Immediate Word

With the 4th of July taking place on a Sunday this year, it would be hard for any minister to conduct an entire worship service without some reference to the our nation's birthday. In fact the relationship between democracy and faith has been much in the news in recent weeks. The Supreme Court recently considered a challenge to the use of "under God" in the reciting of Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. Ron Reagan's remarks at his father's funeral included a mention of the private nature of the deceased president's faith, which seemed pointed when compared to the very public expressions of faith voiced by President George W. Bush, whose own devotion merited a cover story in Time magazine this past week. Also in the news this week has been former President Bill Clinton's book My Life. In its 957 pages Clinton discusses not only his political career and personal flaws but also his Christian upbringing as a Southern Baptist in Arkansas. Presidents George Washington, an Episcopalian, Thomas Jefferson, a deist, and John Adams, a Unitarian, all would have been startled by the very public politicizing of religious faith that now seems the norm in American politics.

The First Amendment adopted by Congress on December 15, 1791, as part of the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of religion, speech, and the press, and the rights of peaceful assembly and petition. What was the rationale behind this first amendment to the Constitution? Does it indeed legislate the separation of church and state? With many Americans identifying themselves as Christian while never darkening the door of a church, and many newer Americans bringing their Islamic faith with them to our shores, what place does our Christian faith play in the United States today? Are we "One nation under God"? Should Christian faith determine political actions?1 In 2 Kings 5:1-14 the prophet Elisha heals the leprosy of the Aramean General Naaman, demonstrating that God's grace includes people who are the military and political enemies of Israel. In Galatians 6:1-16 Paul objects to other Christian missionaries' insistence that Gentile converts take on the physical and ritual practices of Judaism. Paul argues that such legalism represents a retrenchment from the freedoms and grace God offers all people in Jesus Christ. Neither ethnic pride nor nationalism should be allowed to "co-opt" the gospel.

2 Kings 5:1-14

Israel became God's people long before they became a nation. Thus they were under God's direction long before they became a united people under kings. As is recounted in 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings, being a nation made the people of Israel arrogant and less willing to abide by God's laws. The results in their history were defeat in battle, loss of land, loss of status, and, ultimately, loss of all political autonomy. As loosely confederated tribes under Joshua and the Judges, Israel was a theocracy. Under the early kings, Saul, David, and Solomon, Israel remained a theocracy. Yet even with the early, great kings of Israel it was often more a theocracy in name than in action. When God's chosen people first demand a king so they will be like other nations, the prophet Samuel reminds them that they already have a king. "Yahweh is your king." Samuel warns the Israelites that human kings will exploit and mistreat them, which, in fact, they do. Israel never was a democracy. For a time it was a nation under God. Then it became like other flawed monarchies.

Israel as a nation is already waning in strength and influence when Jehoram as king quakes before the power of visiting Aramean General Naaman. Both humor and irony abound in 2 Kings 5:1-14. The greatest irony comes from the king of God's chosen people not thinking to call upon God or God's prophet Elisha for support when Naman comes seeking a cure. The second irony is the "little people" in this story are the ones who make it possible for the military giant and "great man" to succeed in his mission. The third irony stems from the fact that the God of Israel heals the non-Israelite Naaman. In response, Naaman becomes a more devout adherent to Israel's God than their own king has been or will be. The joke's on Jehoram, the Israelites, and on us when we assume that we are more special than other people and nations because we are "one nation under God." We may think God is our God, because we are the only ones who know how to properly believe, worship, and proclaim God, but God's love and benevolence isn't bound by our biases, religious expressions, or practices.

Galatians 6:1-16

By the first century of the Common Era the Promised Land has been an occupied country for centuries. As in the earliest days of the patriarchs and matriarchs and the wandering years in the wilderness, the people once more are "under God." They are an occupied nation under Rome's iron control. Perhaps it is because they have so little control over their own lives that the Jewish Christians want to legislate that all Gentile converts must become Jews before they can become Christians. In specifying such requirements, Paul argues that they nullify the freedoms Christianity offers to all who seek God's grace in Christ. Thus Paul must remind them that God isn't constrained or controlled by human religious practices. "They want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh ... For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!"

