“JESUS THE PATRIOT”
Community Presbyterian Church - Deerfield Beach, Florida - July 4, 2010
(Holy Communion and U.S. Independence Day) 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 8:30 & 10:30 a.m.
Scripture: Deuteronomy 28:1-9; Psalms 147, 90 (metrical); I Peter: 2:11-17; Luke 13:31-35.
Community Presbyterian Church - Deerfield Beach, Florida - July 4, 2010
(Holy Communion and U.S. Independence Day) 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 8:30 & 10:30 a.m.
Scripture: Deuteronomy 28:1-9; Psalms 147, 90 (metrical); I Peter: 2:11-17; Luke 13:31-35.
When
I served my pastorate in Morganton, North Carolina, one of the
congregation’s elders was Sen. Sam Ervin, retired from the U.S. Senate
and, by that time, world famous for his leadership during the so-called
Watergate crisis. (Incidentally, one of his best friends was
another Presbyterian elder, Sen. Howard Baker, of Tennessee, who
happened to sit on the opposite side of the aisle, being an old-style,
Lincolnesque, southern Appalachian Republican, rather than a Democrat,
like Sen. Sam. But that was in the 1970s, when Congress seemed to
work in a cooperative, bipartisan manner, unlike today!)
Some years before his death, in a speech at Davidson College, Sen. Sam made this remarkable statement about the U.S.A.: "Our greatest possession is not the vast domain, it’s not our beautiful mountains, or our fertile prairies, or our magnificent coastline. It’s not our great productive capacity. It is not the might of our army or navy. These things are of great importance, but in my judgment, the greatest and most precious possession of the American people is the Constitution."
Friends, today, on this 234th birthday of our nation, think with me briefly about the Constitution. Thank God for the work of those delegates from the thirteen original states who gathered in Philadelphia during that long, hot summer of 1787, meeting in what is today called Independence Hall, to draw up this remarkable document! You know, for many years, some folks, noting the similarity between the government of the U.S.A., as set forth in the Constitution, and that of the Presbyterian Church, have tried to argue that the drafters of the Constitution deliberately intended such. These folks point to the fact that James Madison, the so-called “Father of the Constitution,” though a nominal Anglican Virginia gentleman, nevertheless, had majored in philosophy at Presbyterian Princeton—and even lingered around, after he earned his diploma, to continue to study under its president the Rev. John Witherspoon. And thus Madison came to appreciate our church’s government -- particularly its safeguards and its representative nature.
But in all honesty, no one can establish any such direct link between Presbyterianism and the U.S. constitutional republic. Instead, the connection is indirect. Yes, by 1787 the principles of Calvinism had so penetrated the English-speaking world, that the drafters of our Constitution, whatever their religious denomination, had thoroughly absorbed them. Indeed, most British and Americans had come to cherish such ideals as liberty of conscience, the pervasiveness of human sin and greed, the divine importance of covenants, and the priceless worth of every human being as a bearer of God’s image! Yes, this indirect Calvinistic influence better explains the similarity between our Presbyterian polity and U.S. government.
Just look, for example, at how the drafters built in checks and balances against human dishonesty and greed by setting up separate executive, judicial, and legislative branches. They knew that, in the words of Jeremiah, “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt” (Jer. 17:9). Awhile ago I mentioned the Watergate scandal. Indeed, no Presbyterian -- no real American, for that matter -- should have been surprised by Watergate, or by any OTHER, much more recent, incident of greed, dishonesty, crime, or immorality in high places. That’s just human nature SHOWING itself!
Yes, WHERE (pray, tell!) would we be without checks and balances? THANK GOD that the Constitution recognizes our human propensity for sin! NO ONE and NOTHING in this world is PERFECT! Simply to realize that is good Americanism. Why, friends, the Constitution itself, marvelous as it is, when it was WRITTEN 223 years ago, was FLAWED FROM THE START! Indeed, the original Constitution justified slavery! It counted every black slave to be only three-fifths of a human being, as far as representation in the U.S. House of Representatives is concerned! And the Constitution regarded women as no real citizens at all, for they had no right to vote! And American women, as a whole, wouldn’t enjoy that right until 1920! Yes, it took the painstaking process of Constitutional amendment to correct this document’s built-in flaws.
No, the Constitution isn’t perfect. But you and I still love it. The U.S.A. isn’t perfect, but we love her despite her flaws. Isn’t that patriotism at its very BEST? Just look, for example, at the patriotism that Jesus displays in our Gospel for today, from Luke, chapter 13. Tears fill his eyes here -- perhaps a little like your own tears tonight, after dark, as you, like me, watch the red, white, and blue FIREWORKS exploding above your beach and the ocean.
