civil ethic; one in which the individual conscience is held in a higher esteem than at any other time in history.  This incredible document declares that it is the collective right of the people, endowed by God, to govern themselves.  This right comes at both great cost and with great consequence.  For the reverence of the right of others to belief as they choose can only come if the rights of all citizens are proclaimed, protected and defended.  (op. cit. p. 37)   We’ve lived with that necessary tension now for 238 years.

            Our faith also declares the importance of the individual.  In the early days of the Hebrew people, that was not the case.  The nation came first and for understandable reasons, given that they were surrounded by, threatened by and forced into exile by their enemies.  If not the nation, then the tribe came first.  If not the tribe, then the family.  Men followed in the careers of their fathers.  Women’s futures were limited to following in the ways of their mothers until a marriage could be arranged and they lived by their husband’s dictates.  There was no sense of the rights and value of the individual in a time and place where lives were shortened and ended continually by disease, warfare or exile. 

            But part of the good news that Jesus came to bring was that every child of God was a cherished child of God.  He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well of her life and she realized that her life could be more than the life that her history, the culture and traditions of that day condemned her to know.  Jesus proclaimed the good news of a God who knows the number of hairs on our head, useless trivia in many ways, but a metaphor that told all who heard that they mattered to God.  In this congregation, we are the inheritors and trustees of a legacy that does not hold believers to complex creeds and the authority of dogma.  We require only that a seeker and believer affirm their desire to be a part of the community of the faithful, that they acknowledge their belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and that they seek to continue to support the missions and ministries of the church as they are able.

            Religious faith and freedom is part of our American Creed.  It is like the marrow in our bones, for those of us blessed to be both American and Christian.  It fills us and renews us in ways beyond our knowing.  And it calls us to be among those who live in the City on the Hill and to live in ways worthy of having “the eyes of all the world upon us.”

            While we in our nation have gloried in the freedoms and embraced the faith, we have, at times, failed to live in ways worthy of these blessings and the sacrifices that so many have made to secure them for us.   In this day and age, far too many have confused liberty with license.   In so many ways, more numerous than I can detail her, far too many of us and our fellow citizens have failed to include that sense of moral responsibility which is inherent in the concept of freedom. 

            Chaplain to the US Senate, Peter Marshall once said, “May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.”  Over the years, many politicians have sought to inspire and challenge Americans to embrace sacrifice and citizenship in bold ways.  We are wise to remember that Jesus said much the same in a different way.  Speaking to the disciples and all who could hear, he proclaimed that to those whom God has given much, much more will be expected.  We would be wise, as 21st century American Christians, to give prayerful thought and reflection to what this means to us today. 

            We live in a land of undreamed of human freedoms and undreamed of human power.  To live a faithful life with these is both a blessing and a challenge.  We would be wise, on this July 4th holiday weekend, to pray, think and follow Jesus in the ways of the faithful.  By the blessings of our forefathers in America and the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, we are the inheritors of an abundant life.  We live our lives now, called to glory in this blessing and also to live in ways that show the world that we are worthy of this blessing, as we also seek to work towards seeing that every child of God lives in ways that embrace their God-given rights.

            As I said earlier, the blessings and responsibilities of being both American and Christian in the 21st century are many and complex.  But for now, I ask you.  Recalling Chesterton’s words, are we indeed a nation with the soul of a church and are we, here at Spring Glen Church, a church with the soul that reflects and blends faith and freedom?

            May the Holy One who blessed and guided the brave men who crafted the Declaration of Independence so many years ago, guide, bless and inspire us as we seek to answer these questions in the living of these days.  Amen.