Ironically, this fervor for control over the religious life of all Christians resembles some of the coping measures being employed by some twenty-first century Muslims. This analogy between first-century Palestine and twenty-first century Iraq and Afghanistan is not made to suggest that the United States operates now like the Roman Empire did then; however, it is clear that many contemporary Muslims in these two countries feel the same kind of helplessness, frustration, and anger those first-century Jews felt. When a people lose control over their own country's government, they are going to seek to have more control over those parts of their life that they can control, such as their religious beliefs. Thus, devout Jews become Zealots and devout Jewish Christians become legalists, while Muslim extremists focus their energies on (1) the Stone Age restrictions the Taliban have tried to enforce in Afghanistan; (2) suicide bombing missions to rid Iraq of the American and British infidels; and (3) angry demonstrations against the French government's attempt to legislate the removal of head scarves worn by adolescent Muslim girls in French schools.

Using God

What's interesting about these dynamics is the way God gets used to further the individual or national interests of the subject people. Rather than being a people "under God" these bruised citizens become people who utilize God for their own ends. That's why Paul is so keen to redirect the Galatians to communal care and support for one another over self-interest and things of the flesh.

This theological trap of "using God" for one's own political ends doesn't just apply solely to populations who live in occupied countries. Those who act as the occupiers also risk "using God" to further their own political agenda.

American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr writes of "interested reason":

"This is a combination of three allied concepts. One is Freud's theory of rationalization: man's unconscious tendency to give socially palatable reasons for doing what he wants to do anyway. The second is Marx's theory of the ideological taint: man's unconscious tendency to have his class in society determine his basic values. And the third is Niebuhr's own theory of the spectacles of man's time and place in history through which he must view history ....

"Today part of man's (sic) interested reason is his assumption, based partly on prideful hope and partly on scientific method....

"A scientific age will seek and also find specific reasons for the jealously of children, or the power of lusts of mature individuals, or the naive egotism of even the saintly individual, or the envies and hatreds which infect all human relations. The discovery of specific causes of these evils has obscured and will continue to obscure the profounder truth, that all men, saints and sinners ... are inclined to use the freedom to transcend time, history and themselves in such a way as to make themselves the false center of existence" (Courage to Change [Oxford University Press, 1961, 301).

The Declaration of Independence

George Washington as Commander of the Revolutionary forces used the term "under God" a number of times. Washington used it in orders that he gave "when he learned that the United Colonies had declared themselves and independent nation." It was Washington's hope that "this important event will serve as a fresh incentive to every officer and soldier to act with fidelity and courage, as knowing that now the peace and safety of this country depends, under God, solely on the success of our arms" (http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/July 21/03 page 1 of 6). This online article, "The Religion of George Washington," goes on to note that he was not only "a man of religion, he was one who respected the religion of different faith groups" (page 2 of 6).

This tolerance for diversity was a stance the Founding Fathers took based upon the diversity of religious views they themselves held and their recognition of the fact that people settled in the different colonies were equally diverse. Congregationalists and Unitarians predominated in New England. Dutch Reformed and Presbyterians were numerous in the mid-Atlantic States, while Virginia and South Carolina were predominantly Episcopalian. The nation they were establishing might be "one nation" but that nation would not insist upon a single view of God as the only acceptable expression of faith in the United States of America.

The United States has never been one in its religious affiliation. Diversity of religious faith and practice has been permitted since the get-go. Certainly, some of the earliest settlers -- like the New England Puritans -- hoped to establish a holy theocracy that would accomplish what ancient Israel had failed to accomplish. They were thwarted in their attempts by their own brand of legalism and by the fact that it wasn't possible to guarantee that their human leaders would always rule with divine wisdom.

Faith and Democracy in 2004

In recent years the language of faith has become more and more prominent in American politics. In this election year, the way candidates talk about God already shows signs of polarizing Christians. More evangelical, conservative, and fundamentalist Christians support President Bush while more liberal, social-action minded Christians favor Senator Kerry. Moreover, there is a clear expectation from many Christians that a candidate's religious beliefs should determine political policy. The vital part faith is playing in politics in 2004 is evident in all of the ways I mentioned in the opening paragraph: the pledge of allegiance debate, Ron Reagan's prayer at his father's funeral, George W. Bush's religious rhetoric, Kerry's pro-choice stance as potential reason for Catholic priests to deny him communion. A key question we Christians need to ask is, How do we feel about this shift from private to public devotion and emphasis by the person occupying the Oval Office if that man or woman doesn't practice our particular form of Christianity?