But, you know, Jesus’ patriotic tears in our lesson don’t stem from pride but from sorrow. If you don’t believe me, just listen to his lament here: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!!”
How much Jesus loves his nation -- especially the holy capital of Jerusalem – home of the sacred temple, center and source of all that’s dear to him! And yet Jerusalem REPEATEDLY has rejected those whom God has sent to her! The people have tolerated no criticism of their nation. They’ve mobbed and tortured and murdered the very prophets whom God has sent to warn them! And even now, Jesus, as he utters this cry of patriotism, knows that he’ll surely be their next victim! Yes, HE HIMSELF soon will suffer torture and death at the hands of people who, ironically, claim they’re acting in the name of patriotism!
Yet Jesus still LOVES Israel, and is so ready to forgive! “JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM!” he cries, “THE CITY THAT KILLS THE PROPHETS AND STONES THOSE WHO ARE SENT TO IT! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Incidentally, here we have one of the Bible’s feminine metaphors for God, along with its many masculine images, in both Old and New Testaments.)
Yes, friends, true patriotism always means love of country despite its faults. “Love is blind,” declared both Chaucer and Shakespeare. But Chaucer and Shakespeare were dead wrong! Blind love is no real love at all-- or, rather, it’s terribly immature love! If you really love your spouse, you don’t just overlook her or his faults; you love your spouse despite those very visible faults. And you honestly admit that you yourself have your own faults! Yes, and you try to correct those faults -- first YOURS, and then your SPOUSE’S! No, blind love -- love that ignores sin and failings -- is dangerous IDOLATRY!
Some years ago I was passing through Kaiserslautern, Germany, an industrial city between the Rhine and Saar rivers. That evening, after checking into my hotel, I walked around the streets of that ancient settlement dating from Roman times and still bearing the name “Caesar” (“Kaiser” in German). Sadly, I noted that the entire Stadtmitte, or CENTER of the city, had been destroyed by the bombs of World War II. And MOST of the buildings there all seemed post-war, stark, hastily thrown up in a rather tasteless 1950s style. Near the Kaiserslautern Rathaus, or City Hall, I came across a monument -- with some words, inscribed, of course, in German, on it. The monument had been crafted, paid for, and erected by the citizens. And as I slowly translated, in my mind, the text, they moved me deeply: ‘TO THE CITY OF KAISERSLAUTERN -- SACRIFICED TO FASCISM, 1933-1945.”
You see, because the citizens, at that time, had cried, “GERMANY ABOVE EVERYTHING! -- ABOVE EVEN GOD;” because they’d, by and large, with some brave exceptions, of course, gone along with mad dictator Adolf Hitler, who promised them the MOON; because their German patriotism had been no real patriotism at all, but idolatry -- their glorious, ancient Kaiserslautern had been BLOWN to SMITHEREENS!
But, in all honesty, don’t some AMERICANS display something of this same idolatrous spirit? Some of us remember those awful bumper stickers: “AMERICA--LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!” they proclaimed. And the implication was that anyone who dared offer even constructive criticism about the U.S.A., and especially anyone who questioned specific foreign policy, wasn’t really patriotic at all, but a traitor, worthy of being indicted for treason – or worse!
HOW MUCH BETTER were those bumper-stickers that declared, instead: ‘AMERICA--LOVE HER AND MAKE HER BETTER!” That’s the kind of patriotism that Jesus displays here in our Gospel -- a patriotism of tears -- tears not only of pride but of sorrow over the collective sins of the nation.
Tell me, what’s the most patriotic single act that you, as a Christian, can perform? What deed will prove in the greatest possible way your love for the U.S.A.? Is it to go to war when she calls, no questions asked? Is it to lay down your life for our country, as did the Rev. James Caldwell and his wife Hannah, of Elizabethtown, N.J., during the Revolution? Today, young American servicemen and servicewomen are bravely sacrificing their lives for you and me, in the Middle East, on a regular basis.
But, friends, as important and commendable as giving ones life for ones country is, it’s not ENOUGH! No, the most patriotic action you can do, bar none, is to share the love of Jesus Christ with your fellow Americans - -and ESPECIALLY with those who may not know that God loves them! It’s to share Christ’s love even though they may not be able, at the time, to UNDERSTAND it. It’s to share Christ’s love with people of EVERY kind -- even those who, in the name of patriotism or of religion, may despise YOU and despise Christ!
