Bible Text:

“Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord…”                                                                                                                          (Psalm 33:12)

July 4^th is an awkward Sunday on which to preach. A colleague of mine wrote me recently that as an associate in a church in another part of the country, he drew the July 4^th preaching assignment 3 or 4 times. He recalled the experience this way: “It is a difficult Sunday to preach… one of those days when people would prefer something other than the Gospel.” 

Independence Day! A national day of remembering our freedom. But what does one say in a sermon? How do you say something that is spiritual and non-political? Something relevant and incisive, but not too critical? I have faced this issue 3 or 4 times over my years here. 

Actually I played with some sermon titles for today and I’ve changed it 2 or 3 times. I decided to try something on you—something that’s on my heart. To ask the question, “What does it mean to be one nation under God?” 

It is often said that America is a Christian nation. But we are not. At least not officially. Two hundred and twenty-eight years ago our founders were believers in God, at least most of them. Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, John Adams all believed in some kind of deity or divine providence.  There was no personal acknowledgment of Jesus, but they were believers. 

I recently finished a new biography of Abraham Lincoln. He had the same attitude. He had a strong spirituality and commitment to divine providence. But he was not a Christian in the normal sense of the word. 

We recently heard and witnessed many aspects of the funeral for former President Ronald Reagan. His son said of him, “He was a deeply religious man.” I suspect that was true, and it has been true for many leaders of this nation. 

Our constitution reflects many Christian values. But our nation as a whole is not classified as Christian. 

In fact, even the “Judeo-Christian” label no longer adequately applies. I remember reading a book by a professor at Drew Seminary published nearly 50 years ago entitled, Protestant, Catholic and Jew. It was a commentary on the religious pluralism of America. We are much more pluralistic now. Your neighborhood, your workplace, your school has Hindu or Buddhist or Islamic people and others. 

So my question this morning is this: what if we were a Christian nation? What if we were truly driven by Christian values? What if we took this text (“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord”) and upgraded it a bit? What if it said, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the God revealed in Jesus?” What if the message of Jesus shaped our national vision? 

What would this look like? Can you hear the question? Perhaps it is a question that is inevitably controversial, but I think it is a worthy question nonetheless. 

EMPHASIS ON SERVANTHOOD 

For one thing, there would be a strong emphasis upon servanthood. Jesus said, “The greatest among you is the servant of all.” Could this not by extension mean, “The greatest nation among you is the servant nation?” Jesus indicated that power was only useful when it was given away. Our role would be not to lead or control or manage, but to serve. 

We have grown in this country to love images of control and power and strength. I remember reading a story about a man who was sitting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office. The only other person in the room was the nurse/receptionist at the desk. He could hear on the other side of the wall the doctor, calling out in a strange way. He would shout, “Typhoid! Diphtheria! Smallpox! Tetanus!” Finally the man asked the nurse, out of curiosity, “What in the world is going on in the other room?” The nurse replied, “Oh, don’t worry about him. He just likes to call all the shots.” 

America likes to call the shots. I believe this nation would be stronger if we held service higher. We had a good example of service this past week as our youth served the children on the North Side in their annual week of Vacation Bible School. 

A new movie is opening this week on King Arthur. No one really knows whether King Arthur was real or imagined. There are many stories about him. He dominates medieval fantasy literature. If Arthur was real, he probably lived sometime between the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Dark Ages. One writer says of him, “King Arthur’s virtues and standards run second only to the Bible as the primary influence on English literature.” 

In a children’s book of heroes, a writer says this about the King Arthur stories and the Knights of the Round Table. 

With pomp and ceremony did each knight take upon him the vows of true knighthood: to obey the King; to show mercy to all who asked for it; to defend the weak; and for no worldly gain… they rode forth to right the wrong and help the oppressed, and by their aid the King held his realm in peace, doing justice to all.[i] 

A dominant theme of the King Arthur legends is that we lead by serving. A fully Christian nation would do just that.  

Let me tell you a story—a parable of sorts—from the writings of Max Lucado. It is a story of a tall building that housed a large corporation. Everyone in the building works for the CEO, who has a secluded office on the top floor. Most people have not seen him, but they have seen his daughter. She works in the building for her father, and she exploits the family position for benefits. 

One morning she approaches Bert, the guard at the entrance desk. “I’m hungry, Bert. Go down the street and buy me a Danish” Bert is in a quandary. He is on duty. Leaving puts him at risk. But she is the boss’ daughter. He hesitates. She insists, “Come on now, hurry up.” 