In designing the Constitution and writing the Bill of Rights, the early American Founding Fathers2 never intended for all Americans to have the same religious practices and beliefs. Nowhere is it written that the religious beliefs of the president of the United States will be the official religion of the land. Had that been the case, it would have been a theological roller coaster ride from Washington's Episcopalian affiliation to John Adams Unitarian beliefs to Thomas Jefferson's Deism on to Kennedy's Catholicism, Nixon's Quakerism, up to Bill Clinton's Southern Baptist origins, and George W. Bush's Methodist membership. The aim of both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights was to protect the right of all Americans to practice the religion of their choice without fear of intervention, persecution, or exclusion from political office or citizenship. At the same time, all of the Founding Fathers, including deists Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson understood that belief in God was a key to maintaining a moral society and a source of inspiration that led individuals to work for something higher and better than one's own selfish ends.

Thus they set up a three-part government that was designed to correct and check the darker side of human nature as it might be expressed by the Congress, the Supreme Court, or the Executive Branch. For that reason, Nixon could be forced to resign, Reagan was answerable for the arms sold to Iran, Clinton had to give a deposition when he didn't want to do so, and the current Bush administration is under scrutiny for misleading the electorate about the level of nuclear threat posed by Iraq.

It's a tricky line we Americans walk between democracy and faith. Tricky because devout, faithful Christians don't always agree on the correct action to take. Tricky because an overemphasis upon "one nation" to the detriment of living "under God" puts our country at risk of not recognizing God's will at work in our own lives and at work in the lives of people in other nations in the world. Tricky because too much certainty about our faithfulness to God makes us overconfident and lulls us into thinking we possess God's truth and no one else can or does to the extent that we do.

If we are truly "one nation under God," then we owe our God allegiance above all else. If we are truly "one nation under God" then we know that God's grace is not limited solely to Christian nations or Christian peoples but may be offered to modern Naamans and Gentiles. If we are truly "one nation under God" we'll own up to our human limitations to know the mind of God and will understand that "now we see in a mirror dimly." If we are truly "one nation under God" then we will be as concerned about the lives of Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists as we are about our own. If we are truly "one nation under God" we need to be eternally open to new insights, new revelations from God, and we need to keep questioning our own views and positions on every aspect of our lives.

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Notes

1. See the illustrations section below for information in response to these questions.

2. See Cokie Roberts' recent book Founding Mothers for overdue historical accounts of the part women played in forming our nation.

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Comments on the Lections for Independence Day
by George Murphy

The American Book of Common Prayer provides lessons and a collect for Independence Day. The contemporary language form of the collect (p. 242) is as follows:

"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 yet 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."

(Material in The Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. is in the public domain.)

Propers for Independence Day were included in the proposed American Prayer Book of 1786 but were omitted by Episcopal Church's General Convention three years later. Most of the clergy of what had previously been the Church of England in the American colonies had opposed the revolution and had wanted to maintain their loyalty to Britain. While they did have to deal with the new political and ecclesiastical realities, they would have seemed to be hypocrites if they had led a service in which thanks was given for what they had opposed. Liturgical provisions for Independence Day were finally included in the 1928 revision of the prayer book. (Cf. here Lesser Festivals and Fasts 1991 [The Church Hymnal Corporation, 1991], pp. 268-269.)

We're likely to think that the independence of the United States is obviously such a great blessing not only to ourselves but to the whole world that no reasonable person could fail to be thankful for it. That bit of history that I noted should remind us that even in the early days of this country there were faithful Christians who had serious doubts about what had happened. Today there are a lot of people, both here and abroad, who are less than thrilled by the way the United States is affecting the rest of the world. Certainly this country has often been a positive force in the world, but it has also sometimes blundered and found it convenient to support unsavory regimes. As we celebrate our independence, let us not be too smug about having "lit the torch of freedom for nations yet unborn."

But let's move on to the prayer book's texts for this day: Deuteronomy 10:17-21; Psalm 145 (or 145:1-9); Hebrews 11:8-16; Matthew 5:43-48.