I SAY this in part because of my personal encounter with a HATE group in California, about ten years ago. (And please let me APOLOGIZE to those of you whom I’ve already TOLD about this! But it so horrified me that I can’t help but repeat it this morning.) I was on my way to the huge arena of the Long Beach Convention Center, for the glorious opening service of worship for our church’s 212th General Assembly, in June, 2000. For two hours thousands of Christians, from all over the world, would be inspired by moving liturgy, rousing hymns, a heartfelt sermon by the retiring moderator (an elder), and by the massed choirs of scores of churches from throughout that part of Los Angeles and Orange counties, accompanied by an orchestra, huge organ, and liturgical band.
But, as I approached the arena, from blocks away, I could SEE members of the hate group -- picketers with bright orange, red, and glow-in-the-dark green signs that proclaimed (and pardon my having to quote these, some of the mildest of them): “FAG CHURCH!” “GOD HATES FAGS!”
Later I learned it was the same group, headed by a fundamentalist preacher in Kansas City, who had demonstrated at the funeral of young Matthew Shepherd, brutally murdered in a hate crime in Wyoming a year earlier. And they're the same group who, amazingly enough, show up even today at the funerals of brave American service personnel, who've given their lives in the Middle East, and carry the same signs and bellow the same obscenities! HORRIFIED that someone would dare do this while claiming to act in the name of the CHRIST, I walked up to a woman carrying one of the sign sand said quietly to her, but in no way suggesting that I agreed with her, “God bless you.”
And she replied with a snarl, “I don’t want YOUR blessing! You’re going to HELL!”
But, friends, I knew that the very First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protected this woman’s right to BE there, to carry that SIGN, repugnant as it was, and to hate ME as well as gays and lesbians and the transgendered. And, deep down inside, I knew that Christ LOVED this woman, misguided as she was -- and the preacher whom she follows (and who was bellowing his lungs out, calling down wrath and brimstone on us Presbyterians) -- even though they may not REALIZE Christ's loves them despite their blindness and ignorance.
Christ loves YOU AND ME today, despite OUR OWN dim vision and sin, just as he loved Israel despite ITS faults. And he cries once again to us, and to America, on this Independence Day, “I WANT SO MUCH to gather (you) as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. . . .”
Tell me, just how patriotic ARE you?
PRAYERS:
Mighty God: the earth is yours and nations are your people. Take away our pride, and bring ever to our minds your goodness, so that, living together in this land, we may enjoy your gifts and be thankful.
For clouded mountains and bright seashores, for fields and woodland; for lakes and running streams; for all that makes our nation good and lovely; we thank you, God.
For farms and villages where food is gathered to feed our people; for cities where we talk and work together in factories, shops, and schools to shape those things we need for living; we thank you, God.
For explorers, planners, researchers, governmental leaders; for prophets who speak out, and for silent faithful people; for all who love our land and guard freedom, including those who, this very day, may be in danger; we thank you, God.
And for vision to see your purpose hidden in our nation’s history, and courage to seek it in sisterly and brotherly love exchanged; we thank you, God.
Lord, your justice is like rock, and your mercy like pure, flowing water. So, in your mercy, judge and forgive us. If we have turned from you, return us to your way; for without you we are lost people.
From brassy patriotism and a blind trust in power: from public deceptions that weaken trust; from self-seeking in political places: deliver us, O God.
From divisions among us of class or race; from wealth that will not share, and poverty that feeds on food of bitterness; from neglecting rights; from overlooking the hurt, the imprisoned, and the needy among us: deliver us, O God.
From a lack of concern for other lands and peoples; from narrowness of national purpose; from failure to welcome the peace that you promise on earth as it is in heaven: deliver us, O God.
Eternal Lord: before you nations rise and fall; they grow strong or wither by your design. Help us to repent our country’s wrong, and to choose your right in reunion and renewal. Give us a glimpse of the Holy City you are bringing to earth, where death and pain and crying will be gone away; and nations gather in the light of your presence.
Teach us peace, so that we may plow up battlefields, pound weapons into building tools, and learn to talk across old boundaries as brothers and sisters in your love. Talk sense to us, so that we may wisely end all prejudice, and put a stop to cruelty that divides or wounds the human family. Draw us together as one people who do your will, so that our land may, indeed, be a light to nations, leading the way to your promised Kingdom, which is coming among us.
