Unbind Us from Christian Nationalism – Sermon by Rev. Michael Nailor, Deacon
Grace, peace, and forgiveness to us all through our Lord, Jesus Christ!
Famed 20th century theologian, Karl Barth, gave some advice to preachers – but I believe it applies to all of us. He said, “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret the newspapers from your Bible.” (Time Magazine, May 1, 1966) May I re-interpret that 1966 quote this way? “Take your Bible and take your social media and Internet and read both. But interpret information from the Internet from your Bible.” Notice he is not rejecting the daily happenings that are reported and posted with the voice of a professional journalist – or of your next-door blogger, Fred. It’s important for us as Christians to take in that current information.
But Barth doesn’t leave it there. We don’t just read the latest news and go figure out what to do about it on our own. Nor do we keep our head in our Holy Scriptures and keep wi-fi out of our churches and leave personal experience aside. We need to hear contemporary voices understood through the wisdom that scripture provides in the context of our Christian community. Our work is to connect the stories of God and God’s people with our own. Our current news is to be interpreted through what we know about God. And for Christians what we know about God comes from what we know about Jesus (God incarnate among us). The themes of God walking alongside us, welcoming us, including us, forgiving us, healing us, raising us and sending us out into the world – become the interpretive lens thru which we engage the real world around us with all its corruption, pain, division, violence and suffering.
In this way, I believe, we can make the world look a little more like heaven and a little less like hell. For, you see, the true test of what we do here each [Saturday or] Sunday is the impact that it has in our lives on Monday. And in this special week for Americans, I’d suggest that we also look for a Sunday impact in our lives this coming Tuesday. Uh-oh! He’s gonna get political.
Well, I am. You see I am proud to be an American and I am proud to be a Christian. But what I am not proud about is that way that Christianity and politics have mixed over the years in the United States to create a deadly brew called “Christian Nationalism.” And impacts of this movement are bad for us as Americans and for us as a church. And this is the proper place to talk about these issues. Our recent diocesan convention overwhelmingly passed a resolution that our congregations ought to educate themselves on this topic. But more importantly – listen to these words from my daily scroll through social media:
Beware of any Christian movement that demands the government be an instrument of God’s wrath but never be a source of God’s mercy, generosity, or compassion
Beware of any Christian movement that acts as though the world is full of enemies to be destroyed rather than full of neighbors to be loved.
Family, I am not speaking to the world at large. I am speaking to us as a gathered body of Christ. If this is the way we are perceived by others, it is worth examining the way we interact with political power in America. Can we extricate ourselves from being used to promote “rulers, authorities, forces of cosmic darkness, and spiritual powers of evil in the heavens,” as Paul puts it – and promote God’s dream of how our lives can be lived abundantly – outside of secular power plays – instead.
Brian Zahnd, Christian preacher and writer, proposed this Christian Voter’s Guide which holds important reminders for us as we seek to use our faith as a lens for our vote. He states, “One of the most vital things an American Christian can do right now is to resist the hijacking of Christian faith by American nationalism.” He continues with some good advice for all of us as we walk in faith towards Tuesday and the days that follow:
- The political process, while necessary, has little to do with how God is saving the world.
- The bottom line for political parties is power. The bottom line for a Christian is love. And therein lies the central conflict.
- If your political passion makes it hard for you to love your neighbor as yourself, you need to turn it down a notch.
- Exercise your liberty to vote your conscience and conviction, while accepting that other Christians will do the same and vote differently than you do.
- It’s more important that your soul be filled with love than it is for your political team to win the game.
My definition of “Christian Nationalism” includes political parties and movements who seek to capitalize on the influence of religion. But it also works the other way: churches that seek power by aligning with political parties or movements.
Perhaps some examples of Christian Nationalism that have me worked up this week will help. Cloaked often as a battle between God’s goodness and cosmic evil this movement is an attempt, as Dr. Pamela Cooper-White states, to restore a fictional origin story for the USA as a so-called “Christian Nation.” Instead of American values like liberty, equality and service – we hear proposals for women not to have rights – including the right to vote; we hear anti-immigrant rhetoric that says that America is only for Americans. Many Christian Nationalist measures contain an element of coercion of our neighbors – rather than love of our neighbors. When Texas enacts a law that the 10 Commandments be posted in every classroom, what does that say to our teachers and students who affirm other faith traditions or choose not to endorse any religion? Proposals to teach Bible stories to elementary students as history and to replace school counselors with untrained Christian chaplains may seem far off to us – but with humility we must remember that the Ku Klux Klan carried Christian flags and burned Christian crosses and met in some of the Episcopal Churches of our diocese in years past.
Almost every justification for Christian Nationalism that I’ve seen today has used Bible verses saying, “this country needs Jesus.” Respectfully – no. It doesn’t. Christians need Jesus. America needs separation of church and state, the foundation on which this country exists in the first place. Each of us is allowed to let our religion control our own lives – in fact, we should do so. But we are not allowed to force that control through coercion and threats of violence on our neighbors.
Can this situation be turned around? It’s just possible that our Gospel today brings us some consolation. The resurrection of Lazarus is the last of the signs in Jesus’ ministry – pointing to a world that humans cannot imagine. As Jesus started his ministry in the synagogue preaching release to the captives, he ends this phase of his ministry with words of freedom for Lazarus. “Unbind him and let him go.” But we also must bear in mind that this incident triggers the plot to crucify him. With liberation can come costs.
Jesus faces the death of his dear friend head on. The gospel says twice that he is greatly disturbed – and once simply that “Jesus began to weep.” The emotions that cause us to shake our heads when we consider the way the religion of Jesus has been perverted by those in power – would, I believe, require Jesus to weep again.
But the story of Lazarus is a story of resurrection – such as the world has never known. We feel the shock of something utterly new in history as the bound man emerges from the tomb. What we thought we knew about the world is literally turned upside down. Just because our faith has often been co-opted by the powers of this world – does not mean that this stinking brew of Christian Nationalism will remain forever unchallenged.
We have a God works to free Lazarus, to free people and institutions from the shackles of the past. We can be released into a future where the rightful separation of church and state can be instituted and maintained.
In this light, I’d ask you to consider a prayer or two for this Tuesday’s election. Let’s affirm that God alone is in charge. What if we began to pray to see more of God’s righteous government in our own lives. What if we began to pray for God’s hand to be felt in all aspects of government, including our elections. What if we pray that divine guidance enacts just policies for all of God’s children. Let us acknowledge God’s divine wisdom and God’s loving governance.
I’ll end with one of my favorites from the Prayer Book (prayer 27): Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart and especially the hearts of people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
And please, if you haven’t already, go vote on Tuesday.
