Isaiah 43: 16-19
Thus saith
the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea,
and a path in the mighty waters;Which bringeth forth the chariot
and horse,
the army
and the power;
they shall lie
down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as
tow. Remember ye not the former things,
neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall
spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness,
[and] rivers
in the desert.
The American Creed,
This
new nation was, as the founders knew, an experiment. Like all experiments, it started with a
precept, a “given” – in this case a set of truths so rock-ribbed and essential
that they were deemed “self-evident.”
Truth cast in language that, in turn, spells out the truth for
succeeding generations deserves to be called a creed. So it is with Thomas Jefferson’s preamble to
the Declaration of Independence. The
faith of a nation is captured in its words, words that distill a mission while
investing future citizens with a sacred charge.
Capturing the essence of the American experiment, the
American Creed affirms those truths our founders held self-evident: justice for
all, because we are all created equal; and, liberty for all, because we are all
endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights. American’s fidelity to this creed is judged
by history. Living up to it remains a
constant challenge. But it invests our
nation with spiritual purpose and – if we honor its precepts – a moral destiny.
SERMON
Last
week we talked about how to look for meaning through the life experience of the
individual. Today we will talk about how
to look for meaning through the life experience of a nation.
The
cultural legend that the Liberty Bell was rung to herald the signing of the
Declaration of Independence is historically inaccurate. Although it symbolizes political freedom, the
Liberty Bell was actually rung in
The
Declaration’s signing being witnessed to by church bells is a powerfully
telling symbol of the relationship in this nation between faith and
freedom. Church and state may be
conceived of in this country as independent powers, but they are not
unrelated. Political freedom is not the
result of a political revolution or of a particular government or leader, for
its roots are religious. Faith is not
oblivious to the real life demands for liberty and justice for all in a
democracy. The bond between faith and
freedom is as a covenant that is religious in nature but pragmatically
political in effect. The origin of
political freedom in this country is religious.
And religious faith and belief has been deeply affected by the demands
of the free public square.
Englishman
G. K. Chesterton described our country as a “nation with the soul of a
church.” Politicians know this, and so
they trot out God, the Bible, conversion, and their yarmulke, to display to the
voting public the depth of their personal faith. And they sling school prayer, faith-based
monies, school vouchers, abortion and choice, gay marriage at each other and us
to create a political identity so that voters will think they know the faith of
the candidate they’re choosing. If the
soul of our nation is in its deep, religious-like devotion to political
freedom, then I think the inability or unwillingness to discern the line where
faith ends and politics begin is the sin within that soul.
Evidences
of this abound. We read political choices
religiously. President Bush declares God
to be on our side in a speech coinciding with the beginning of the war with
This sin - of our inability or unwillingness to discern
the line where faith ends and politics begin - yields a kind of cynicism
whenever a politician does talk about personal faith. It cannot be
but disingenuous; a ploy to appease or win voters. We are left with attempting to gauge the
extent of a politician’s faith based upon the appearance of sincerity. She appears sincere so she must be as
religious as she says; or, we ignore the idolatry of declaring God favors us by
claiming that the speaker is just speaking from his heart about his faith. Or, we dismiss someone else’s faith as
hypocritical or irreligious because their political views differ from our own.
* * * * *
Our
country has origins in religious views.
The sanctity of the individual, the sanctity of reason, the
pronouncement that political rights have their origin in a God who made all
persons, these are views that our liberal religious forbears held in the
century that produced this country.
Thomas Jefferson, who best embodied these Enlightenment ideas, was not a evangelical or even conventional Christian in his time,
despite the claims in 21st century evangelical pulpits. But these ideas would have remained in the
realm of ideas had it not been for popular fervor and passion for liberty. The ancestors of our evangelical brethren planted
the fervor and faith and hope that political freedom offered at our country’s
beginnings. It could be said that the
mind of this country came from the forbears of
So
you can see how discerning a line between where faith ends and politics begin
is not only an issue of our time. It is
the issue that has defined the lifeblood of our country. The struggle is in our soul as a nation. It may be something of the same struggle in
your own soul. Where does faith end and
politics begin in my own thoughts and ideas?
It requires knowing something of your faith, and something of your
politics, independent from one another.
The soul of any one of us is as conflicted as the soul of the
nation! It’s part of our identity as
Americans! The soul of our nation is the
temptation to hold political views religiously; and conceive of our religion
politically. No wonder it is so
difficult to negotiate one’s way through the minefield of modern life!
But
what the life of our nation has taught about this struggle in its very soul, is of the human propensity to mistake our human
declarations for God’s design. When our
forbears started religious communities organized not by creed but by covenant,
they did so as a recognition that religious creeds and
doctrines were human in their origin and should not be mistaken for God’s
beliefs and designs. When our country’s
originators started this nation they broke up power amongst a legislature, a
judiciary, and an administration that no one part or individual would ever
mistake their opinions for divine fiat.
The temptation of this will to power as my opinions are God’s views, could be mitigated politically by balancing
power. And our greatest theologian may
have been President Abraham Lincoln, because his political actions and policies
were judged by their origin in faith. He
did not govern by declaring God’s purposes were ours such that God is on our side. But sacrificed his politics and the political
actions of our nation upon the altar of his own incomplete humanity and
admitted ignorance; that is, upon humility.
Speaking of both sides in the midst of the Civil War Lincoln declared:
Both read the
same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the
other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's
assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let
us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered.
That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.
And
it is this humility that is the basis of a love from which justice and freedom
can spring:
With malice
toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us
to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the
nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his
widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and
lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
* * * * *
The
bond between faith and freedom that forms the center of this religious
community is like unto that of the nation.
It is like a bond of union between two persons that forms all kinds of
families in our world. It is a
covenant. It is religious in nature
because it calls every individual within that bond to a humility concerning
one’s own belief and conviction, and a love for all souls that is the basis of
freedom and justice. It is pragmatically
political in effect in that it is no dreamy ideal that one can hold far away
from the influence and experience of others.
We actually have to bump into one another and exist together in public
arenas like worship, something we call walking together. Because of our peculiar religious history,
which has placed us at the center of the origin and maintenance of political
freedom, the soul of this religious community is intertwined with the soul of
this nation, as long as this nation is devoted to the divine struggle for
liberty and justice for all. When any
politician declares God to be on the side of the intent and actions of this
nation it is our responsibility to remember the bond between faith and freedom. It is not then our responsibility to lift up
quizzically the query as to God’s existence, for the bond of faith and freedom
has pragmatic political effects to which we must hold our leaders
accountable. Instead we need ask if this
is what the Creator of freedom would have us do to extend liberty and justice
to all souls. And it is not our
responsibility to hear a politician pronouncing God’s pleasure with us, and
retreat into a hearty self-congratulation that is oblivious to the ways that we
fall short of creating real world liberty and justice. When any politician mentions God, it is not
our responsibility to declare openly and loudly the certainty that God is on
our side. It is our responsibility to
hope fervently and pray continuously and humbly that we might be on God’s
side. These are responses and actions
that fashion the love from which justice and freedom can spring.
In
1777 as the British began marching on
Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will do a new thing; now it is
springing forth; shall ye not know it and see it? I even make a way in the wilderness, and
rivers in the desert.
AMEN.