Dual Citizenship [Independence Day]

-
The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson
Deuteronomy 10:17-21 & Matthew 5:43-48

Dual Citizenship

There is an almost certainly apocryphal story about the young James Madison, the man who would later go on to become secretary of state and then the fourth president of these United States. Madison, was, like most of you, an Anglican; and the Anglican Church was at that time the established church of his native Virginia. As the story goes, he once witnessed some of his fellow Anglicans harassing and hammering some poor defenseless Baptists. Seeing those state-sponsored churchmen bully those of a minority sect, it is said he decided right then and there that the developing nation must have a separation between church and state – an idea that was later codified in the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Now, much more likely is that this idea became urgent for him after seeing six Baptist ministers jailed for preaching without the formal permission of his state – an act that undoubtedly hit close to home for the founders of this nation, many of whom had experienced oppressive religious climates in their home countries. Madison concluded that this nation should neither establish, nor favor, any religious expression, but that each individual should have the freedom to worship God according to one's conscience.

This idea, the separation of church and state, has been subject to debate and interpretation ever since. But Madison's impulse remains at the heart of one of our greatest freedoms in this nation: we are free to openly worship as we see fit, in a way we believe pleases God. So I'm not going to be jailed for standing in an Episcopal pulpit or for consecrating real wine at the altar. You won't be fined for crossing yourself or preferring Rite 1 language. And neither are your Baptist friends breaking the law by drinking those little plastic cups of grape juice. The First Amendment, and its insistence on separation of church and state, assures our religious liberty. And that is a good thing.

But even though Madison once declared: "practical distinction between Religion and Civil Government is essential to the purity of both, and as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States1," the reality is that we are dual citizens. And even though our founding documents clearly value a separation – and for some very good reasons – the truth is: we live in both the Church and the state. We come into this place to worship the ancient God of the Hebrews as 21st century US citizens, carrying with us all of the baggage and beauty of our context and culture. And we are sent out of this liturgy to share the Good News of Jesus, believing that the Gospel has the power to change for the better lives, communities, and nations.

And so it is important for us, as Christians, who are also US citizens, to consider what that looks like; what does it mean to be a dual citizen? Well, as Christians, we have a clear, fundamental starting point: the baptismal font. We are first and foremost, as baptized Christians, citizens of the Kingdom of God. And it is essential that we never forget, that before nation, family, ideology, political party, or even denomination, our primary allegiance is to Christ and to his Kingdom.

And it is that allegiance to the Kingdom of God, that, I believe, makes us good citizens of this nation. When we live out our Gospel values we make our country a better place – sometimes through comfortable affirmation and sometimes through prophetic challenge. When we declare the good news of God in Christ, in not just our words, but also in our deeds, we inspire our leaders and fellow citizens to imagine a fuller vision of the common good. When we, as the Church, truly take our baptismal promises seriously, then this nation will better resemble the Kingdom come for which Jesus prayed.

We get a glimpse of God's hopes and dreams for our nation in today's scriptures. In Deuteronomy, God calls for the nation of Israel to care for the most vulnerable. More than their economic success, it was their willingness to love and cloth and feed the strangers in their land that made them a great nation. God expects the same from our nation. God has a heart for the orphan, the widow, and the stranger. God's dream for our nation is that we have the same.

In the reading from Matthew's Gospel, Jesus calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. More than military might, it is our willingness to love boldly and recklessly that makes us a great nation. God loves perfectly, Jesus says. God's dream for our nation is that we might also be known for our love and generosity.

The greatest gift you can offer your nation is to live out your baptismal ministry in the world, to keep your baptismal vows. Resist evil. Live a life of passionate love and mercy like Jesus. Seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself. Strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being. This is what it means to live as a citizen in the Kingdom of God. But also, what better way to express your dual citizenship? What better way to live as a citizen of the United States than to embody these Christian values?

There are many things that make this a great country. This is truly a beautiful nation. The beauty is evident in our landscapes: mountains and rivers, oceans and plains. The beauty is evident in our core ideals: freedom and justice, courage and equality. But more than anything, the beauty is evident in the people: a nation composed of people of every race, religion, and creed; men and women of all ages and experiences and opinions. All, we contend, created equal.

And the success of our dual citizenship – citizens of both the Kingdom of God and of the United States of America – is defined by how well we love all of those people – the ones with whom we agree and with whom we disagree. At the heart of good citizenship is the ability to love. And that love cannot be confined to history or nostalgia or the founding fathers or the founding documents; that love cannot confined to a political party or ideology. To love this nation, you must love the people who make up this nation. Love is your duty as a Christian; and it is your duty as a US citizen.

And so do your duty, be a good citizen, a good dual citizen: walk out these doors, into your country, and be a Christian.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chrism Mass of Holy Week 2024

-
  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Isaiah 6:1-8   Chrism Mass 2024   You are here today because someone spoke a word of God into your life.   Someone planted the seed.   Someone, at some point, became the first person who was convinced you were called to be set apart.   To be a priest.   Or to be a deacon.   To be an ordained minister of the Gospel.   For me, it was my paternal grandparents: Bob and Sharon Williamson.   And they first spoke that word into my life when I was just a boy.   The dawning days of my vocation were not of biblical proportions.   I didn’t get the divine drama of the scene in Isaiah, no sweetness of temple incense or angelic vision; my lips were not singed with a live coal.   Instead, what I remember most of those early days is a very particular scent: it was this overwhelming floral perfume, wafting from the dish of decorative soaps – certainly my grandma’s addition to the home.   Th...
Read more

By the Rivers of Babylon [Epiphany 5B - Isaiah 40:21-31]

-
  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Isaiah 40:21-31   By the Rivers of Babylon Zion Episcopal Church, Morris, NY   They sat, forlorn, by the rivers of Babylon.   And they wept.   Their tears fell in torrents from the dark clouds around their souls and was absorbed by the hostile land.   As they cried, they were assaulted by the smug looks and barbed taunts of their tormentors.   They sat by the rivers of Babylon: eyes burnt with sorrow, tongues pressed hard against the roof of their mouths.   Because there simply were not words.   Just a suffocating grief, a searing pain, a heart-break that felt eternal.   Even in Babylon, they were haunted by the memories.   The ghosts followed them into exile.   Once there had been good days, but they now the memories felt like thin remnants of a past life.   The first sign of their impending doom were the terrible rumors.   Then brought to life by the pulse of distan...
Read more

Legal Separation [Proper 22B - Mark 10:2-16]

-
  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Mark 10:2-16   Legal Separation St. Andrew’s, Scotia   Then why even ask?   The Pharisees who approached Jesus, the ones who asked this question, this question about what is, and always has been, an emotionally fraught topic, they already knew the answer, their answer.   They could even cite chapter and verse.   Deuteronomy, the book of Moses, is fairly clear: “Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house.”   Write a certificate and move on.   That was the answer.   So, why even ask?   I’m not sure what these inquisitors were hoping Jesus would say, but Mark’s Gospel tells us that the question was not an honest inquiry.   It was a test – Holy Scripture as a trap.   And not the first time folks came...
Read more