What is perhaps most interesting about this choice of readings is that none of them focus on what we think of as political issues such as appropriate structures of government. The First Lesson reminds the Israelites that it was Yahweh who made them a nation in the first place, and can thus call our attention to the fact that, while we are not the "chosen people" in the same sense that ancient Israel was, we too are to look to God and not just the founding fathers (and mothers) as the source of our nationhood.

But beyond that, the text calls Israel, and us, simply to what Jesus said in another place were the two chief commandments: Love God above all things and love your neighbor as yourself. As citizens of the United States we do not have responsibilities in God's sight that are different from those of any other nation.

The Gospel, from the Sermon on the Mount, strengthens the ethical demand. We are to love not only friends and family and fellow citizens, but are to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." And here we need to make some distinctions because one can reasonably ask if it's realistic for a nation to operate on that principle and (to note another aspect of this chapter of Matthew) to turn the other cheek? Or does a state need to make use of something more like "an eye for an eye"?

Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount are directed to Christians, and call us not just to external obedience to commandments like those against murder, theft, and adultery, but to an orientation toward love of neighbor that flows from genuine faith in God. The state, on the other hand, can only require observance of the law. You can hate your neighbor without going to jail but you can't murder people. (The "thoughtcrime" of Orwell's 1984 isn't recognized in American law.) The state operates by law. The Christian community, while recognizing the uses of the law, lives fundamentally by the gospel.

Since that's the case, what's the function of words like those of Jesus in this day's Gospel in an observance of Independence Day? Christian preachers are not called -- in their primary role as preachers -- to inculcate the type of civil righteousness required of all citizens. They are called to proclaim Christ. And as they address groups of Christians and not the entire body politic, they should be concerned to see that Christians are not content with mere civil righteousness and that they live in ways that can help to change their societies for the better. A failure to keep either of those concerns in view, and to overemphasize one or the other, can be unhealthy. Some reflection on H. Richard Niebuhr's well-known typology of relationships between Christ and Culture (Harper & Row, 1951) could be helpful preparation for preaching this July Fourth.

The command in the First Lesson to "love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt" could have gotten more attention that it sometimes has in our history. Except for Native Americans we are a nation of immigrants who have not always treated immigrants who came later (and especially those who came involuntarily, such as slaves from Africa) very well. This is not to say that the Fourth of July needs to become a day of national mourning and repentance. But we do need to be realistic about the fact that the United States is not qualitatively different from other nations, that it is not any less subject to God's demands than the others, and that it has not always been in the right.

I would guess that the Second Lesson, from Hebrews, was chosen for Independence Day for a couple of reasons. First, it speaks of Abraham as one who left his native land and of him and his descendants as nomads, "strangers and foreigners on the earth." To some extent that's an accurate description of those who came to America and brought a new nation into being. But these verses are part of a whole chapter that speaks about the heroes of the faith of Israel, and uses them as examples of the type of faith and faithfulness that Christians are to have.

Here I think we have to ask whether the heroes of Israel's past provide a legitimate parallel to the heroic figures of the American revolutionary period as far as faith is concerned. The answer is, not as much as some people would like to think. There were committed Christians among those revolutionary figures but also those like Jefferson and Paine who were hardly orthodox and Ethan Allen who, if I remember correctly, was a rather militant atheist. Near the end of his life the politically conservative John Adams, in a letter to Jefferson, advised against hiring European professors for the University of Virginia because, "They all believe that great Principle which has produced this boundless universe, Newton's universe and Herschell's universe, came down to this little ball, to be spit upon by Jews. And until this awful blasphemy be got rid of, there will never be any liberal science in the world" (Michael J. Crowe, The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, 1750-1900 [Dover, 1999], p. 116).

That kind of thing is disturbing to those who want to believe that the United States was founded as a "Christian nation" and exhilarates those who want it to be a totally secular society. But in thinking about what type of nation we're to be, we shouldn't consider only the past.

This is so because the United States is no longer a young nation. In fact, in terms of its basic structure of government we're one of the oldest nations in the world. We're in the period of our "second republic" (if you count the time under the Articles of Confederation as the first) while in the same period France has gotten to its fifth! The fact that our constitution has provided such stability for over two centuries is a tribute to the founders, but it also suggests that we can stop looking back to the past -- as if there were some doubt that the enterprise were going to succeed -- and look ahead to ask what kind of nation we want to be.

