THE SHINING CITY ON A HILL STILL STANDS

THIS HAS BEEN AN INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT WEEK FOR MOST ALL OF US. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2021. MOST OF US WERE REELING IN SHOCK, DISBELIEF, SADNESS, OR IN MY CASE GREAT ANGER AT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE CITADEL OF  OUR DEMOCRACY. SOME OF YOU ARE AFRAID, I GET THAT. SOME OF YOU ARE DISAPPOINTED…I UNDERSTAND THAT AS WELL. WE ARE THE GREATEST DEMOCRACY ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH…AS PRESIDENT REAGAN ONCE CALLED IN LOFTY WORDS, “A SHINING CITY ON A HILL”….A BEACON OF HOPE…FOR EVERYONE. AND SOMETIMES I THINK WE FORGET THAT. JESUS, IN THE TEXT FROM THE BEATITUDES, HIS SERMON ON THE MOUNT, REFERS TO A CITY ON A HILL. AND TODAY, THAT CITADEL, THAT BASTION OF HOPE STILL STANDS. IT IS BATTLE WEARY, BUT IT STILL STANDS. I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THE HISTORY BEHIND OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM THIS WEEK. I AM INDEBTED TO THE SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE FOR THIS ACCOUNT.

On a rainy September 13, 1814, British warships sent a downpour of shells and rockets onto Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor, relentlessly pounding the American fort for 25 hours. The bombardment, known as the Battle of Baltimore, came only weeks after the British had attacked Washington, D.C., burning the Capitol, the Treasury and the President's house. It was another chapter in the ongoing War of 1812. 

A week earlier, Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old American lawyer, had boarded the flagship of the British fleet on the Chesapeake Bay in hopes of persuading the British to release a friend who had recently been arrested. Key's tactics were successful, but because he and his companions had gained knowledge of the impending attack on Baltimore, the British did not let them go. They allowed the Americans to return to their own vessel but continued guarding them. Under their scrutiny, Key watched on September 13 as the barrage of Fort McHenry began eight miles away.

"It seemed as though mother earth had opened and was vomiting shot and shell in a sheet of fire and brimstone," Key wrote later. But when darkness arrived, Key saw only red erupting in the night sky. Given the scale of the attack, he was certain the British would win. The hours passed slowly, but in the clearing smoke of "the dawn's early light" on September 14, he saw the American flag—not the British Union Jack—flying over the fort, announcing an American victory.

I FIND MYSELF REFLECTING ON ALL WHO HAVE PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE, EITHER IN BATTLE OR IN FAITHFUL SERVICE TO THE CAUSE OF LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, SO THAT THIS CITY MIGHT BE SECURE AND PREVAIL. I FIND MYSELF REFLECTING ON THE BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS THAT MAKE THIS PLACE SO SPECIAL. IT IS SPECIAL TO REPUBLICANS…AND IT IS SPECIAL TO DEMOCRATS AND INDEPENDENTS.  AND IT IS SPECIAL TO PEOPLE WHO TRAVEL FROM DISTANT SHORES, YEARNING FOR ALL THAT WE REPRESENT.. SOME COME SEEKING REFUGE, SOME COME SEEKING A DREAM. WHICH IS AS IT SHOULD BE AND SHOULD FOREVER BE. WHAT HAS MADE AMERICA THE GREATEST NATION ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH, BLESSED BY GOD, IS IT’S GREAT COLLECTIVE HEART, SEEKING TO GIVE SHELTER AND HOPE TO ALL. WE NEED TO BE REMINDED OF THAT. THE WORLD LOOKS UP TO US FOR THAT. SOME OF MY ANCESTORS CAME OVER ON THE MAYFLOWER IN 1620 WITH THAT DREAM.