All wise God: long years ago you gave our parents this land as a home for the free. Show us that no law or liberty can exist apart from you; and let us serve you modestly, as devoted people.
Finally, O God, bless your Church throughout the earth, particularly this congregation of your people, and those represented here today. Guide the elder and minister commissioners who meet this week in Minneapolis in the 219th General Assembly, that your will alone may be done through them.
Sustain and deliver all those who today are in need — particularly those who bow in this holy place this morning; heal the sick, comfort those who mourn. Make us ever aware of that host of your saints who have walked before us in the way of your Son, until we, too, join them and him in heaven.
For we make these and all our petitions in Christ’s strong name. AMEN.
Some years before his death, in a speech at Davidson College, Sen. Sam made this remarkable statement about the U.S.A.: "Our greatest possession is not the vast domain, it’s not our beautiful mountains, or our fertile prairies, or our magnificent coastline. It’s not our great productive capacity. It is not the might of our army or navy. These things are of great importance, but in my judgment, the greatest and most precious possession of the American people is the Constitution."
Friends, today, on this 234th birthday of our nation, think with me briefly about the Constitution. Thank God for the work of those delegates from the thirteen original states who gathered in Philadelphia during that long, hot summer of 1787, meeting in what is today called Independence Hall, to draw up this remarkable document! You know, for many years, some folks, noting the similarity between the government of the U.S.A., as set forth in the Constitution, and that of the Presbyterian Church, have tried to argue that the drafters of the Constitution deliberately intended such. These folks point to the fact that James Madison, the so-called “Father of the Constitution,” though a nominal Anglican Virginia gentleman, nevertheless, had majored in philosophy at Presbyterian Princeton—and even lingered around, after he earned his diploma, to continue to study under its president the Rev. John Witherspoon. And thus Madison came to appreciate our church’s government -- particularly its safeguards and its representative nature.
But in all honesty, no one can establish any such direct link between Presbyterianism and the U.S. constitutional republic. Instead, the connection is indirect. Yes, by 1787 the principles of Calvinism had so penetrated the English-speaking world, that the drafters of our Constitution, whatever their religious denomination, had thoroughly absorbed them. Indeed, most British and Americans had come to cherish such ideals as liberty of conscience, the pervasiveness of human sin and greed, the divine importance of covenants, and the priceless worth of every human being as a bearer of God’s image! Yes, this indirect Calvinistic influence better explains the similarity between our Presbyterian polity and U.S. government.
Just look, for example, at how the drafters built in checks and balances against human dishonesty and greed by setting up separate executive, judicial, and legislative branches. They knew that, in the words of Jeremiah, “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt” (Jer. 17:9). Awhile ago I mentioned the Watergate scandal. Indeed, no Presbyterian -- no real American, for that matter -- should have been surprised by Watergate, or by any OTHER, much more recent, incident of greed, dishonesty, crime, or immorality in high places. That’s just human nature SHOWING itself!
Yes, WHERE (pray, tell!) would we be without checks and balances? THANK GOD that the Constitution recognizes our human propensity for sin! NO ONE and NOTHING in this world is PERFECT! Simply to realize that is good Americanism. Why, friends, the Constitution itself, marvelous as it is, when it was WRITTEN 223 years ago, was FLAWED FROM THE START! Indeed, the original Constitution justified slavery! It counted every black slave to be only three-fifths of a human being, as far as representation in the U.S. House of Representatives is concerned! And the Constitution regarded women as no real citizens at all, for they had no right to vote! And American women, as a whole, wouldn’t enjoy that right until 1920! Yes, it took the painstaking process of Constitutional amendment to correct this document’s built-in flaws.
No, the Constitution isn’t perfect. But you and I still love it. The U.S.A. isn’t perfect, but we love her despite her flaws. Isn’t that patriotism at its very BEST? Just look, for example, at the patriotism that Jesus displays in our Gospel for today, from Luke, chapter 13. Tears fill his eyes here -- perhaps a little like your own tears tonight, after dark, as you, like me, watch the red, white, and blue FIREWORKS exploding above your beach and the ocean.
But, you know, Jesus’ patriotic tears in our lesson don’t stem from pride but from sorrow. If you don’t believe me, just listen to his lament here: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!!”
How much Jesus loves his nation -- especially the holy capital of Jerusalem – home of the sacred temple, center and source of all that’s dear to him! And yet Jerusalem REPEATEDLY has rejected those whom God has sent to her! The people have tolerated no criticism of their nation. They’ve mobbed and tortured and murdered the very prophets whom God has sent to warn them! And even now, Jesus, as he utters this cry of patriotism, knows that he’ll surely be their next victim! Yes, HE HIMSELF soon will suffer torture and death at the hands of people who, ironically, claim they’re acting in the name of patriotism!
