There’s a
Jewish liturgy that goes like this, “From
Egypt, the house of bondage, we were delivered; at Sinai, amid peals of
thunder, we bound ourselves to His purpose. Inspired by prophets and instructed
by sages, we survived oppression and exile, time and again overcoming the
forces that would have destroyed us. Our
failings are many — our faults are great — yet it has been our glory to bear
witness to our God, and to keep alive in dark ages the vision of a world
redeemed.”
We come to this week
with divisions, differences and realities with complexities far from being
solved. However this nation bids us remember this week of a group of people who
believed in what they held to be true enough to write a Declaration of
Independence. They were far from perfect, and often fell short of the high and
lofty ideals they aspired to in their quest for liberty. However their
intentions to make a nation better than what they knew before can be a lesson
to us all in the context of faith.
Let us give thanks to
our Creator that this is a place where equality is cherished and all faiths are
respected. Let us forever remember that in our time we are called to be
citizens of two lands, this nation and the Kingdom of God. There is tension in
that, because God’s will for us doesn’t always match where our nation wants to
head.
Throughout this week
of sentiments for our nation, may we always keep our eyes on the Kingdom of
God. May we give thanks that we live in a place where we are allowed to aspire
to such heights. When the people of the Jewish faith recall their story, they
acknowledge what has happened, good and bad. They remind themselves that the
glory of their lives isn’t their political party, their country of origin, or
their views on an issue. The glory of being alive is bearing witness to the
Divine and the world that is redeemed through that Spirit.
Friends we live in
such interesting times. We cannot shy away from the issues we face, and we must
do so in the spirit that God is working through us. This may come in various
forms for different people, but in the end the redemptive purpose God has in
mind for us will come through the unity we find in the grace extended to each
of us.
Celebrate this week,
remember that in Christ there is no east or west, no Democrat or Republican,
our nationalities become strangely dim in the light of God’s love. In the end,
we’re not so different after all. For we were made to manifest the glory of
God.
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ReplyDeleteBasically, I like the direction you are headed in, but instead of continuing on and becoming a really prophetic voice, you take a sharp right turn and end up saying way less than Scripture actually says on this topic.
ReplyDeleteScripture is very clear that we are, in fact, not citizens of this kingdom and of God's kingdom - but that our citizenship is to heaven alone (Phil 3.20). After all, how could it ever be true that "we are called to be citizens of two lands," when Jesus himself teaches us that no man can serve two masters? Also you seem to be alluding to Augustine's Two Cities, but don't bring up the fact that citizenship in the city of this world was never, ever a good thing for Augustine - and the whole point of his setting the two cities up is so he can more fully argue that Christians are *only* citizens of God's kingdom - and *never* to any kingdom of this world.
You are headed in such a great direction to bring up some hard questions that all Christians must face: Can Christians partake in nationalistic holidays, when they do not belong to any nation? Can they celebrate a day which reminds them that this country claims them as its own, when Christians only ever exist as God's own, and must reject any authority which attempts to be a "second master" over them? But you don't ask those questions... You say that in the light of Christ our nationalities become dim, but in reality for Christians our nationalities do not exist at all.