Is there a time for the flag to be in the church? Is there a time when the flag should not be in the church?

Let us Pray - Nurturing God - we do not live by bread alone but by
every word that comes from your mouth. Make us hungry for this
heavenly food and pour it down upon us - that the words of my lips and
the meditations of our hearts may draw us closer to thee and lead us
to walk in the way of life. Amen

“Who is your neighbor?” That is the question from Wednesday's Bible Study that we have been contemplating this week. Jesus answers this question in the 10th chapter of Luke by telling a story of a Samaritan man who helps out an ambushed traveler that was all but ignored by his fellow Jewish countrymen. The short of it was that your neighbor is not only the person in the house next to yours, but includes the person who comes from a completely different culture and mindset than you do. While the Jewish law and custom was based on making the Jews a people separated apart from the rest of the world, Christ's commandments, as we read them today, were about shaping a new people without borders.

Paul, in Galatians 3:28 puts it like this, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

So, with this in mind, all Saint's Sunday is always a rather peculiar day for the Church in America. It falls on the first Sunday after November 1st which is usually before the 1st Tuesday in November.

In other words, the one day that the church sets aside to celebrate citizenship in heaven usually falls two days before the one day that emphasizes one's citizenship in America, namely election day.

It is interesting that the 1st Chapter of the Book of Ruth is the Old Testament text this week. We didn't read it this morning because I don't see the point of reading only one chapter of a four chapter book. So, I am asking all of you to please take 10 minutes of this coming week and read Ruth. It is a beautiful story.

Naomi is a God fearing woman living in a foreign land who endures the deaths of her husband and two sons. She decides that she is going to move back home to Bethlehem, and one of her daughters-in-law, Ruth, decides to go with her to this foreign place. She is a Moabite, absolutely despised by the Jews. So, God in God's infinite sense of humor makes Ruth the grandmother of the greatest king of Israel, David. But it gets even more awkward, because, according to Matthew's genealogy in chapter 1, Ruth is the (24 greats) grandmother of Jesus, the one who came to fulfill the law. There is clearly a tension that runs throughout the Old and New Testaments between the chosen people and the stranger, between one's citizenship and identity with Israel or Rome or Greece or any other country and the Kingdom of God. Not necessarily a conflict, but definitely a tension.

A tension not unlike the one we find ourselves in today, when we celebrate the entrance into heaven and one of the freedoms that makes us distinctly American.

A friend of mine told me that it might be helpful to more fully explain the tradition of why we don't display the flag in church during the Christmas and Lent seasons and during baptisms. And in a day marked with such tension, it seems like an appropriate time to explain.

First, lets look at why, if “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” we do display the flag the other 10 months of the year.

We believe in a God who committed the scandal of particularity. A God who chose to become a human at a specific time, in a specific place, as part of a specific culture. An embodied God. Namely, a God who chose to become part of the household of a working class, Jewish carpenter, in a remote outpost of the Roman Empire about 2000 years ago. That is a mind-boggling act in itself. God did this so that the great chasm between humanity and divinity could be bridged. As one of the ancient fathers, St Athanasius (one of my favorites, by the way) said, “God became man so that we might become God.” If that doesn't get you out of bed and onto your knees on a Sunday morning, nothing will.

In the history of the church, there have been many who have tried to gloss over this scandal of particularity. For example, St. Athanasius was speaking against the gnostics who believed that God didn't become human, but just sort of pretended. That Jesus didn't die on the cross, but that he disappeared from the body right before the moment of death, switching souls with poor Simon. All of these revisions of Salvation history were designed to allow the gnostics to believe that God was above the world and never really a part of it, so that they could hide from the world and not really be a part of it.

But the reality is, we are in the world. Each of us is embodied in a specific body, with specific characteristics, in a specific country, in a specific state, in a specific town, in a specific household. We may not be of the world but we are very much in it. When we enter the doors of a church, we bring in who we are in all of our particularity. In a town like Franklin Grove or Ashton, that means that we are more than likely Americans. Not just accidental Americans, but proud Americans. People who believe and are dedicated to the statement that,

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish (and now uphold) this Constitution for the United States of America.”

As Christians in America, we are called to use our Christian lens, our Christ-like way of looking at the world, in order to uphold these notions of justice, tranquility, peace, welfare, and liberty. No, when we enter in through the doors of a sanctuary, we do not check our true selves in at the door. We come in order to praise God for the blessings that we experience out there. We come in for the fuel of God's Word struggled through in community. As the hymn, “Gather Us In” reminds us,

"Not in the dark of buildings confining; Not in some heaven light-years away, but here in this place the new light is shining. Now is the Kingdom, now is the day."