Yet Jesus still LOVES Israel, and is so ready to forgive! “JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM!” he cries, “THE CITY THAT KILLS THE PROPHETS AND STONES THOSE WHO ARE SENT TO IT! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Incidentally, here we have one of the Bible’s feminine metaphors for God, along with its many masculine images, in both Old and New Testaments.)
Yes, friends, true patriotism always means love of country despite its faults. “Love is blind,” declared both Chaucer and Shakespeare. But Chaucer and Shakespeare were dead wrong! Blind love is no real love at all-- or, rather, it’s terribly immature love! If you really love your spouse, you don’t just overlook her or his faults; you love your spouse despite those very visible faults. And you honestly admit that you yourself have your own faults! Yes, and you try to correct those faults -- first YOURS, and then your SPOUSE’S! No, blind love -- love that ignores sin and failings -- is dangerous IDOLATRY!
Some years ago I was passing through Kaiserslautern, Germany, an industrial city between the Rhine and Saar rivers. That evening, after checking into my hotel, I walked around the streets of that ancient settlement dating from Roman times and still bearing the name “Caesar” (“Kaiser” in German). Sadly, I noted that the entire Stadtmitte, or CENTER of the city, had been destroyed by the bombs of World War II. And MOST of the buildings there all seemed post-war, stark, hastily thrown up in a rather tasteless 1950s style. Near the Kaiserslautern Rathaus, or City Hall, I came across a monument -- with some words, inscribed, of course, in German, on it. The monument had been crafted, paid for, and erected by the citizens. And as I slowly translated, in my mind, the text, they moved me deeply: ‘TO THE CITY OF KAISERSLAUTERN -- SACRIFICED TO FASCISM, 1933-1945.”
You see, because the citizens, at that time, had cried, “GERMANY ABOVE EVERYTHING! -- ABOVE EVEN GOD;” because they’d, by and large, with some brave exceptions, of course, gone along with mad dictator Adolf Hitler, who promised them the MOON; because their German patriotism had been no real patriotism at all, but idolatry -- their glorious, ancient Kaiserslautern had been BLOWN to SMITHEREENS!
But, in all honesty, don’t some AMERICANS display something of this same idolatrous spirit? Some of us remember those awful bumper stickers: “AMERICA--LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!” they proclaimed. And the implication was that anyone who dared offer even constructive criticism about the U.S.A., and especially anyone who questioned specific foreign policy, wasn’t really patriotic at all, but a traitor, worthy of being indicted for treason – or worse!
HOW MUCH BETTER were those bumper-stickers that declared, instead: ‘AMERICA--LOVE HER AND MAKE HER BETTER!” That’s the kind of patriotism that Jesus displays here in our Gospel -- a patriotism of tears -- tears not only of pride but of sorrow over the collective sins of the nation.
Tell me, what’s the most patriotic single act that you, as a Christian, can perform? What deed will prove in the greatest possible way your love for the U.S.A.? Is it to go to war when she calls, no questions asked? Is it to lay down your life for our country, as did the Rev. James Caldwell and his wife Hannah, of Elizabethtown, N.J., during the Revolution? Today, young American servicemen and servicewomen are bravely sacrificing their lives for you and me, in the Middle East, on a regular basis.
But, friends, as important and commendable as giving ones life for ones country is, it’s not ENOUGH! No, the most patriotic action you can do, bar none, is to share the love of Jesus Christ with your fellow Americans - -and ESPECIALLY with those who may not know that God loves them! It’s to share Christ’s love even though they may not be able, at the time, to UNDERSTAND it. It’s to share Christ’s love with people of EVERY kind -- even those who, in the name of patriotism or of religion, may despise YOU and despise Christ!
I SAY this in part because of my personal encounter with a HATE group in California, about ten years ago. (And please let me APOLOGIZE to those of you whom I’ve already TOLD about this! But it so horrified me that I can’t help but repeat it this morning.) I was on my way to the huge arena of the Long Beach Convention Center, for the glorious opening service of worship for our church’s 212th General Assembly, in June, 2000. For two hours thousands of Christians, from all over the world, would be inspired by moving liturgy, rousing hymns, a heartfelt sermon by the retiring moderator (an elder), and by the massed choirs of scores of churches from throughout that part of Los Angeles and Orange counties, accompanied by an orchestra, huge organ, and liturgical band.
