Sermon for 7 Pentecost

Sermon for 7 Pentecost, Proper 9-A

July 3, 2005

St. Luke’s Church, Jamestown, NY

Eric M. Williams

What an absolutely glorious weekend to celebrate Independence Day!

What a joy and a privilege to gather as free members of this great nation

to remember and give thanks for the blessings of liberty--

especially as we worship today, for the freedom of religion.

We take that freedom for granted in America

and it is easy to forget how rare that freedom is in human history

and even today in many places in the world.

Most people in most societies have lived in what is called a theocracy—

which means a society where the government dictates the religion of the people.

In some cases, the leader proclaims him or herself divine.

In a theocracy there is no separation of church and state.

They are one and the same.

That’s what it was like even in our beloved Great Britain.

Here in America the Episcopal Church is one small church among many.

But in England we were part of the Church of England,

the established church whose head was not

the Archbishop of Canterbury, but the monarch.

Those who didn’t fit the mold, the nonconformists,

had to leave England to find religious freedom.

Our early colonies therefore were settled by these religious misfits—

Quakers, Baptists, Puritans and Roman Catholics.

They all found a home here.

The Bible gives us a picture of theocratic societies as well.

In our lessons today, both Abraham and Jesus lived in cultures

where church and state were inextricably entwined.

Abraham, as the head of the tribe, was the ultimate authority

in matters both religious and political.

He had to settle disputes between family members,

allocate property and possessions

and he was the one through whom God spoke.

In our story today, he arranges for the marriage of his son Isaac,

so that the tribe can continue

and God’s promise of descendants can be realized.

And Jesus lived as a Jew under the heel of the Roman Empire.

The Romans tolerated other religions to a point,

but they insisted also that their leader, Caesar, was god incarnate.

The failure of the Jews and early Christians to worship the emperor

led them into terrible persecution, violence and death.

One of the interesting things about Jesus was his refusal to be an earthly king.

His followers were always pestering him about it.

They fully expected him to seize power and set up a kingdom,

a theocratic kingdom where he would be the new Caesar,

the new god-king.

And Jesus could have done it.

He was and is, we believe, the king of kings and lord of lords.

“All things have been handed over to me by my Father.”

Those were his words in today’s gospel.

But Jesus refused to establish himself as an earthly king.

He always proclaimed the kingdom of God,

and refused to settle for the kingdom of Man.

He even seemed to point us toward the separation of church and state

when he taught us to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s

and to God the things that are God’s.

This weekend we celebrate one of the great moments in the history of our country,

one of the great statements in all of human history.

Tomorrow will be the 229^th anniversary

of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

That document was a declaration of war against the British,

but it was also a declaration of our highest ideals as a nation,

ideals which have inspired people around the world

to claim as their birthright these incredible words:

“That all men are created equal

and that they are endowed by their creator

with certain inalienable rights…

life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The signers of the declaration were all white, male and Christian.

Yet their words set in motion a process that has led to an America

that is no longer exclusively white, male or Christian,

An America where all people do have equality under the law:

men and women, whites and non-whites,

Christians and people of every religion and no religion.

This diversity, this pluralism, is not without its challenges.

We wonder, amidst so much diversity, where we find unity.

Can whites, blacks, Asians and Hispanics really find racial harmony?

Can Christians and Jews, Muslims and Hindus, and all the rest

really find common ground on moral issues?

So much has changed that sometimes we are tempted to turn back the clock.

We yearn for a simpler time, a simpler world.

Some people tell us that the solution

is to undo the separation of church and state.

If only we could again be a Christian nation, they say,

with prayer in every class room

and the ten commandments in every court room.

Now I happen to love and believe in the ten commandments

and I was privileged to go to an Episcopal School where prayer was mandatory.

And everyone prayed on test days, to be sure!

I wish the solution were that simple.

But on this Independence Day weekend,

as we give thanks for the privilege of living in the greatest country on earth,

I want to give thanks for the wisdom of our founders

in keeping church and state separate.

They knew what it was like to live in a theocracy,

to have someone else’s religion crammed down your throat.

They knew that when church and state are merged together, both suffer. Making the government more religious or the church more political

leads to bad government and bad religion.

This week the Supreme Court tried to settle the issue

of displaying the 10 Commandments in court rooms and public places.

Their decision illustrates the thorniness of this problem.

In a nutshell they decided that it is OK to display the 10 Commandments

as long as the display is not intended to be religious.

Think about that for a moment and you’ll see how offensive it is.

As a Christian, the 10 Commandments are for me not a piece of legal history.

They are a living symbol of God’s eternal covenant with humanity,

the summary of God’s universal intention for us to live a holy life.

To stick them next to the Magna Carta and the Code of Hammurabi

and then to tell me that they are no longer religious

is to rob them of their significance and their power.

It’s like putting Jesus on a mural next to Abe Lincoln and Gandhi

and saying these were especially nice guys who got killed a long time ago.

It’s like another famous court decision that said

Christmas crèche scenes were allowed on public property

as long as Santa and the reindeer were included as well.

Here’s a better solution in my humble opinion.

And, by the way, this is my opinion.

You are free to make up your own mind.

Another great thing about our country.

Let us as religious people take responsibility for religious symbols and messages.

I don’t want my kids’ teachers imposing their religious views on them.

That’s my job as a parent and as a pastor.

Let us take responsibility for telling people

how necessary and important the 10 Commandments are.

Let us share with others our faith in Jesus

and why it’s so important to believe.

Let us work together with other religions to find common ground

on the crucial moral values we need to uphold today.

And there is a lot of common ground.

Every religious person I know deplores the violence and sex on TV.

Every religious person I know wants an end to poverty and violence.

Every religious person I know wants families strengthened and supported.

We have been given great freedom in this country.

But with that freedom also comes responsibility.

As we celebrate that freedom this weekend

may we also be inspired to use that freedom wisely

for the building up of the Kingdom of God

and the welfare of all of God’s people.

To respond to this sermon, send an email to stluke@madbbs.com.