The Soul of Our Nation

 In this very political season, it is wise to remember who we are and what we stand for. We in the church of Jesus Christ are Christians before we are Democrats or Republicans; and we have an obligation to lift our voices in support of the values that we hold dear. This sermon will explain in more detail what I mean by that.

When I visited Norway a few years ago, I visited the home of composer Edvard Grieg. While I was there, I enjoyed a piano concert of Grieg’s music. It was a real treat for a music lover like me! Norwegians say that Grieg’s music embodies the soul of their nation. That’s because Grieg was a master at capturing experiences in his music. His quiet, lyrical pieces recall the sunlight falling on the long-awaited, first green grass of spring. The low, deep chords in some of his compositions reflect the mysterious depth of the fjords, and the darkness that covers Norway during their long, cold winters. And when you listen to his composition “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” you can’t fail to picture the fabled trolls of Norway frolicking in their mountaintop caves with their knit hats and their long beards. From a spring morning in Norway to the gloom of a mountain cave, Grieg captured it all.

It got me to wondering: what music embodies the soul of our United States? We have a huge country to capture! What music reflects all of that? We might choose the music of the American west. When we sing “Home on the Range,” we remember the sturdy pioneers who helped to settle the West; and when we listen to Grofé’s “Grand Canyon Suite,” we picture the vastness of that awe-inspiring natural wonder. But we might choose something very different: the music of Stephen Foster, for example. We hear “Way down upon the Suwanee River,” and we think of the Old South with its plantations and cotton fields. The world-renowned Kentucky Derby always plays one of Stephen Foster’s compositions, “My Old Kentucky Home,” just before the horses begin to race. Other folks would remind us that we can’t forget our cities; and they might choose the music of George Gershwin: “Rhapsody in Blue,” perhaps. Its wailing clarinet and syncopated rhythms reflect both the sophistication and the quirkiness of New York City. And on the Fourth of July, surely we would all agree that the marches of John Philip Sousa capture the soul of an America that is afraid of nothing! Who can hear “The Stars and Stripes Forever” without getting a few goose bumps of pride that we are Americans?

There are lots of choices when we think about music that embodies the soul of our nation. We’ll probably never agree on just one; and that’s OK, because we are a vast, diverse nation both in natural resources and in our people! But whatever the soul of our nation may be, no one can dispute that the church of Jesus Christ has helped to make it what it is. That’s good to remember in this election season. We tend to think that politicians have shaped the soul of our nation; but Christians are, and have always been at the heart of our country. We Christians are not (and should not be) a political group. We are, as this morning’s scripture describes us, “a royal priesthood, a holy nation… the people of God” (I Peter 2:9-12). But the church of Jesus Christ has always influenced our nation for good. Our own soul – the soul of a church that is loyal to Jesus Christ above anything else – has helped to shape the soul of our nation into something that we can point to with pride.

The United States, for example, is one of the most generous nations in the world. If you consider how many Americans donate money to a charity, volunteer their time, or offer help to complete strangers, we rank 5th in generosity in the world! That figure was generated by the World Giving Index and published by the Charities Aid Foundation after a survey of 195,000 people in 153 countries worldwide. That generosity didn’t just appear. It is a result of our Christian heritage that has taught us to help others. We all know the story of the Good Samaritan who stopped to help a stranger in need (Luke 10:25-37); and we take that story seriously. We donate our money, our time and our possessions; and our generosity has worked its way into the soul of our country. I, for one, am proud that it has.

There’s something else that makes me proud: the fact that our country considers all people to be equal under the law. We all know what the Declaration of Independence says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It sounds very much like the book of Galatians that says: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for all are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). We Christians don’t believe that anybody is better than anybody else. A white man who is the CEO of a Wall Street investment firm is no better than a poor black girl who lives in the inner city. God created all people equally in the divine image. Now, we don’t always do very well in putting that into practice. It’s easy to fall into the trap that “we” are better than “they” are, especially in this day when Americans are so divided and disagree on so many things! But throughout our history, Americans have fought for the rights of not just a few, but everyone; and I am proud of that.

We Americans have a long tradition of hospitality, too. We have welcomed millions of immigrants over the 241 years of our history! They have come from England, Ireland, and Wales; from Germany, Denmark, and Norway; from Italy and Greece and Russia; from India and Laos and Cambodia; from Syria and Lebanon and Jordan; and I haven’t even begun to name all the countries in Africa that were home to millions of slaves who were brought here against their will! We are a country of people who originally came from someplace else; and America has always welcomed those strangers. Inside the base of the Statue of Liberty is a plaque containing a poem by Emma Lazarus. I’ll bet that you are familiar with its final lines: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door! That’s what we do, we Americans, we welcome people; and that hospitality is part of our Christian heritage, too. The book of Hebrews gives us this advice: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2) We are a country whose arms have always been open wide to welcome those people who needed a welcome the most; and I am very proud of that.

Generosity, equality, hospitality. We Christians helped to put these virtues into the soul of America. Since our country was founded, they have been part of the cornerstone of who we are and how we do things. They are so much a part of our country that we take them for granted! But we Christians can’t stop proclaiming them; because some Americans want us to forget them. Some people are unbelievably greedy, like the character in the 1987 movie Wall Street who believed that “Greed is good.” We Christians need to keep proclaiming generosity. Some Americans are full of prejudice. They look down on anyone who isn’t just like they are, whether those people are women, homosexuals, or people of color; and they want the laws of our land to reflect their prejudices. That’s why we Christians need to keep proclaiming equality. And some Americans are afraid. Because they are afraid, they want to close our borders to people who aren’t just like we are. Is that protection of our own citizens or prejudice against foreigners? I don’t know the answer to that, and time will sort it out. What I do know is that our scriptures tell us to practice hospitality, and we Christians are called to encourage it.

Our country isn’t perfect. All of us know that, especially during these difficult days! But with God’s help – and with our Christian witness – things can get better! During this very political season, as we ponder who we will support when we go into the privacy of the voting booth, I invite you to pray for our country; and then to think seriously about what we can do to improve it. Remember the words of John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” It’s what we’re called to do, as good citizens – and as good Christians.