In particular, what do we as Christians want it to be? The First Amendment says that there can't be "establishment" of Christianity as the state religion, but those who insist that it must be a purely secular state devoid of religion are wrong. Without any attempt to enforce or propagate Christianity by government, a country can be Christian in the sense that many of its citizens are committed Christians who share their faith and try to love their neighbors, including those of other faiths. That is the challenge for Christians on this Independence Day.

Finally, Psalm 145 provides yet another angle. This psalm praises the goodness of God and his provision for all people -- indeed, for "every living thing." In this country we have a special holiday on which we're invited to give things for God's goodness and blessing.

The phrase "God bless America" has gotten distorted, especially after 9/11. It should be a prayer -- that God would indeed bless this country -- with no implication that we are blessed more than, or instead of, other nations. But it's become, understandably, a defiant slogan: "You can knock down our buildings and kill our people but God blesses us." It's all right to proclaim our defiance of terrorists but we needn't co-opt God to do so.

God bless America? Of course. But the psalm reminds us that while God will destroy the wicked (v. 20), God's blessings are not limited to any one nation. And we can carry that thought forward. If God has richly blessed the United States, one reason is so that in turn we can be the instruments through which God's blessings come to the rest of the world.


Related Illustrations
From Carter Shelley

"... but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."
-- Article VI of the Constitution of the United States

***

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the exercise thereof."
* First Amendment in the Bill of Rights

***

"The dangers of religious oppression and tyranny outweighed the dangers of public conformity to a fixed moral system," wrote Jefferson in the "Act for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia."

***

The government does not get involved in enforcing, mandating or promoting particular religious doctrines.

Religious freedom is an essential element of American liberty. The results have been twofold: it ensured diversity in religious life in American and this very diversity has led to a volatile and dynamic spiritual climate which is partly "market driven."
-- Robert C. Fuller, in Religious Revolutionaries: The Rebels Who Reshaped American Religion

***

Two excellent sources for information about Christianity in the United States in 2004 are Samuel P. Huntington's article "Under God" in the Wall Street Journal, June 16, 2004, and Time magazine's cover article, "The Faith Factor," on the religion of President Bush, June 28, 2004. Both provide helpful statistical information about Christianity in America today. Here are several germane statistics from Dr. Huntington, a professor at Harvard:

Up to 85 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians.

People in poor countries are highly religious; those in rich countries are not. America is the glaring exception. One analysis found that if America were like most other countries at her level of economic development, only 5 percent of Americans would think religion very important, but in fact 51 percent do.

While it is true that Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists numbers are growing in the United States, they still remain extremely small.

The purpose of "separation of church and state," as William McLoughlin has said, was not to establish freedom from religion but to establish freedom for religion.

Germane statistics from Time:

Sixty-five percent of all Americans claim membership in either a church or synagogue. Forty percent of all Americans surveyed had attended a worship service within the last seven days. When asked, 57-65 percent of Americans said religion is "very important in their lives" while 23-27 percent said religion is "fairly important in their lives" and 12-18 percent said religion is "not very important in their lives."

***

The following quotations come from June Bingham's biography of Reinhold Niebuhr, Courage to Change:

"The self is free to defy God. The self does defy God" (17).

"History is ... a realm of endless possibilities for renewal and rebirth" (296).

"Some of the greatest perils to democracy arise from the fanaticism of moral idealists who are not conscious of the corruptions of self-interest in their professed ideals" (297).

"Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's capacity for injustice makes democracy necessary" (298).

"For Niebuhr, as for the prophets before him, the source of evil lies not outside but inside man ... the possibilities of evil grow along with the possibilities of good" (301).

"My religion's faith impels me to affirm and support democracy, but democracy is not my religious faith" (312 Father Gustave Weigel).

***

From The Irony of American History, by Reinhold Niebuhr:

Irony consists of apparently fortuitous incongruities in life which are discovered, upon closer examination, to be not merely fortuitous.... A comic situation is proved to be an ironic one if a hidden relation is discovered in the incongruity. If virtue becomes vice through some hidden defect in the virtue; if strength becomes weakness because of the vanity to which strength may prompt the might man or nation.... if wisdom becomes folly because it does not know its own limits -- in all such cases the situation is ironic. The ironic situation is distinguished from a pathetic one by the fact that the person involved ... bears some responsibility for it. It is differentiated from tragedy by the fact that the responsibility is related to an unconscious weakness rather than a conscious resolution.