Bert goes. But he thinks to himself as he goes, “If the daughter is so bossy, what does that say about the father?” 

The daughter munches on her Danish and runs into a paper-laden secretary. “Where are you going with those?” she asks. “To the mechanical room to have them bound for a meeting,” the secretary replies. “Forget that,” says the daughter. “Get a vacuum and clean my office.” 

“But I was told…” 

“And I am telling you something else.” 

As the secretary lays down her pile of papers she thinks to herself, “If this is what the boss is like, do I really want to work here?” 

The daughter never invokes the father’s name. But she acts, and reflects who he is.  

Consider the opposite possibility. The daughter brings a Danish to Bert, the guard. She assumes he has no time for breakfast and he might enjoy something to eat since he arrives at his post early. She offers to assist the secretary laden with papers. She engages the people. Through kindness and acts of service she raises the happiness level of the whole company. 

She never raises the father’s name. But she reflects his heart.[ii] 

We may not be the boss or the CEO. But we represent the boss—the God revealed in Jesus. We have the greatest task there is: to make sure that others think highly of our God. We represent the heart of God. That heart has a servant’s profile. 

A COMMITMENT TO SACRIFICE 

The second feature of a truly Christian nation would be a commitment to sacrifice. It’s not easy to talk about sacrifice today; it’s not popular. But part of the Christian walk includes some sacrifice. 

A lot of sacrifice has been present in our history. Sacrifice was needed to thwart the evils of Hitler’s Third Reich during World War II. Less than a month ago we observed the 60^th anniversary of D-Day, when thousands of American young men stormed the beaches of Normandy. Once more we saw the row upon row of white crosses in that area. 

I learned a bit about sacrifice as a boy during World War II. I don’t remember the details, but I know there was rationing of sugar and meat and gasoline. I also recall that that rationing seemed to come willingly, gladly, patriotically, even spiritually. 

But sacrifice has all but disappeared from our vocabulary. There is very little attention to sacrifice in the nation right now. President Bush says, “Our work in Iraq has been hard.” But most of us have not been asked to sacrifice, have we? Only a few have paid the price. The editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote recently, “The rich pay little for freedom.”[iii] Her words bother me a great deal. 

A woman wrote of her experience as a visitor in a church. After the congregation sang a patriotic hymn, she was stunned to hear the senior minister pray these words: “O Lord, be with our president, our country, our military. We pray for peace in the world—we really do—but not at the expense of our way of life.”[iv] 

At first she said she felt ill. But then she decided he was at least being honest. Don’t we all want peace, as long as it’s not at the expense of our way of life? 

If we were truly a Christian nation—a nation under God—a nation under the God revealed in Jesus—there would be a regular call for voluntary sacrifice. 

And that leads to a third characterization. 

A PASSION FOR PEACE 

There would be a real commitment to peace. We would do everything we could to resolve conflicts peacefully. 

I recently learned something that I did not know. For the first four centuries—for the first 400 years—of Christianity, there was a commitment to total pacifism. A Christian was not allowed to fight in wars. In fact, for the first 400 years, a soldier could not be baptized. 

I had no idea this was the case. I’m certainly not advocating this at all. But it is a part of our faith history. As Christians, we always lament the need for violence. The fourth century bishop, Saint Augustine, is the primary architect of something called a “Just War” theory. You may have read about it some recently in relation to the Iraq war. Augustine said there are times when a just war may be acceptable to the Christian. But he also believed that war was essentially an occasion for remorse. He wrote, “The wise person will wage just wars, but even the possibility of war should cause humans sorrow.”[v] 

President Harry Truman once said, “God forbid that I should claim for our country the mantle of perfect righteousness. We have committed sins of commission and sins of omission, for which we stand in need of the mercy of the Lord.”[vi] In a Christian nation there is a passion for peace. 

So there you have it—at least as I see it! There would be a passion for servanthood, for sacrifice, and for peace. All three of these would constitute a nation fully committed to Jesus Christ. 

So where does this leave us? What role does the church play? What is the role of a faith community within this nation? What role do you and I play? 

We have the greatest task there is: to make sure that others think highly of our God. We represent the heart of God. 

Take this with you into your world this week. Take this with you as you observe this Independence Day. Consider this: God is making God’s own appeal to the nation through us! Through you and through me! We are the heartbeat and the intent of the Creator in this free land.