1 Corinthians 12:12-14
"Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many."
Interdependence Day
It’s crazy how easily we get sidetracked from Holy days by holidays, and how quickly we can smother our central identity in Christ with other identities such as our national identity. The Fourth of July is one of those holidays that is a little tricky for those of us who are Christian, these peculiar people of God whose kingdom is “not of this world.” While we want to celebrate the many freedoms and opportunities we have in these United States, we also want to be people that are honest about history, who lament the places where our country and government and founding fathers have fallen short of God’s Dream. .. so without being a real prude or “anti-American” stick-in-the-mud, we want to try to remember the history of this country well on July 4 (and every day) — the good and the bad. That doesn’t mean we can’t have some serious fun on July 4. We might as well take advantage of the chance to be with neighbors and family, and to have work off. But above all, we want to remember that our deepest allegiance and identity run deeper than our nation. And that may take some creativity to remember with all the fireworks popping and national anthems playing.
Now, many of us have created alternative Fourth of July celebrations like many people do on Halloween, to make sure we teach our kids truth and Jesus. Don’t get me wrong — as Jesus’ people we need to be people who know how to celebrate and party. It’s just that our fireworks may be a little different; they may happen on Pentecost. And our heroes are not war heroes, but heroes of the Cross, folks who have died as Jesus did, loving their enemies. We want to remember that our Bible does not say “God so loved America,” but that “God so loved the world”. It would do us well as we gather around the barbecue pits today with family and friends and pop fireworks and celebrate our “independence” as Americans, the land of the free and the home of the brave, to remember that real freedom...true freedom, our freedom as Christians, comes not from governments but from God’s life-giving gift in Jesus Christ…
Now, in all seriousness, The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. From my earliest childhood, I have loved the parades, outdoor grilling, and fireworks. But more than that, I love the marching bands and music of the day—"The Star Spangled Banner," "God Bless America," and anything by John Philip Souza. It is a day to celebrate our land and its freedoms.
Still I'm not one to join God and country too closely. I believe that theocracy is dangerous for nations and religions alike. Theocracy is a form of government in which a state is understood as governed by immediate divine guidance especially a state ruled by clergy, or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided. But these national holidays—and not just the U.S. holidays—bring out our deepest feelings of gratitude and love for our land, and hopefulness. They are not just celebrations of geography or opportunities for flag-waving; they are also occasions for reflection and even confession of the dissonance between reality and aspiration in our national life.
All countries are imperfect and ambiguous and the U.S. is no exception. We have high ideals and often dismal realities. We have often responded too slowly to the challenges of the moral arc of history. We have proclaimed the equality of humankind and defined some persons as non-human, unworthy of self-determination, equality, or loving relationships. We have affirmed the quest for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and condemned some persons, based on the accidents of economics, ethnicity, or sexuality, to lives of misery, duplicity, and limitation.
When I look up in the sky as the bottle rockets, tube bombs, sparklers, and roman candles scream into the night, I am reminded of Christ’s inclusive love. Gun powder, oxygen, and a simple spark creates an explosion where a myriad of colors light up the sky. Green, purple, red, gold, blue, and any other color you can image fill up the night. These colors always seem to fold together, to combine into one. Some of you might be asking yourself, “and how does all that remind him of Christ’s love?” I’ll tell you. I am a firm believer that Christ died on the cross for everyone. Christ died for Osama bin Laden, Sadam Hussein, you, and me. Christ had no exceptions to the rule. Now some people seem to be ok with this. It usually leaves a sour taste in their mouth, and sometimes a lump in the stomach, but all in all, they can’t disprove this. It’s when I usually bring up people who are not like us, gays and homosexuals that I start getting the looks, as I am now. Yes, Christ died for those people too. That’s a subject that not many accept. Well friends, I will tell you that Christ loved all people. Not a single person is undeserving of Christ’s agape love. For too long I have seen the effects of racism plague our way of thinking. For too long we have built walls that define who we think we are. For too long those walls have kept us divided. Christ was at work in this world breaking down the walls. John 4 is becoming my favorite selection of scripture. It is the perfect, on the money example of what I am preaching. Jesus reverses, breaks, and changes the normal way of doing things. He invites, loves, and cares for the people who are not so lucky in life. It’s not about you, Jesus comes to tell us, but about the Kingdom of God, where all of God’s people love in Glory with the Father.
At Annual Conference this year I was asked to wear this stole. Some of you have asked what it means… The stole represents the Reconciling Ministries Network. The Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) is an organization dedicated to the inclusion of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in both the policy and practices of the United Methodist Church. It is one of many Welcoming Congregation organizations to emerge in American Christianity in the 1980s.
Since 2009, the mission of RMN has read, "The Reconciling Ministries Network mobilizes United Methodists of all sexual orientations and gender identities to transform our church and world into the full expression of Christ's inclusive love." Several of us, clergy and lay persons alike, could be found on the conference floor with this stole. I find truth in wearing this stole. When I put this stole on, I become the outcast, I become the Samaritan woman at the well. I become the one no one wants to talk to. Who shall I rely on? I shall rely on my God and my Savior, the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit who loves all persons.
Out of the 502 United Methodist Congregations in Louisiana there is one Reconciling Congregation, St Mark’s UMC in New Orleans, La. Its membership in 2003 was 27. 27 people out of the thousands of United Methodists in Louisiana are a part of a church whose missions is to love all of God’s people. How truly blessed those few people must be.
Jesus never lived the comfortable life. He never associated himself with the religious crowd. His disciples came from all over, they were carpenters, fishermen, lawyers, tax collector, they were men, and speculators say that some were women, they were gay, and they were straight. The one thing that unified them was the love of their Savior Christ Jesus.
While gratefully singing our National Anthem this Fourth of July, we might also join in singing "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land" as a call to affirm all the peoples of our land and an inspiration to truly seek liberty and justice for all.
This year, we will sing the traditional patriotic hymns and we will honor those who have served our nation in war, but we should also sing hymns of peace, and add peace crusaders and justice seekers to our hymns of gratitude for this great land. God bless America! God bless all the earth's peoples! Happy Interdependence Day! Let us pray…
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