***

Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, a novel written to denounce the horrors of slavery, was the daughter and sister of renowned Congregationalist ministers Lyman Beecher and Henry Ward Beecher. She was neither the first nor the last American to use her religious conviction to lobby for a change in national law. Both prohibition and pro-life adherents have based their campaigns on their religious convictions.


Worship Resources
by Julia Strope

CALL TO WORSHIP (from Psalm 30)

Leader: We faithful people are here together! We have new songs to sing to God.
People: We remember what the Holy One has done and we give thanks!
L: God has restored our lives -- kept us from despair.
P: We dread God's anger but we know divine goodness lasts a lifetime.
Our tears may flow in the night,
But joy comes in the morning.
L: We have called to God for help and God has heard our cry.
P: God changes our sadness into joyful dance.
L: We will not be silent about God's love for us and for all creation.

PRAYER OF ADORATION (unison; from Psalm 30)

Creator of the cosmos,
Thank you for your living patience day after day.
We are lively people and rejoice in the security your Spirit gives us.
You are our God and we honor you today with our bodies and minds through music, words, and silence. Amen!

HYMN

"Come Sing to God" (Ellacombe)

CONFESSION (unison; from Galatians 6:1-16)

Living God,
Sometimes we tire of doing good.
We'd like you or someone else to fix people who don't have things in good order.
Perhaps we are deceiving ourselves when we think we are gentle and humble.
Perhaps we are dishonest with ourselves when we feel wise and mature.
We know we cannot deceive you.
Free us from shame and guilt; set us on a right path with Christ as our guide. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Christ comes to free us as individuals and calls us as a nation to live justly and walk with God. The good news is that with Spirit power we can manifest the reign of God in our neighborhoods. God's love and grace save us from guilt and shame. Hallelujah!

CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE (tune: Quebec, stanza 5)

O Jesus, ever with us stay,
Make all our moments calm and bright;
O chase the night of sin away
Shed o'er the world thy holy light.

CHANCEL DRAMA on 2 Kings 5:1-14

Characters: Narrator, housekeeper, Naaman, Syria's king (labeled and on a throne in the chancel area), Israel's king (labeled and on a throne in a different area of the chancel), Elisha, butler, companion

Props: Baptismal fount full of water; scroll letter of introduction from Syria to Israel; costume (could be contemporary minimal or period dress); chariot (might be a bicycle or a scooter), box wrapped as a gift

Narrator (at lectern microphone): Naaman was a commander of Syria's army, 3,000 years ago. He had won many battles and captured many people. He took one young woman home to be his wife's housekeeper. The king of Syria valued him as a brave and successful man. One day, Naaman noticed some strange spots his arm. Then the housekeeper noticed them. Soon she spoke with Mrs. Naaman about a prophet in her home country who could heal Naaman.

Housekeeper (young woman walks from congregation toward chancel area, speaking to herself and congregation): I wish Mr. Naaman would be in Israel! I know a man who could heal him -- even of the dreaded skin disease, leprosy!

Narrator: Of course, Mrs. Naaman promptly told her husband! And Naaman promptly went to the king to get permission to seek foreign medical care.

Naaman (enter from congregation, walking toward his own king of Syria): Sir, a young woman from Israel says that if I am willing to go to her country, there is a prophet there who can heal me of this awful skin ailment.

King of Syria (on labeled throne): Well. Pack your bags, Naaman! I'll send a letter to the King of Israel introducing you as an important dignitary.

Naaman (turns toward congregation): Let's see. What shall I take with me? What does a stranger need to get into the good graces of a healer and a king? Let's see. I'll take gold and beautiful fabric. Oh. And a letter of introduction.

Narrator (Naaman moves as narrator speaks): So Naaman set off for the land of Israel. He went directly to the king of Israel and gave him the letter of introduction from his own monarch. The king opened the letter.