In other words, us being Christians means that we are Kingdom builders. The flag is here to remind us that right worship is not about us, but about what we can do in the world in the name of God. The flag reminds us of a call for what we learn here to be spread throughout every aspect of our lives out there. It affects how we treat our neighbors, how we raise our kids, and with elections coming around the corner, it should remind us how we are to vote. If you are a legislator who professes to be Christian, it should affect how legislate.

Ann and I went to go see Cardinal Francis George and others talk about Christianity in America and he said something that just really shocked me. Cardinal Francis George, one of the most prominent Catholics in the country said something along the lines that, in general, he didn't vote for Catholics in elected office, senators and whatnot. And his reason for this is shocking when you think about it. He said that ever since JFK, Catholics who aspire to elected office feel compelled to show the world that they are not really that Catholic. A person may have strong beliefs on something like the value of an unborn child's life, but then vote in favor of an abortion bill in order to show that they are not too Catholic. It's madness. Really.

We have the flag in the sanctuary so that we can be protected from such madness. That we can be reminded that this is not some ivory tower where what happens in here does not affect what happens out there, but that what happens in here shapes what happens out there. This nation needs God and it needs God now. We need God in our government, we need God in our schools, and we need God in our homes. There is nothing wrong with voting for someone because they are Christian and will promote Christian values.

Now, I'm not talking about someone who can talk the talk and then use his Christianity as a club with which to oppress a certain group of people because it is politically convenient. We have plenty of fat cat opportunistic so-called Christians in government and their hypocrisy just gives a bad name to the rest of us. But we need people who would honestly consider what Jesus would be calling them to do.

There is a corny catchphrase we hear a lot. 'You can't legislate morality.' What does that even mean? Porn should be easily accessible because “You can't legislate morality.” Teenagers should be able to have their brain development altered, literally, by Internet gambling and the compulsions and devastation it brings because, “You can't legislate morality.” Abortions should be cheap and easy because... anybody, “You can't legislate morality.” But, what is legislation? Legislation is the articulation of what you can and cannot do. Legislation is the articulation of what you can and cannot do. And what is morality? Morality is the articulation of what you can and cannot do. We have the flag in the church so that artificial separation of what goes on in here and what goes on out there might be destroyed. Don't be all godly in here and then walk out there like in here and out there are two different places. The flag reminds us of these responsibilities.

Now, why don't we have the flag in the church during Christmas, Lent and baptisms?

First and foremost, because the church needs times in the cycles of our lives to remember to be church. The church needs to be reminded of its foundations

There needs to be certain times when the church is called to her true identity. There has not been a single era in the history of Christianity when the church hasn't been behind evil things, very often the most evil things of a given time period. The French and English crusades of the 10th and 11th centuries, a senseless world war that killed a larger percent of the planet than any other. The Spanish Inquisition. Martin Luther's defense on the German government killing peasants. The early Calvinists in America burning innocent women who they claimed to be witches. The German Protestant church's silence before the Nazis.

Each and every one of these instances is an example of the church forgetting who she was and becoming a tool for a corrupted state. It is so easy for a state to be corrupted, but it should be harder than it is for the church to become a. tool of a corrupted state.

My family on my Dad's side is German. We Germans have a lot to be proud of. At the turn of the last century, we were shaping philosophy with Kant, Schopenhauer, Heidegger, Husserl and Nietzsche. We were changing the structure of music with Wagner and Hans Pfitsner, we changed architecture with Mies van der Rohe and Fritz Shumacker. We changed theology with Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth and Friedrich Schleiermacher. We had cool last names like Schleiermacher.

But the legacy of Germany in the first half of the 20th century are none of these brilliant people. And so the question that I found myself returning to throughout seminary was, how? How could a country that was a Christian majority end up doing what can arguably be called the most horrific acts against humanity in the history of the world? What happened? Well, Chancellor Hitler was democratically elected March 6, 1933, after running on a campaign of what he called “Positvie Christian values” against Communism, pornography and homosexuals and which used Christ's teachings as evidence for the elimination of the Jews.

And the church, for the most part, was silent. Dead silent. There were a few dissenters, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth for example, the former who was killed by the Nazis for, amongst other things, refusing to allow Swastikas in church. But for the most part, the church was silent. The church forgot how to be church.

Now please, don't leave here today telling everyone that the pastor said that America is going to vote for Hitler. That is not the point of my bringing up these instances in the history of the church. The point is to show how, over and over again during the past 2,000 years the church has forgotten her foundation and was co opted by the culture. In the time of Paul, it was people wanting to worship God, but hedge their bets with the Roman idols on the side. In the time of Athanasius, the church was getting mighty cozy with the Emperor Constantine and so on – always, with great regret.