I HAVE HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF BEING IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES…COLUMBIA, ECUADOR, PERU, AND BOLIVA WHILE IN HIGH SCHOOL, AND THE POOR REGIONS OF JAMACIA WHILE IN COLLEGE. I HAVE SEEN HOW FRAGILE FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY CAN BE IN THESE STRUGGLING COUNTRIES. AND MOST RECENTLY UKRAINE…UKRAINE. I THINK OFTEN OF MY DEAR FRIENDS IN UKRAINE YEARNING FOR FREEDOM, LIVING UNDER THE SHADOW OF PUTIN’S RUSSIA.  I REMEMBER A MAN AFTER CHURCH IN UKRAINE, WHERE THEY PRAYED FOR OUR TEAM ABOUT TO GO INTO AN AREA, RECENTLY A WAR ZONE, COMING UP TO US AND ASKING US TO PLEASE HELP THEM. I REMEMBER THE FEMALE DEPUTY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE WHOLE COUNTRY OF UKRAINE COMING UP TO ME AFTER SHE SPOKE AT A CONFERENCE WHERE I HAD SPOKEN IN UKRAINE, AND ALMOST BEGGING ME TO NOT FORGET UKRAINE… “PLEASE, PLEASE, DON’T FORGET US…WE NEED YOUR HELP.” THIS IS WHAT WE REPRESENT TO THE WORLD. A BEACON OF HOPE SHINING FOR ALL WHO LONG FOR FREEDOM. 

I HAVE SPOKEN, OFFERING AN INVOCATION FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES… IN THOSE HALLOWED HALLS. THE VERY CHAMBERS THAT WERE DESECRATED THIS PAST WEDNESDAY. I HAVE MET WITH CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES, BOTH REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRAT, AND THE THING IS…THEY WERE ALL NICE, AND WERE HUMAN. THE REPUBLICAN MEMBERS I MET, AMONG THEM PAUL RYAN WAS NICE AND WE HAD PICTURES TOGETHER AT HIS URGING. HE ALSO HAD COMPLIMENTARY THINGS TO SAY ABOUT MY INVOCATION. WE TALKED ABOUT GREAT PLACES TO GO FISHING AT QUANTICO.. GWEN MOORE, THE BLACK CONGRESSWOMAN, WAS VERY NICE AS WELL AND ASKED ME TO PRAY FOR HER AND A SICK ADULT SON OF HERS AT HOME SHE WAS WORRIED ABOUT.  I HAVE WALKED THROUGH THE HALLOWED HALL OF PRESIDENTS. I WAS TAKEN OUT ONTO THE BALCONY AREA WHERE HIGH RANKING GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS VIEW INAUGURATIONS, AND OTHER SIGNIFICANT EVENTS. I COULD FEEL THE POWER, THE HISTORY  OF THAT PLACE, AND I WILL NEVER FORGET IT. THERE IS ARGUABLY NO PLACE ON EARTH LIKE IT. I HAVE WONDERED AT THE BLOODSHED, TEARS, AND LIVES SPENT IN SELFLESS DEVOTION TO THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM, A CLARION CALL THAT ALL MEN, ALL WOMEN….RED, YELLOW, BLACK OR WHITE, RICH AND POOR ARE EQUAL… ENDOWED WITH CERTAIN INALIABLE RIGHTS BY THEIR CREATOR.. WE MUST NOT EVER FORGET THAT NOBLE PURPOSE…

WHEN I WAS A KID, LIKE MANY OF YOU, I LEARNED THE EXPRESSION, “STICKS AND STONES MAKE BREAK MY BONES, BUT WORDS WILL NEVER HURT ME”…. WELL, THAT IS JUST NOT TRUE. AS A PASTOR AND AS A PRESENTER AT CONFERENCES, I KNOW FULL WELL THE POWER OF WORDS TO INSPIRE, TO SHAME, TO INCITE, TO GIVE HOPE, OR TO HINDER… WORDS CAN DESTROY LIVES… VENGFUL WORDS CAN DESTROY DEMOCRACIES, AND INSPIRED WORDS CAN CRAFT INCREDIBLE DOCUMENTS, LIKE THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. I DON’T KNOW IF YOU KNEW THIS BUT I AM FULLY SWORN IN MY WORK FOR A FEDERAL AGENCY, WHILE I WAS IN THE WASHINGTON D.C. AREA. I REMEMBER THE OATH WELL AND I TAKE TO HEART IT’S WORDS:

 “I, Greg Young, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

 WORDS CAN WOUND AND DIVIDE. WORDS CAN DESCRETATE AND DESTROY…WORDS CAN CHEAPEN OR LIFT UP … WORDS CAN TRIGGER THE ACTIONS OF WAR AND HATEFUL ACTS, MAKING PEOPLE STRANGERS AND ENEMIES TO EACH OTHER. WORDS CAN ALSO SAVE LIVES….WHICH MEANS THAT I PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER WHAT I CAN SAY TO BRING HOPE TO PEOPLE…TO SHARE THE MESSAGE OF CHRIST’S LOVE FOR ALL PEOPLE. WORDS…MATTER.  VERIFIED TRUTH MATTERS. WORDS.

