Today, we celebrate our
independence. It’s important to remember that we are celebrating not our
individual independence but our independence from England. As a colony of Great
Britain, we had been under military occupation and were unfairly and
oppressively taxed without representation or vote.
Our democracy is still taught
in England as a “rebellion” and “revolution” against the monarchy – an ancient institution
which, of course, is revered in that country. It is believed that the monarchy
is endowed by God with royalty.
It is no surprise then, that Thomas Jefferson
wanted the new citizen of the new nation to know that they, too, were endowed
by their Creator, he wrote, “with certain inalienable rights” which are “life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness” – divinely confirmed royalty for the
common man and woman.
Of course, it was a rebellion and a revolution. We wanted our independence from
the monarchy, from military occupation and from our taxes supporting a foreign
power.
There are so many similarities between the story of the beginning of this nation and the story of Jerusalem during the time of Jesus. The Israelites were also a colony of Rome. They, too, were under military occupation. And, they, too were unfairly and oppressively taxed without representation or vote.
The rebellion fomented by Jesus was very different, of course. It was a rebellion of love and hope. It was a revolution of healing and possibility. It was a call not to independence but rather to interdependence and mutuality, a call to a vocation to find strength in themselves, in each other, in community.
For Jesus, the prophets were his Founding Fathers. The Lord’s Prayer was his Declaration of Independence. The Beatitudes were his Constitution.
It ought not to be a surprise to us then, that the founding document of this nation begins with the words, “We the people.” WE. The. People. Neither should it be a surprise that the motto of this nation is “E pluribus unum” – “Out of many, one.”
Unity was the vision of Jesus. It is still the vision of our life together in Christian community we call “the church”. That everyone is welcome here – no exceptions. That, especially as Anglicans who are Episcopalians, we believe in the tolerance of differences; we seek always to find “The Via Media” – “The Middle Way”.
You can hear Jesus do that
when he tells the seventy who had returned that they didn’t need to worry if
people couldn’t/wouldn’t receive their message – kick the dust from your sandals
and move on, he said. And, while it was wonderful that they experienced success,
there was something even more important: “Your names are written in heaven,”
said Jesus.
At this time in our country when
we have never been more divided, it is critically important to remember our
independence as a nation and our interdependence as a community. WE. The. People.
We have a President – not a Monarch, a King or Queen. I hope you remember that as
a nation, we are “one out of many,” and as Christians we are called to unity
within ourselves, with each other and with God – to be one as God and Jesus are
one.
May we hold all of this in our hearts as we struggle with the tensions in our lives – among neighbors and friends and family – and may we be inspired in the knowledge that, no matter what happens, whether we succeed or fail, whether we win or lose, whether we’re Blue or Red or Purple, when we do the work of God – healing the sick, feeding the hungry, giving shelter to the homeless, visiting the lonely and those in prison – our names, too, are written in heaven.
Amen.
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