Rethinking Independence Day

NYC street

Rev. Molly F. James

DFMS Noonday Prayer via Zoom

July 2, 2020 (Propers for Independence Day)

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. And may that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

If any of you are friends with Byron Rushing on Facebook or are members of the big Episcopal groups on Facebook, you know that he makes an annual reminder during this week of the year that we ought to think carefully about how we pray on Independence Day. If you look at the Collect for today, it talks about the founders winning freedom for “us.”

It says, “Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.”

Byron rightly reminds us that the Collect seems to just gloss over and skip the fact that when the founders won liberty, there was a huge portion of the population who were still in bondage. The Collect neglects to mention the fact that at the same time those “founders” won their freedom from England, they also decided that every slave in America only counted as ⅗ of a person. That fraction ought to horrify us. There is no way to spin that to make it okay. No way to say, “Well, what they meant was . . .” Think back to your basic math lessons or when you use a measuring cup in cooking. There is no way that ⅗ is equal to one whole. No way whatsoever. 

But actually keeping our focus on condemning our founders for their inadequate actions by our standards is not helpful. It is not helpful, because we cannot go back and rewrite history. And even more so, it is not helpful because it makes it easy for us to focus on the failings of the past, rather than the problems of the present. If we focus on the past, we might even try to pretend that the realities of freedom and liberty have been won, and there is no work for us to do now.

Well, my friends, if any of us who are white had fooled ourselves into thinking that the realities of liberty and freedom that we know so well were indeed universal among American citizens, I don’t know how we could still think that. The events of recent weeks have shown us that the “progress” of the Civil Rights era or the fact that a black man has held the highest office in the land do not mean that our work is done. Not at all. The truth has been laid bare that we have so far to go. We can see how we have failed, and we can see how much work we have ahead of us. 

So what do we do with this reality as we remember Independence Day this year? It is worth noting that Independence Day is not just a secular, national holiday. It is also a Church holiday. 

This is because the founding of this nation and the founding of the Episcopal Church are inextricably linked. As the American Colonies fought and declared independence from Britain, so too did our Church. In fact, many of the democratic principles that govern our own national government - the principle of checks and balances, the principle of elected leadership, the principle that says the average person gets to have a say in how they are governed - are all principles that our also present in the Constitution and rules that govern the Episcopal Church.  Just the way that no one gets to be a Senator or President without a lot of people thinking its a good idea - neither does someone get to be a bishop in the Episcopal Church without a lot of people thinking it is a good idea!  The democratic ideals held sacred by the founders were also enshrined in the governance of the Episcopal Church. 

I wonder if we might find some hope in those principles and ideals. While we who represent the power and privilege of institutions and structures that have perpetuated the realities of white privilege have to repent of the past and chart a new course for the present and the future, that course does not mean condemning all that has come before us. The principles that guide the governance of our Church (and our nation) are holy and good ones. The problem is not with the principles themselves, it is that we have failed to ensure that they are universally applied.

There is a lesson for us in all of this.  Not only are we to hold on to the love of freedom and liberty that lies at the core of this nation and our Church.  We are to hold on to the call - in our history and in our faith - to never weary of doing what is right.  We do not shy away from speaking the Truth or from speaking up and amplifying the voices of those who have spent far too long on the margins of our Church and our society. If we encounter resistance, we do not give up.  We shake the dust off our feet, and we move on.  We keep on trying.  We keep on speaking up until the message is heard. 

Those immortal words about the God given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were penned 244 years ago, and we know that there are still many places in our Church, in our communities, in our country, and in our world, where the light of liberty does not shine.  Far too many voices have gone unheard by those in power.  We cannot keep silent, and we cannot grow weary.  We are asked to do what is right.  We are asked to stand up for what we believe in - even in the face of any adversity.  We are asked to speak up when we see injustice. We are asked to notice who is not at the table where important decisions are made and how we might change that reality.  This may mean taking political action to work for a cause that is dear to your heart and our faith.  It may mean big and loud actions.  But it may also mean the simple act of not being afraid to speak up when someone makes a comment that is insulting to another person or group.  Being a voice for freedom, for liberty, for justice doesn’t necessarily have to mean speaking to a national audience.  There is great value in remembering and reminding others that we Christians are called to seek and serve Christ in all persons.  The principle of equality that is a part of this nation is also at the heart of our faith. 

So as we celebrate Independence Day, may we honor the principles we have inherited, and commit ourselves to using the gifts we have been given to work toward ensuring that the ideals of freedom and liberty are not limited to the few, but universally applied to all people. May we use our voice and whatever power we have to build a future that realizes God’s dream, God’s kingdom for all.  AMEN. 

Christ the King

Mosaic in Hagia Sophia

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford, CT

Christ the King, November 25, 2018

2 Samuel 23:1-7; Psalm 132:1-13 (14-19) ; Revelation 1:4b-8;John 18:33-37

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Collect for today prays that we “may be freed and brought together under [the] most gracious rule” of Jesus, who is “king of kings and lord of lords.” It is a beautiful image to think of all humanity unified under one gracious and benevolent ruler. An image that seems impossible and like a fairy tale in our current reality where we are more profoundly aware of all that divides us. It seems naive to talk of unity. And what does it mean for us as Americans, who prize our democracy to talk of having a king?