But, as I approached the arena, from blocks away, I could SEE members of the hate group -- picketers with bright orange, red, and glow-in-the-dark green signs that proclaimed (and pardon my having to quote these, some of the mildest of them): “FAG CHURCH!” “GOD HATES FAGS!”
Later I learned it was the same group, headed by a fundamentalist preacher in Kansas City, who had demonstrated at the funeral of young Matthew Shepherd, brutally murdered in a hate crime in Wyoming a year earlier. And they're the same group who, amazingly enough, show up even today at the funerals of brave American service personnel, who've given their lives in the Middle East, and carry the same signs and bellow the same obscenities! HORRIFIED that someone would dare do this while claiming to act in the name of the CHRIST, I walked up to a woman carrying one of the sign sand said quietly to her, but in no way suggesting that I agreed with her, “God bless you.”
And she replied with a snarl, “I don’t want YOUR blessing! You’re going to HELL!”
But, friends, I knew that the very First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protected this woman’s right to BE there, to carry that SIGN, repugnant as it was, and to hate ME as well as gays and lesbians and the transgendered. And, deep down inside, I knew that Christ LOVED this woman, misguided as she was -- and the preacher whom she follows (and who was bellowing his lungs out, calling down wrath and brimstone on us Presbyterians) -- even though they may not REALIZE Christ's loves them despite their blindness and ignorance.
Christ loves YOU AND ME today, despite OUR OWN dim vision and sin, just as he loved Israel despite ITS faults. And he cries once again to us, and to America, on this Independence Day, “I WANT SO MUCH to gather (you) as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. . . .”
Tell me, just how patriotic ARE you?
PRAYERS:
Mighty God: the earth is yours and nations are your people. Take away our pride, and bring ever to our minds your goodness, so that, living together in this land, we may enjoy your gifts and be thankful.
For clouded mountains and bright seashores, for fields and woodland; for lakes and running streams; for all that makes our nation good and lovely; we thank you, God.
For farms and villages where food is gathered to feed our people; for cities where we talk and work together in factories, shops, and schools to shape those things we need for living; we thank you, God.
For explorers, planners, researchers, governmental leaders; for prophets who speak out, and for silent faithful people; for all who love our land and guard freedom, including those who, this very day, may be in danger; we thank you, God.
And for vision to see your purpose hidden in our nation’s history, and courage to seek it in sisterly and brotherly love exchanged; we thank you, God.
Lord, your justice is like rock, and your mercy like pure, flowing water. So, in your mercy, judge and forgive us. If we have turned from you, return us to your way; for without you we are lost people.
From brassy patriotism and a blind trust in power: from public deceptions that weaken trust; from self-seeking in political places: deliver us, O God.
From divisions among us of class or race; from wealth that will not share, and poverty that feeds on food of bitterness; from neglecting rights; from overlooking the hurt, the imprisoned, and the needy among us: deliver us, O God.
From a lack of concern for other lands and peoples; from narrowness of national purpose; from failure to welcome the peace that you promise on earth as it is in heaven: deliver us, O God.
Eternal Lord: before you nations rise and fall; they grow strong or wither by your design. Help us to repent our country’s wrong, and to choose your right in reunion and renewal. Give us a glimpse of the Holy City you are bringing to earth, where death and pain and crying will be gone away; and nations gather in the light of your presence.
Teach us peace, so that we may plow up battlefields, pound weapons into building tools, and learn to talk across old boundaries as brothers and sisters in your love. Talk sense to us, so that we may wisely end all prejudice, and put a stop to cruelty that divides or wounds the human family. Draw us together as one people who do your will, so that our land may, indeed, be a light to nations, leading the way to your promised Kingdom, which is coming among us.
All wise God: long years ago you gave our parents this land as a home for the free. Show us that no law or liberty can exist apart from you; and let us serve you modestly, as devoted people.
Finally, O God, bless your Church throughout the earth, particularly this congregation of your people, and those represented here today. Guide the elder and minister commissioners who meet this week in Minneapolis in the 219th General Assembly, that your will alone may be done through them.
Sustain and deliver all those who today are in need — particularly those who bow in this holy place this morning; heal the sick, comfort those who mourn. Make us ever aware of that host of your saints who have walked before us in the way of your Son, until we, too, join them and him in heaven.
For we make these and all our petitions in Christ’s strong name. AMEN.