TRUTH. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN THESE DAYS WITH THE ONSLAUGHT OF UNVETTED INFORMATION BEING THROWN ONTO THE BLACK HOLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA WITHOUT ANY FORETHOUGHT? YES, CONSPIRACY THEORIES…. 

CONSPIRACY THEORIES. AS MOST OF YOU KNOW, I WAS CALLED OUT TO DANBURY, CONNECTICUT A COUPLE OF MONTHS AFTER THE HORRIBLE SHOOTING AT SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SHOOTING. I WAS IN THE AREA FOR ABOUT TWO DAYS. ON DAY ONE, I SPOKE AT THE SYMPOSIUM FOR HOPE, RESILIENCE, AND RECOVERY FOLLOWING SANDY HOOK, AND ON DAY TWO I CO-LED A DEBRIEFING FOR THE FIRST RESPONDERS THAT WENT INTO THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. I MET WITH PARENTS, AND FIRST RESPONDERS WHO EXPERIENCED THE HORROR OF THAT TRAGEDY FIRST HAND. I VICARIOUSLY CARRY THEIR PAIN. YET, IN THE DAYS AND YEARS SINCE THAT TIME THERE ARE CONSPIRACY THEORIES THAT CLAIM THIS INCIDENT WAS ‘STAGED”, THE SAME WITH THE SIKH TEMPLE MASS SHOOTING TO WHICH I ALSO DEPLOYED. THE SAME WITH THE MOON LANDINGS…THAT THEY WERE “FAKE”, AND THERE ARE MANY WHO BUY INTO THIS…  TRUST YOUR GOD-GIVEN MORAL COMPASS IN ALL THINGS.

I FIND MYSELF WONDERING TODAY IF SOCIAL MEDIA IS A GOOD THING IF WE DON’T APPROACH IT WITH WHAT WE USED TO CALL “CRITICAL THINKING AND RESEARCH”. A NATION IS NEVER MORE VULNERABLE THAN WHEN IT IS DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF.

ALL OF US ARE HURTING. I DON’T NEED TO REMIND YOU THAT WITHIN THIS CHURCH THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE DEMOCRATS AND THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE REPUBLICANS, AND YOU KNOW WHAT? ALL ARE WELCOME HERE. ON MY WATCH ALL ARE WELCOME HERE TO WORSHIP OUR LIVING GOD, A GOD MUCH GREATER THAN OUR MEAGER GUESSES.WE CANNOT REDUCE GOD TO FIT NICELY WITHIN OUR POLITICAL PARTY, GOD, FAITH MUST TRANSCEND ALL OUR HUMAN CONSTRUCTS, PHILOSOPHIES AND POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATIONS OR THAT GOD IS TOO SMALL. 

THE APOSTLE PAUL IN ESTABLISHING THE MISSION CHURCHES, FACED HEADACHES AND PEOPLE WITHIN THOSE FLEDGLING HOUSES OF WORSHIP WHO WERE DIVIDED AND ARGUING AMONG THEMSELVES AS TO WHAT GIFTS WERE THE GREATEST. THE CHURCH IS A BODY COMPRISED OF MANY PARTS, ALL NECESSARY FOR THE BODY TO TRULY FUNCTION. AN ARM CANNOT SAY TO THE EYE OR THE EAR, YOU ARE NOT AN ARM, THEREFORE I HAVE NO NEED FOR YOU. IF THE ENTIRE BODY WERE AN ARM, WHERE WOULD THAT BODY BE? YOU SEE HOW THIS APPLIES TO US ON A LARGER SCALE? AMERICA IS GREAT BECAUSE OF IT’S DIVERSITY, NOT IT’S RIGID UNIFORMITY. AMERICA WOULD NOT BE ALL THAT WE REPRESENT TO THE WORLD IF WE WERE ALL ALIKE, AND THOUGHT ALIKE. SURE DIVERSITY IS A HARD THING BUT IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT HOW STRONG CAN ONE’S FAITH BE IF IT CANNOT STAND UP TO MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS. 

