Sermon 576+July 5, 2009

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

688th Week as Priest
514th Week at St. Dunstan’s
149th Week at St. Matthew’s in-the-Pines

Deuteronomy 10:17-21
Psalm 145:1-9+Exaltabo te, Deus
Hebrews 11:8-16
Matthew 5:43-48

Nation, Country, People

I decided last Thursday that we would use the Propers for Independence Day this morning rather than the lessons appointed for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. After all, the Fourth of July was just yesterday, and it is, far and away, our most important national holiday. For us as Christians and Americans, this is an excellent opportunity to examine what it means for us to be both, Christian and American, and to think about the future of our nation, our country, and our people.

America today fights wars on several fronts—Iraq, Afghanistan, and terrorism throughout the world. Our economy is in terrible shape, presently in a kind of limbo between recession and recovery. The banking system is a complete shambles. Foreign governments and international companies own huge investments in our real estate. The Peoples Republic of China has taken over most of America’s manufacturing industry, and our own government owns a majority stake in General Motors and Chrysler Corporation.

In the beginning of these United States of America, there were no political parties, no federal government, no national bank, no military but state militias, and no precedents whatsoever for establishing the independence of a people or a new nation. Thirteen colonies became thirteen states, more a confederation than a republic, conceived in liberty, born of revolution, and dedicated to the proposition that all men were created equal. Democracy was a radical experiment in the late eighteenth century, and in many ways, it remains a radical experiment today.

Our freedom was bought first in blood, and we have fought to the death many times to maintain that freedom over the past 233 years. We almost lost the War of 1812 to the British, less than forty years after becoming a nation. The Civil War nearly destroyed our Union and cost 700,000 American lives. The First World War took another 200,000, the Second World War almost a half-million American lives. In the last half-century, we have fought wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and a dozen other places on a more limited scale.

Since 9/11 we have been engaged in a war on terrorism that has no clear enemy, no time table, and no way to recognize if we are winning or losing.

For a nation founded on liberty and freedom, we have made some egregious mistakes. The sale and enslavement of African men, women, and children was a part of America’s history for almost 250 years. We virtually exterminated the American Indian tribes by the 1830s. American women—half our population—were denied the right to vote until 1920. Over 120,000 Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps during World War II. The list goes on, but we haven’t the time.

And yet, Americans are a people of ingenuity and courage and optimism. Our pioneer and immigrant ancestors came to this land with little else, and they carved out of a great wilderness the most powerful and resilient nation in the history of the world. They built railroads and interstate highways, national parks and great cities, international systems of investment and commerce—all in the most pluralistic, diverse, and tolerant society that has ever existed.

Americans are also a people of faith. Eight out of 10 adult Americans believe in God, and nearly that many believe in miracles and in life after death. Nearly three-fourths of Americans consider themselves to be Christians, but less than 40% attend church regularly. Some studies suggest that only 20% go to church regularly, but the polls indicate that Southerners go to church twice as much as everybody else.

Yes, we have problems, big problems, but Americans are blessed with more freedom, more opportunity, and more material wealth than any other nation in the world, than any other nation in history. We have abundant natural resources, from sea to shining sea—clean air, clean water, fertile soil, and rich deposits of metals and minerals. We have excellent systems for education, health care, transportation, communication, public safety, and the administration of justice. As you’ve heard before, our country is far from perfect, but it’s a whole lot better than whoever is in second place.

If any nation has ever been blessed, we are a nation blessed beyond anything we could ask for or imagine. If any country has ever been favored with resources, beauty, and potential, it is ours. If any people on the earth have ever been chosen by God to be a light to the nations and a beacon of hope for the oppressed and downtrodden, we are that people.

And for all this, I ask you, what are we doing to be that light in the darkness? We know from the Holy Scriptures that it is our calling and our duty to “execute justice for the orphan and widow,” and to “love the stranger, providing them food and clothing,” and to live by faith that God will continue to bless us as we bless others.

We are called, as Christians and Americans, to live our lives in a way that is extraordinary and important for the life of the world. “Love your enemies,” says Jesus, and we must find ways to do this—in the Middle East, in our decaying urban centers, and in the daily life that we live.

It’s true that despite our many blessings and advantages, there is much that is wrong, and unfair, in the daily life and work of our nation, our country, and our people. But there is also much that is good, and worthy of praise, and honorable. On a weekend that we remember the dawning of our liberty and freedom, the birth of a democratic nation, and the accomplishments and achievements of our people, we should also commit and dedicate our selves, our souls and bodies, to doing what is good and right and perfect in the eyes of God.

Then, and only then—when we seek to be a blessing to others, the poor, the needy, and the oppressed in our own communities and throughout the world—have we any basis for asking Almighty God to bless our native land. Amen.

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