Zorra's reflections on the Fourth of July service prompted me to join her in pondering the question of how we can "express gratitude to God for the advantages and blessings we enjoy in the United States, and ask for God's blessing and guidance for our country and its leaders, without all the bombastic, non reflective flag waving?" There's no question that sometimes patriotic enthusiasm spills over inappropriately into worship on the Sunday nearest to Independence Day.
Yesterday's sermon at our church was one of the more unique Independence Day related sermons I have ever heard. The text was 2 Samuel 6:6-8: the story of Uzzah who was struck dead when he tried to steady the Ark as it slipped from an oxcart while being transported into the city of Jerusalem by King David. The king and everyone else is shocked and afraid, so the Ark is left in a nearby home. After a few months word gets out that the family who lives in that home has been remarkably blessed--presumably by the Ark. So King David regains the courage to complete the Ark's journey into Jerusalem where it ultimately finds a home in the temple built by King Solomon.
The gist of the sermon was the exposition of an analogy between the story of Uzzah and the tension between our relationship with our religion and faith and the obligations of the state, focusing on the twin concerns of either leaving God out of the political realm and or having God represented in an abusive way.
History is full of examples demonstrating the struggle between these two concerns. In response to a visitor to the White House during the Civil War who said, "God is on our side", President Abraham Lincoln responded: "We trust, sir, that God is on our side. It is more important to know that we are on God's side."
We should focus in worship on getting ourselves on God's side.The gist of the sermon was the exposition of an analogy between the story of Uzzah and the tension between our relationship with our religion and faith and the obligations of the state, focusing on the twin concerns of either leaving God out of the political realm and or having God represented in an abusive way.
History is full of examples demonstrating the struggle between these two concerns. In response to a visitor to the White House during the Civil War who said, "God is on our side", President Abraham Lincoln responded: "We trust, sir, that God is on our side. It is more important to know that we are on God's side."
8 comments:
Isn't the presumption sometimes that one's national side is already "God's side"? That's a tough one. Especially when more than one national side faces opposing positions.
I suspect that we'll continue to have the bombastic flag waving in church just as long as the folks who really need an outlet for this don't have one in a secular public forum.
Sounds like a really good sermon, QG.
Everytime we have Flags Fer Jeezus Sunday, I remember a church I went to as a child - one of the top dog members threw a fit about the singing of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. If we sang that, he thought we ought to have to sing Dixie, too. Sort of an equal time thing.
Kinda scary...
We don't have flags in our sanctuary. A few years ago I heard someome say that the day a US flag appeared there would be the day he left his church membership behind. I am guessing others feel quite differently.
A few years ago (hmm, wondering if July 4 was on Sunday that year) we had no music pertaining to the 4th, and the music director heard about it from those who were upset that there was none. The next year we sang America the Beautiful, and she heard about it from those who were upset that there was any. (That occasioned some wonderfully thoughtful and moving correspondence from both sides.) Yesterday the choir sang "This Land is Your Land" and she announced she had struggled with the choice of a secular song for a worship service and changed the last line to "God made this land for you and me."
At my former huge UM church, there were always American and church flags on either side of the altar. But now I have gotten so used to their absence that I was quite disconcerted to go to a Presbytery meeting a few months ago in which an absolutely charming little rural church has an entire, albeit small, patriotic exhibit against the back wall.
Such a minefield. Will be interesting to see whether your flags disappear by next Sunday.
Good post.
Thought-provoking. Thank you. We too blithely say God is on OUR side, most likely meaning MY side. I love old Abe's caution:"It is more important to know that we are on God's side." What a question that would be to ask--to redirect us, our country, our lives: "Which direction is God's side?" Help us, Lord, to seek you.
Well as you know we are in Hogwarts these days, but the church member who sang for the early service chose a very appropriate song in honor of July 4, Eternal Father Strong to Save, which turns out to also be the Navy hymn. And our accompanist will sometimes play America the Beautiful (which I really wish were our national anthem) as an offertory. We rarely sing national songs.
We also had a lovely flower arrangement that was hydrangeas and some red and white flowers I didn't recognize. It was subtle.
I am surprised there isn't more flag-waving---we are heavily military. The flag is in the narthex, and there's never been any issue with it.
Good thoughts, QG.
We wouldn't have the Dixie problem here!
As I commented at zorra's, we had a mini-sing-along before the service, just after a prelude built on America the Beautiful. Then we went on to the Greeting and the rest of the service. I referenced the holiday in talking about the need to keep your hand on the plow and not look back, making the point that our national history has been one of looking ahead rather than being mired in old ways, and I quoted James Russell Lowell's hymn, "Once to Every Man and Nation," particularly the lines about new occasions teaching new duties.
I guess I feel we ought not be ruled by the secular calendar but also that it's not necessarily helpful to ignore it, either.
Yeah, this one is thorny, QG. Our church handbell choir (in which I am a ringer) was asked to play America the Beautiful and a medley of similarly patriotic songs. I love playing the bells, but I had to confess to my Sunday school class that I was struggling with what to do. The lesson that I taught on July 1 came from Matthew 6:1-18. It's all about authentic worship which is focused on God and not on what other believers think. And then after the service, one of the blue-haired ladies commended the way that I had played the bells. "You really know how to play those patriotic songs!" Grrrr.
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