Independence Day, July 4

Independence Day, July 4
Lessons: Psalm 33 / 107:1-32; Ecclesiasticus 10:1-8,12-18; James 5:7-10; / Micah 4:1-5; Revelation 21:1-7

I looked down the street here at my brother's beach house and noticed all the buntings and flags waving in the early morning breeze.  The red, white and blue stands out against the crisp air and morning sunrise sky. I feel American, tinged with pride and hope. Is that how we all feel who pause for a moment in this land of our birth or adoption?  I wonder.

I had dinner recently with someone who said he was an atheist.  I thought but did not ask (my bad as they say) are you truly one who believes in the non-existence of God, an atheist, or are you simply not sure, an agnostic. He was after all quite young. The difference is significant as are the implications.  The first works from a void of first causes on which principles are founded.  The second is unclear of those first principles resting on God and yet can make room for those who hold God as the first principle.  These differences are important to notice.

The founding fathers (and overlooked mothers) were not all orthodox Christians as one often assume.  Beyond differing denominations, there was a strong Deist movement at that time that some Christians held.  Deists believe in God yet do not hold to the divinity of Jesus as key to our understanding of God.  Jefferson for instance edited his bible of things he found unbelievable like the healings in the Gospels and the birth narratives.  When the Episcopal Church sought to separate from the Bishop of London and England there was strong intention to drop the creeds and Lord's Prayer from our first Prayer Book.  They remain however because the bishops in Scotland who offered to consecrate our first bishop and set us free, were not Deists and required they be left in.  So when we look over our shoulder at the founding of this nation on July 4, it is important to see how complex we were even then.

That given, those of us who pray and hold to faith through this tradition will hear some of our first principles as a nation embedded in the scripture we are offered this day.

"Sovereignty passes from nation to nation on account of injustice, and insolence and wealth.  The beginning of man's pride is to depart from the Lord; his heart has forsaken his maker.  For the beginning of pride is sin, and the man who clings to it pours out abominations." Ecclesiasticus 10:8,12-13.

The vision here is that power moves by God's design from those who act unjustly and pridefully and from a base of greed.  There are more implications than "Bye, bye King George."  The pride spoken of here is forgetting God's generosity in the gift of life, creation and nation.  When we forget this original generosity, we may well forget to live generously with each other, having an eye to the care of those less blessed with wealth, health and hope.

James reminds us that we are to "be patient...establish your heart for Christ's coming...Do not grumble...that we may not be judged." Implied is that we are to work toward a unity reflective of God whom we know in Christ, like the unity between Christ's teachings and God's being.  This is of course a vision for the Church and yet it might well be a vision for a nation striving to reflect space for God as a first principle.  Too often people of faith and politics forget to listen deep enough to offer this unity to us all or so it seems to me.

The lessons for Evening Prayer today (those after the '/') ask us to then move to a final vision of the product of this life united under God. It is a nation seeking not war but prosperous living through the unity found in patient living, where we look to each other's well being. It embraces the idea that we will not all worship the same God (Micah 4:5), but we will walk with respect for each other.  Those of "orthodox" faith will lead the way to this place of peace.  Revelation paints a vision of a second earth and heaven we strive to live worthily enough to inherit.  It is a place where God's held values are core, peaceful, charitable, at our heart.  This caring life will wipe away injury, hopelessness, death, as deep unity is sought. 

Vision is what drives any enterprise to success.  Thus it is important for us annually to stop and pray for this enterprise we call the United States of America from the place of God's vision and our care.  If it is to reflect God's vision it will be based on some first principles that will include justice, care, a generosity reflective of God, a concern to not be prideful but purposeful.  And it will forgive as we move to deeper understanding of God's hope for us each and all.  It will also not require uniformity of belief but hope that each person will have the space to discover what is deeper than agnosticism.

Happy vision day, happy 4th of July.