Israel's king on labeled throne (reading): "When you have this letter in your hands, you will know that I have sent Naaman, my loyal commander to you so he will be cured of disease, healed of leprosy." (looks confused) I don't get it. What is Syria's king really wanting? (pause, re-reads letter) Oh no! He thinks I can cure leprosy. Am I God, to kill and to heal? What is his motive? Is he trying to push me into quarreling with him?

Narrator: Fortunately, Israel's king had a prophet-friend with good ears!

Elisha (enters from side aisle, approaching Israel's king): My king, why do you agonize over this letter? Simply send Naaman to me. He'll soon learn that there is a true prophet of the Most High God in this land of Israel.

Narrator: So Israel's King sent Naaman to Elisha. Naaman, in his chariot with strong horses, stopped at the prophet's door. And he knocked and knocked. After a long while, a butler opened the door.

Butler: Oh. You must be the famous visitor from Syria. I have a message for you from the good prophet Elisha. "Go down to the Jordan River and dunk yourself seven times. Then you will be whole: your skin will be baby smooth and soft!"

Naaman (feeling slighted and angry): Where is this prophet? I want to speak directly with him. Surely, he will come to me and call God to cure me! Really, the rivers in Damascus are better than all the rivers in Israel! Could I not wash in one of them and be healed and feel clean?

Narrator: Naaman turned his horse and chariot toward home in a rage! But his companion calmed him.

Companion: My friend, if the prophet had asked you to do some great and daring thing, you would have done it. Right? But all he asked of you was to wash and be clean!

Naaman: Hmm. (grumpily) Oh, all right. I'll wash in the Jordan. I'll dip seven times, but only seven. (goes to baptismal and splashes) One ... two ... three ... four ... five ... six ... seven! Done. Heh! Look! My arm is smooth! Heh! The disease is gone! Quick. Let's go back to the prophet's house. I will give him wonderful gifts.

Narrator: Naaman was delighted with the result of his seven dips in the waters that gave him new life. And he hurried back to Elisha's house to register his gratitude.

Elisha (Naaman offers him a gift): You've come back? (Elisha refuses the gift offered him)

Naaman: Look. I am healed! Surely you are a prophet of the Holy God. Now I know who God is. I will serve and honor the living God!

(Naaman exits the center aisle; everyone else exits by side aisles.)

HYMNS

"Lift Every Voice And Sing." Words by James Weldon Johnson; music by his brother J. Rosamond Johnson. On-line info gives only a tidbit of the story behind this song (http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/liftvoice/ and http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htmm/l/i/liftevry.hmt)

"Lord, You Give the Great Commission" (tune: Abbot's Leigh)

AN AFFIRMATION FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY

God is
imagination at work in our country and in the cosmos;
breath of life, creator of time and space;
father/mother, spirit
for our land and for all humankind.

Christ is
seen in Jesus of Nazareth
who lived at the fringes of society,
challenging the rules stifling human relationships with the divine;
goodness of God plying us with inner tranquility and urging us to live out
the teachings of Jesus in American and throughout the whole global village.

Holy Spirit is
Divine energy living in us and in others
coaxing us to manifest the love of God in our choices,
our attitudes and our use of resources.
As a community of faith,
we make God's reign visible and tangible;
we support one another
through valleys and at mountain tops,
when we are young and when we are old.
We are not alone. Hallelujah.

INTERCESSORY PRAYER (including national hymns)

God of all creation,
Thank you for the United States of America, this land we call "our land, home of the free." Despite our dysfunctions and inconsistencies, we citizens of America still dream of justice and freedom. Thank you for keeping our hopes alive. For the men and women who crafted our Constitution, we are grateful. Their long-sight and language skills have given birth to dreams for so many peoples. Keep us from destroying what is good and valuable in the Bill of Rights and the vision of unity and hope for all.

(prayerfully sing MATERNA:)

O beautiful for pilgrim feet, whose stern impassioned stress
Thoroughfare for freedom beat across the wilderness!
American, American! God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law!

God of all the Earth,
Peace. We pray for peace, beginning in our own homes, in our own hearts, in our own country.
Peace. We pray for harmony among tribes, for collaboration among leaders.
Peace. We pray for sturdy patience with people different from our selves.
Peace. We pray for civility on city streets from California to the New York Island, from Alaska to the tip of Africa, from Moscow to Haiti.

(sing AMERICA, stanza two)

My native country, thee, land of the noble free,
Thy name I love; I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills like that above.