BACK WHEN 911 HAPPENED, REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS CAME TOGETHER AS ONE, DRAWN TOGETHER OUT OF A SHARED HUMANITY, AND FOR ALL TOO BRIEF SHINING MOMENTS, THAT COLLECTIVE SPIRIT OF PURPOSE AND MUTUAL CARE FASHIONED A PHOENIX OF BREATHTAKING RESILIENCE WHICH ROSE FROM THE ASHES, A SHINING CITY ON A HILL FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE. I WAS ASKED TO SPEAK AT COMMUNITY PRAYER VIGIL AT THE HIGH SCHOOL. THE TITLE OF MY MESSAGE WAS THIS: “WE’VE SEEN WHAT HATE CAN DO, NOW WE WILL SEE WHAT LOVE CAN DO…” KIND OF APPROPRIATE NOW DON’T YOU THINK? HATE DIVIDES. HATE DESTROYS, HATE NEVER EVER WINS. ONLY LOVE CAN DO THIS. 

AS YOUR PASTOR, IT IS MY DRIVEN PURPOSE TO BRING ALL OF US TOGETHER FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. WE WILL NOT ALWAYS AGREE ON EVERYTHING, BUT THAT IS WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE, MAKES US SPECIAL. WHEN WE CAN DEMONSTRATE SELF-GIVING LOVE…WHEN WE CAN REACH ACROSS POLITICAL DIVIDES…REACH ACROSS TO THOSE WHO ARE VERY DIFFERENCE THAN US…WHEN WE CAN ACCEPT THAT ALL OF US ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD, TO TRULY LISTEN TO EACH OTHER’S HEART, AND REACH DOWN WITH COMPASSION TO LIFT UP THE BROKEN, THE BROKEN HEARTED, THE PERSON BURIED IN THEIR SHAME AND GUILT THEN WE GLORIFY GOD, AND PERHAPS, JUST PERHAPS EXPERIENCE A FLEETING GLIMPSE OF HEAVEN…

THEY WILL KNOW WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY OUR LOVE…. THAT SONG IS INCREDIBLY RELEVANT TODAY. THE LATE GREAT CORRIE TEN BOOM ONCE SAID THAT YOU CAN TAKE A LUMP OF DOUGH, PUT IN IN A BISQUET TIN, BUT THAT DOES NOT MAKE IT A BISQUET. SAME WITH BEING CHRISTIAN. DOES SIMPLY COMING TO CHURCH OR READING YOUR BIBLE, AND PRAYING MAKE YOU A CHRISTIAN? DOES GETTING BAPTISED OR CONFIRMED SIMPLY MAKE YOU A CHRISTIAN? WHILE ALL OF THESE ARE IMPORTANT, TO BE A CHRISTIAN, HOW WILL PEOPLE YOU MEET KNOW IT? BY YOUR ACTIONS. BY THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT DEMONSTRATED IN YOUR DAILY WALK. WHAT ARE THOSE? IN PAUL’S WRITING TO THE GALATIAN CHURCH HE SAYS THE FOLLOWING: 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

MY FRIENDS, FELLOW REPUBLICANS…FELLOW DEMOCRATS….MY FELLOW INDEPENDENTS….MY FELLOW BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN FAITH, THE WORLD IS WATCHING AND WAITING. WE MUST BE GIRDED IN LOVE. LET US JOIN HANDS AND HEARTS, WITH A STRENGTH AND A NOBLE PURPOSE FORGED IN GOD’S LOVE. WE HAVE NO SMALL TASK PUT BEFORE US… BUT IT IS UP TO US, TO SEE THAT OUR SHINING CITY ON A HILL WILL PREVAIL AND PREVAIL WITH NOBLE PURPOSE BORN OF LOVE. 

PRAY WITH ME:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy. 

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive, 

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, 

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.