But even if this wasn't the case. Even if the church was squeaky clean for the past 2000 years, it would still be appropriate to have times when we declare that God is God. That we focus like a laser beam on the one thing in this universe that matters. This [flag] is not some decoration with a cool asymmetrical design and a bold tri-color pattern that has rigid horizontal elements juxtaposed by jagged star-shaped ones. That is how the artist Jasper Johns looked at it. It is a powerful symbol of 200 years of struggle toward freedom and justice. It includes in its imagery the blood of death offered by those who were willing to give everything for it. It includes in its presence the steps forward, backward, and forward again that this country has taken in the quest of liberation from tyranny. The Judge that I worked for, the Chief Federal Judge of the 1st Circuit Court, William Young in his final words of the sentencing of Richard Reid, better known as the 'shoe bomber' said this,

“See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this case is forgotten. That flag still stands for freedom. You know it always will. Custody, Mr. Officer. Stand him down.”

I wasn't there, but I have seen him give plenty of sentences and I can just picture his face get red and then purple with passion as he leaned over the bench. And in private conversations with Judge Young, he told me how much he cared about the flag and how we would accept no substitutes like images on t-shirts, bumper stickers and coffee mugs. Because it is a powerful symbol that shouldn't be cheapened.

In short, the flag is a powerful symbol that should scream all of the good values of this country to you. But there is a higher power. Long after this country has disappeared, like all other cultures of the past have, God will still be God. To make an analogy to sound, the “Star Spangled Banner” may be a fine song, but it is not appropriate to sing it when the organist is playing “Amazing Grace”. When a person is being baptized, the country that they happened to be born in is not the focus. The water. The cross. The individual. These are the foci.

When Christ was born in Bethlehem, the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of 'Peace on Earth and Good Will to All' was held in this little God-child. The focus is on God's gift to the world, not to a particular country at a particular time.

When Christ died on the cross, the ultimate gift to humanity was given. The complete redemption of God's people from slavery and bondage caused by sin was wiped away clean. This is worth reflecting upon without other distractions.

Despite whatever Hitler might have said, Jesus was a Jew. He affirmed his Jewish identity in every way. He went to the synagogues, he practiced the passover, he exalted the Jewish Scriptures. But nonetheless, he felt that there were times when he had to set that aside for a moment to show us the bigger picture.

A Jewish scribe, a teacher of the law, asks Jesus which of the commandments of God was first of all - most important of all. You know, was it how to eat right, how to pray right, how to worship right, how to celebrate the holidays right? What?

Jesus' answer is this...

"Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love
the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind, and with all your strength - and - you
shall love your neighbor as yourself"

And again, who is your neighbor. The stranger, the non-Jew, the non-American. Jesus puts the most important thing- the foundation of all of the law and the prophets on this universally applicable statement, and the Scribe affirms it.

"You are right teacher.... this is much more important than all
whole burnt offerings and sacrifices"

In other words, this is more important than all of the symbols of faithfulness that our people have. And then Jesus recognizes the wisdom of the scribe and says to him, as he says to no other teacher of the law, to no other scribe that we have record of in this book:

"You are not far from the kingdom of God"

What interesting words these are...

“You are not far from the kingdom of God”

Not, you are a good Jew, but...

.“You are not far from the kingdom of God”

There are times when it is appropriate to take on the responsibilities and the privileges of being a citizen of a country. Jesus did so and so shall we. Jesus spent a large part of his time talking to his own people about things that were of particular interest to them- things that we from a different time and place read and say, “huh?” This Tuesday is one of those times where we take on such responsibilities. The fact that less than half of Americans can be bothered to take 15 minutes out of there day once every two years is despicable. It's is a wasteful disregard of what so many have died for and what the flag, at its best, represents. It is a dismissal of our embodied natures, the fact that God chose to bring us to this time and place and has given us the freedom to choose our destinies. So please vote.

But there are other times when our perspective changes from human things, to divine things. When we acknowledge that we are but sojourners in a strange land. That this world, this country, this town, this family is not our home, but merely a rest stop on the way to glory. As Christians, we affirm that this place is but a blink of an eye in eternity- not to be squandered for sure, but not to be given more than its due either. As soon as we enter too far in one camp or the other, we are committing heresy, either by denying that we are embodied creatures in a particular time and place or by effectively renouncing our citizenship in heaven. As Christians we recognize that we “Are not far from the kingdom of God.” As Christians, there are times when we must take the step that Ruth took, the one that took her away from her home country and into God's providence.

When we take communion this morning, we are affirming that we are a part of something bigger than geography, that we are a part of the Body of Christ. This is an affirmation that we remind ourselves during Christmas, Easter and baptisms. It really isn't a big deal, a statement against the country or anything like that. It is simply a paring down to the one important thing. God's grace offered freely through Jesus Christ. Amen?