Community Church Sermons
Year A
July 3, 2011
Pentecost 3
Sweet Land of Liberty
Matthew
11:25-30
Rev. Martin
C. Singley, III
Just a few hundred yards behind the house our family lived in back in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, there stood a small cylindrical brick building. There were no windows, only a wooden door. And if you didn’t know this building was there, you’d probably never find it there in the thick woods.
It was a “powder house” from the Revolutionary War– where gunpowder, and bullets, and rifles were hidden away from British troops. Our children – along with other neighborhood kids – used to play in the woods around the old powder house. And they – and we - were awestruck by the thought that they were playing in one of those exact places where America was born.
This is the weekend when WE celebrate the birth of America – and of all our national holidays, this is the one we should pay particular attention to. This is the holiday that brings us back to who we are as a people, and what we stand for. The battle for independence from Britain was more than a war about unfair taxation. It was a struggle for the very spirit of America which is “liberty.”
People sometimes ask me if I think America was established as a Christian nation. My answer is “yes.” I believe America was – and is - a Christian nation.
But not for the reasons that are typically given.
Our founders were not all Christians, and even the religious ones among them were Deists who denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. I believe we are a Christian nation, but not because our founding fathers and mothers were or were not.
And it doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not prayer is permitted in public schools or nativity scenes are allowed on public property. So long as there are tests in school, I guarantee you there will be prayer in schools! And so long as there is money to be made from Christmas there will be nativity scenes galore.
I believe we are a Christian nation, but it doesn’t have anything to do with prayer in schools or public displays of Bethlehem’s manger.
And it doesn’t have anything to do with posting the Ten Commandments in public buildings. In fact, I can’t quite figure out why Christians would want to post a set of ten Jewish laws that Jesus said were summed up in one great commandment: “Love God, and love your neighbor.” I’d be all for hanging that law everywhere I could! And it would keep kids from giggling about the tenth of the Ten Commandments that warns them against not coveting your neighbor’s ox nor his ass.
Plus, it would save a lot of space!
The Christian character of America is not derived from any of these things. What is written on our coinage, or recited in our Pledge are not what makes America a Christian nation.
What makes America “Christian” – I believe - is the practice of LIBERTY. Whenever liberty is lived out, we ARE Americans and we are living in the spirit of Jesus Christ. Whenever liberty is denied, we are NOT Americans and we are living contrary to the values of the Christian gospel.
“For freedom, Christ has set us free,” Paul writes to the Galatians. “Never again submit to a yoke of slavery.”
And for that very pursuit of freedom, people came to these shores to establish a nation of “liberty and justice for all.” And still they come in pursuit of liberty.
On a little island in New York Harbor there stands a glorious statue whose name is “Liberty.” Inside its base is a plaque upon which is inscribed a poem by Emma Lazarus (1848 – 1887). It is called “The New Colossus.” It reads like this:
Not
like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch whose flame
Is imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips.
"Give me your tired your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
You may notice that the words “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” sound an awful lot like the words of Jesus in today’s reading from Matthew 11.
“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
For I am gentle and humble in heart
And you will find rest for your souls.”
What fascinates me about the words of Emma Lazarus inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, and the very similar words of Jesus inscribed in the Bible, is that Emma Lazarus was not a Christian by religion. She was Jewish. Born in New York City, Emma had the benefit of liberty – able to be educated, to think freely, to become a poet. As a young woman, her studies led to the discovery of the plight of Jewish people in Russia and Europe. These so-called “Christian” societies carried out terrible persecution against Jews. Emma started writing about it in her poems, and into some of these poems she inserted the figure of the suffering, humiliated Christ. Through the writings of Rabbi Abraham Geiger, she had come to understand Jesus as a persecuted Jewish Rabbi, and the gist of her allusions to Christ in her poems was to expose the hypocrisy of those Christians who mistreated the Jews just as mercilessly as the Romans had behaved toward the Jewish Jesus. In other words, the true Christ has arms outstretched to those who are weary, burdened and rejected by others. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”
America is not about token expressions of Christianity - prayer in schools - ten commandments in courthouses - slogans on coinage, or even words of faith in pledges of allegiance. These are not what make – or ever WILL make – America a Christian nation.
What makes America “Christian” is not WHAT we say we believe, but WHO WE WELCOME – WHO WE LOVE – WHO WE HELP LIBERATE TO FIND THEIR FULL POTENTIAL AS THE CHILDREN OF GOD!
The American spirit IS the liberating spirit of Jesus Christ.
We saw that spirit at work this past week in our Vacation Bible School! We had a whole bunch of loving adults step forward to lead the children who came. Now most of them have already done the “kid thing.” They are in age groups where it would be easy to say “No thanks! Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt!” But they didn’t. They came out each night, put on their green Pandamania tee-shirts, and welcomed nearly 50 kids into the experience of Christ’s love. And then each night, they went home, rubbed Ben-Gay on their aching joints, had a stiff drink, and collapsed in bed.
I dare say, though, that not a child went home this week not knowing they are loved, valued, and full of God’s potential! That’s the Christian spirit! That’s the American spirit!
That’s liberty!
And in addition to that, one of our leaders – Regina Elgin – invited some friends of hers to come to VBS. And come they did - from the Casa del Alfredo United Methodist Church in Philadelphia – the town, not the city. And these dozen or so Hispanic children joined in with our mostly Anglo kids – reluctantly at first. But as the week went on, Anglo kids and Hispanic kids made friends with each other, and together joined in singing “God is Wild About Us!”
They were together in the spirit of Jesus Christ.
And they are a living example of America, where people of every color, creed, language and culture are welcomed and loved as neighbors! This, too, is the spirit of Jesus at work.
And it’s not just in churches where the spirit of Christ finds expression.
On December 10th, 2006, 27-year old Sgt. Brennan Gibson was killed in action in Iraq. His wife and parents reflect upon the day the military car pulled up in front of the house and two officers came to the door with the news. At first, they hoped it was all a big mistake – that somehow the Army had made a mistake. But gradually, the truth sank in. Brennan was dead. It was the worst day of their lives.
But it only got worse from there. Sgt. Gibson’s family got word that members of the Westboro Baptist Church were going to stage a demonstration at Brennan’s funeral. This is the group that pickets the funerals of our fallen heroes with their hateful rants that say, “God hates fags!” and “Thank God for dead soldiers!”
With great trepidation Sgt. Gibson’s family and friends arrived at the cemetery. Nearby stood the protestors, chanting. But then – in the distance – the rumble of motorcycle engines filled the air. Down the street came dozens upon dozens of bikers, American flags flying from the back of their bikes. They took up positions between the protestors and the family, protecting Sgt. Gibson’s family from the group. When the protestors got louder, the bikes got louder. You can’t outshout a Harley-Davidson.
The bikers were members of a group called the Patriot Guard Riders. Some are veterans. Many are not. But all believe that the families of our fallen heroes deserve respect, and honor.
I have no idea whether all the Patriot Guard Riders are Christians. Probably not. But they are the spirit of Christ at work. “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest…”
And isn’t it strange that it was a group of people who call themselves “Christians” – and a “church” - who became the spirit of the antichrist that day.
What makes America “Christian” is not WHAT we say we believe, but WHO WE WELCOME – WHO WE LOVE – WHO WE HELP LIBERATE TO FIND THEIR FULL POTENTIAL AS THE CHILDREN OF GOD!
And whenever the spirit of Jesus is at work in this way, we see a glimpse of the true American spirit.
On this 4th of July holiday, I call upon you to renew your commitment to Jesus Christ.
And then go from this place and bring liberty and justice to all.