God of wholeness,
Where we ache, soothe us. When we are fearful, give us courage. When our bodies are cut and sewn, stressed and tested, heal us from the inside out. We name those persons who seek your healing touch:

(pause for names to be mentioned aloud)

(sing MELITA, stanza 4)

O Trinity of love and power, all travelers guard in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to thee, glad praise from air and land and sea.

God of today and tomorrow,
Thank you for our children. Help them learn how to be faithful to you and to make it in the chaos of the world economy. Help us mentor them in roles of leadership in the church, in their schools and for our country. Speak clearly so we all have a sense of direction. Amen.

(sing AMERICA, stanzas 3 and 4)

Let music swell the breeze, and ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake, let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong.
Our parents' God, to thee, author of liberty, to thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright with freedom's holy light;
Protect us by thy might, Great God, our King.

OFFERTORY STATEMENT

In this country, we have many opportunities.

In this church, we have many options for being faithful to God's call for liberty and justice. Tithes and offerings carry on the ministry of Christ on this street corner and in places on the other side of this planet.

DOXOLOGY (Old Hundredth, inclusive language)

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Beyond our dreams, we see your love;
Beyond our hopes, we feel your power;
Beyond our challenges, we welcome courage.
Thank you for creating enough of life's necessities for all creatures.
Work through us and our resources to make it happen. Amen.

CLOSING HYMNS (options)

"Let Us Talents And Tongues Employ" (tune: Linstead)
"America The Beautiful," stanzas 1, 3, 4
"Battle Hymn Of The Republic"

BENEDICTION

At this moment, life is good.
Take from this place blessing to share with each person you meet.
Revel in the goodnesses of America.
Live as peacemakers and joy-carriers each day.


A Children's Sermon
By Wesley T. Runk

Text: Vs. 20 -- Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. (Luke 10:1-11, 16-20)

Object: The Declaration of Independence

Good morning, boys and girls. Today is a special day, isn't it? (let them answer) Does anyone know what we call this special day? (let them answer) That's right, today is the 4th of July and what is it that makes this day special? (let them answer) That's right, it is the birthday of our country. This is when men of great courage and very strong beliefs declared that we are independent of any other country in the whole world. A group of leaders sat down and wrote a document and sent it to the English king. This was a very daring thing to do and when they finally finished it they wrote their names at the bottom of it. I brought a copy of it so that all of us could see it and read the names of the men who were so courageous. (begin to read some of the names and ask them if they have ever heard of the names you read)

Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Hancock (the big signature), Thomas Jefferson, and many others from the original thirteen states signed their name and pledged to start a new nation. Pretty impressive.

There is another place where the names of men are written. In the Bible it talks about Jesus sending out seventy men to the towns and villages where he was going to visit. Jesus asked these men to go and tell the people about him and the wonderful things that were done in his name. They did not carry with them any money or extra clothes but instead they were to go straight to the villages and declare themselves as disciples of Jesus. This was the first time many people even heard about Jesus and it took a lot of courage to ask people to believe in someone they had never seen or heard. Jesus gave the seventy special powers to heal and speak. If people welcomed them, they were to stay in the town and live with those who welcomed them. If they were treated badly they were to leave the town and go to the next place that Jesus had sent them.

It was very dangerous work. The seventy men were not always welcomed with open arms. Instead they were often chased out of town. People remembered who was there and sometimes they tried to get the police to arrest them.

Still many of the seventy men had a wonderful experience and they brought Jesus Christ to the towns and villages. They used the powers Jesus shared with them and they were amazed how men and women were healed by the touch of their hands and the prayers they prayed. It was a wonderful experience.

When they returned to Jesus, they told him about all of the wonderful ways that God worked in the hearts and minds of people.

Jesus then told them not to rejoice in the power they had used to heal and teach but instead they should rejoice because their names were written in heaven. Isn't that something? Would you like to have your name written in heaven? (let them answer) Just imagine this -- you arrive in heaven and find your name (begin to name the children, first and last name if possible) written in heaven along with all of the other saints of God. I will be very happy if I see my name written in heaven. And if I find my name, I will also find your name somewhere in God's kingdom. Amen.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Immediate Word, July 4, 2004, issue.

Copyright 2004 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.

All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.