I think we Americans have an interesting relationship with monarchy. On the one hand we are fascinated by it. Note how much news coverage the British Royal family gets on our TV networks and in our magazines, even when our Presiding Bishop isn’t preaching. Or even note how he is still referred to by the news media as the Royal Wedding Preacher. We are fascinated by royalty. And yet we are adamant in maintaining our democratic and republican principles in our government. We have not forgotten the words of the Declaration of Independence, that long list of grievances written to a far off king who, the founding fathers believed, had overstepped his bounds and abused his power. To be an American is to believe in the principle of self-governance, to believe that “We the people” have a right to have a say in how we are governed and by whom.

So, how do we reconcile our identity as Americans and our identity as followers of Jesus? Well the easy way out would be to say that all this talk about Jesus as King is not about the here and now, so we can just chalk it up to dreams for the future. This would be easy to do. Our reading today is from the book of Revelation, a book that is all about the end times, If Jesus is only going to become our king in the Eschaton (big, fancy, Christian word for the end of the world as we know it), then we don’t have anything to worry about. The American Nation and the Eschaton won’t exist at the same time, so there is really no conflict.

We could do that, but I think that doing so keeps us from doing some important reflecting on the role Jesus has in our lives now. Given the political realities of our world, it does not make sense to think of Jesus becoming a literal “king,” at least not in the way we understand monarchy here on earth. Although, from what we know of Jesus, our loving, merciful Lord, it is tempting to wish he would hurry up and become King of the World. Clearly he would do a far better job of governing us than we seem to do for ourselves.

So, what does it mean on a personal level for each of us to speak of Jesus as our King, as Lord of our lives? And yes, that is what we all agreed to do at our baptisms. We agreed to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Now, we could easily spend a whole semester on the person of Jesus, his identity as the Christ and the Son of God and what that means for us. Much ink has been spilled and will continue to be spilled by Christian writers over the centuries. But I know that one of the things many of you appreciate about me is the brevity of my sermons, so I will just focus on two aspects of Christ as King of our lives. The first is priorities and the second is trust.

I believe that setting Christ as the center, as the king of our lives means that we will have our priorities straight. If our focus is on Christ, on what it means to be a follower of Jesus, then everything else falls into place. It means that we keep our focus on what really matters in life. We keep our focus on the central Commandments of loving God and loving our neighbor. Jesus reminds us that living and acting with love is who we are called to be.

I had the privilege of hearing our Presiding Bishop preach the week before last at a meeting of various Commissions and Task Forces of The Episcopal Church. He reminded us that if it is not about Love, it is not about Jesus. Indeed. Walking the Way of Love, having Jesus as the center of our lives, means that Love becomes the lens through which we view everything. Whenever we are trying to make a decision, whenever we are wondering how to respond to someone else’s action, we have a simple question to ask: “What is the most loving thing we can do in this situation?” If it is not about Love, it is not about Jesus. Love must be the guiding principle of our lives.

If Love is central to our lives. If that is what guides us. If we can keep our focus there, then we will not be sidetracked by all the temptations of this world that would like us to put our focus elsewhere. This is an especially important reminder as we enter the holiday season, a time when we are inundated by messages about how our lives will be complete if only we buy a new gadget or a new car. At this time of year especially, it is so very easy to be tempted to think that the focus of our lives ought to be the acquisition or the giving of lots of material goods. We can be tempted to let our lives be governed by our to do lists or our internal list of “shoulds” to create a perfect holiday. That is a futile road to go down that will no doubt lead to disappointment and failure. Again we come back to the reality that Jesus is and must be the King, the Lord, the Ruler of our lives.

And this brings us to our second aspect of having Jesus as our King: Trust. And this can be trickier than it sounds. On the surface, it might be easy to say, of course we trust Jesus. I mean, he is Jesus after all. But even here, human temptations can get in our way. Having Jesus as our King means a rather significant power differential and that can make us wary. We are far too used to stories of how secular and religious leaders have abused their power. We are quick to list off leaders who have treated their subjects harshly. We point to our own Declaration of Indepence. As Americans and students of history, it is very easy to come up with a list of why monarchy is bad, and we would be wrong to trust in the leadership of a king. And this is where we must make a very important distinction. Jesus is not like any other king. Jesus is Jesus. He is not interested in earthly power or dealing with some internal sense of inadequacy that prompts him to belittle others, so that he can build himself up. Jesus is Jesus. His way is the way of Love. And the only way it will work for us to be true followers is for us to trust his leadership in our lives. We have to be willing to give up our own egos, our own desire for power or accolades. We have to remember where our priorities are. We have to remember who is the center, who is the leader of our lives.

Living with Jesus as the King of our hearts and Lord of our lives is not easy. I fall short of it on a regular basis, and yet I am continually inspired to keep striving toward that goal. To keep focusing on the Way of Love and to trust in his leading. I am inspired because I have experienced the freedom and the joy that come in those moments when I am able to get it right. It may seem counter-intuitive to say that freedom comes from submission, but indeed it does. For in submitting ourselves to Christ we are putting aside all that does not serve us. We are getting out of our own way. We are removing the stumbling blocks to our own flourishing.

So as we move into Advent, I invite you to think about where your priorities are and how you might be able to more fully trust Jesus as the Lord of your Life. Prepare a space for him in your heart and in your life, for living a life with Christ at the center is a blessing beyond our imagining. AMEN.