Father Gary’s Sermon

Inspired from Matthew 11:25-30

Proclaimed on July 3, 2005

Back in 1993 Martha Helgerson wrote a little story for the Reader’s Digest. It went something like this. “My children had a pet goldfish that was a favorite of many of the kids in the diverse Washington D.C. neighborhood where we lived. On one particular day we discovered that the goldfish had died. Of the children that were there that day, two were Hindu, one was an Orthodox Jew, one was a Roman Catholic, and three were Protestants. We decided to have a burial ceremony for the fish. As we walked together down the woodland path in our back yard with flowers and a carefully prepared coffin, I wasn’t sure what to say over the grave that wouldn’t conflict with the children’s varying religious beliefs. One girl sensed my uncertainty. ‘I know,’ she said. ‘Let’s sing ‘My Country ‘Tis of Thee.’’ We did, and I smiled to think that it took the funeral of a goldfish to teach me what the great melting pot of America is all about.”

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, that time when we as Americans celebrate our independence. The first among our liberties is our constitutional right to freedom of religion. Because of this freedom there is great diversity among us as to how we worship and talk about the Divine. Indeed, where most nations throughout the world may have one, maybe two, or sometimes three religions within their borders. The United States of America, however, has over three hundred Christian sects and denominations alone. This is not to mention the rapid growth of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and New Age Spirituality within our borders. Indeed, it is the freedom not to have a religion that has removed public prayer from our schools.

Therefore it is no surprise when the little family in Washington D.C. wanted to perform a simple burial for their goldfish that the lowest common denominator for expressing their belief in the Divine was to sing ‘My Country ‘Tis of Thee.’ Indeed, up until the Sixties our nation had what is called a civic religion. This religion was kind of a watered down Protestantism, with a common moral foundation. At the base of this foundation were the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule. In a sense, this civic religion was part of the genius of Americanism.

During the creation of the United States the Western World was part of what was called Christendom. This started back around 325 A.D. when the Roman Emperor called Constantine began to make Christianity the official religion of Rome. From that point on the Church and any government in the West that existed were yoked together. Both became wealthy, aristocratic, and the definers of God’s will. Indeed, among those who were not part of the aristocracy, the Church was often a hated institution because of its involvement in government abuse.

With the creation of the American Constitution, however, all became equal under God, and there became a separation of religion and the state. However, this did not end the defining role which religion would have on American politics. Soon after the Revolutionary War, as well as the formation & ratification of the American Constitution, our nation experienced a great religious revival. Prior to the Revolution only about 10% of our population attended church, which exploded to 78% afterwards. This led to a democracy that worked, a democracy operated by common people who participated in a variety of religious communities that generally shared in a common faith.

It was during this time that the civic religion began to evolve, a trend noted by the French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville. In his book entitled Democracy in America he expressed shock that the American government was not run by the aristocracy nor the best trained. Indeed, American government seemed to be run by the least talented, but by persons who paid attention to the people. He also noted that religion, while separate from the government, was indispensable. He described the existence of a common civic religion, which encouraged personal responsibility, as well as a shared morality. As he stated, “There is no country in the world in which the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America.” He also stated, “Religion in America takes no direct part in the government of society, but nevertheless it must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of the country; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it certainly facilitates the use of free institutions. I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion, for who can search the human soul? But I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions.” Citing this to be the opinion of every rank of American society, de Tocqueville went on to say, “America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!”

Since the Sixties this civic religion known as Americanism has come under great attack, and seems to have all but collapsed. However, Paul Johnson, an English historian, becomes a modern day de Tocqueville when he recently noted in his book entitled A History of the American People that there is another genius in the American culture. That genius is a built-in balance, the capacity for America to correct itself when it begins to wander into extremes. Today this is important for us to note, for many Americans despair that our culture has completely unraveled. The civic religion has been viciously attacked, and is now often identified by our cultural elites as radical right wing extremism. All sorts of newfangled doctrines and beliefs are touted as a new and more sophisticated spirituality, often having more to do with sensuality and sexuality. Many among us are now viewing our culture as a character invented by the author of Alice in Wonderland, a character who was an ordinary padlock, except that it was alive. Lewis Carroll described it as having long, thin arms and legs and as always being nervous, running here and there. One day, another character in the story stopped the twisting, turning, wiggling padlock and asked, “What is the matter with you? Why are you so excited and unhappy?” Waving his thin arms wildly in the air, the padlock exclaimed, “I am seeking the key to unlock myself!”

While this may be an apt description of our culture today, as well as our fragmenting institutions, there does seem to be hope on the horizon. That hope was first verbalized in our Gospel reading today where Jesus gave thanks to the Father for hiding these things from the cultural elite, but instead revealed it to the least of society, and then beckoned his followers who came out of that society to buck up and hang in there, for his yoke is easy if they would but take it upon ourselves and learn from him.

As the English historian, Paul Johnson, has stated, “American culture is highly elastic, and has revealed a great capacity to snap back when it is stretched beyond its principles.” When this occurs, we become much more like the America described by the French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville, “America is great because America is good.” While we may indeed be a melting pot of peoples, and while Christendom may indeed be dead, Christ is still the foundation of our great nation. He is the key with which to unlock ourselves and release the Divine among us. Christ is the reason we can sing together ‘My Country ‘Tis of Thee,’ even at the burial of a simple goldfish. For Christ dumbfounds the elites, while strengthening the most common among us, encouraging us to take on new responsibilities, while sharing a common morality--those things essential for maintaining our republican institutions. This is why we can say even now, ‘God Bless America’ for God blesses the most common among us, creating from the least among us greatness beyond our wildest imaginations.