Father Gary’s Sermon

Inspired from Luke 10:1-12, 16-20

Proclaimed on July 4, 2004

One day a father, while sitting with his son, quizzed him saying, “There are three frogs sitting on a log. One decided to jump off. How many frogs were left?” The boy immediately answered, “That’s easy--two!” Then the father cautioned, “Now, Son, you weren’t listening.” And he repeated the same problem. After several moments of reflection the son answered, “There are still three. One had only decided to jump, but he had not yet jumped.”

Such is similar to the story that is in our Gospel reading for this morning. Jesus is on his last journey to Jerusalem. He is looking for this trip to accomplish his great purpose. Following him were many people who are excited about their own visions of him mission. Out of this group, however, Jesus selects seventy of them to go ahead of him to announce his coming. He empowers them to preach, teach, and heal in his name. Like the story of the frogs, which are divided between those who “jump” and those “just deciding,” so it is likewise true of those accompanying Jesus. Those who are “just deciding” can be referred to as disciples. A disciple assumes the more passive role of sitting at the feet of the Master and learning. On the other hand, there are those who “jump.” These represent those in that group of seventy who now act in Jesus’ name. They are the “called out ones.” The Bible refers to these as apostles.

The question is how does this story pertain to us? Today we as Americans are celebrating the Fourth of July. It is the anniversary of our nation’s freedom. It is a time to celebrate. It is a time to reconsider our national mission. At this point in our nation’s history our time for reconsidering our mission is quite intense. Indeed, our nation is evenly divided politically, philosophically, and spiritually. This great national division is clearly discernable in our elections, our attitudes towards the War on Terrorism, the War in Iraq, as well as the manifold cultural issues that stir our consciences. Therefore, when we pick up a newspaper or turn on the news on our radios or televisions our debates are very intense and ugly. Even so, the people making all of the noise represent only minority views, whether they are expressing the views of the political or religious left or right. The majority of us would prefer that all of this noise go away so that we can go on with the enjoyment of our lives.

It is worth knowing, however, that our nation has been in similar circumstances in the past. This was certainly true just prior to the Revolutionary War. While the noise in society was loud and nasty, only 30% of the people approved of breaking away from England. Those desiring to end this relationship argued against having a Church and Government that was one. Indeed, they challenged the very idea that any government could determine the will of God. For these few it was a time for decision. It took only this few to “jump off of the log” to throw the remainder of the colonies into a state of war. Those desiring to stay on the log to consider their option were soon forced through this great vortex of chaos as war broke out to determine the final decision.

Following the Revolutionary War we were no longer colonial disciples struggling with a decision. The decision had been made. We were now a new nation of radical apostles establishing a new order. This apostolic action eventually created a new Constitution in which all persons were proclaimed as being equal under God and religion was no longer controlled by the State. Indeed, the whole of these former colonies experienced what historians now call the Second Great Awakening or religious revival. Prior to the war only 10% of the people attended worship services on Sunday. Now, following the Revolutionary War more than 75% of the people attended regular services of worship.

So great was this transformation and so radical this new government that a French philosopher by the name of Alexis de Tocqueville came to America to witness this revolutionary new experiment in democracy. He wrote about these shocking challenges to the world order in his book entitled Democracy in America. This writing spoke of his shock to discover some key differences. In Europe the best-trained people--the elites or the aristocracy, ran government. Under this system the people of the general populace were neglected or ignored. Furthermore, the religion of the land was controlled by the State and poorly participated by the general public. This was not true in the United States where he observed that the least talented people in the land ran the government. Even so, they paid close attention to the needs of the general populace. Furthermore, in this country where religion was not controlled by the State, churches became “the foremost of the political institutions.” In this regard most every church encouraged “civic” responsibility. Indeed, there was a broadly shared cultural “morality.”

As further stated by de Tocqueville, “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 went on to say, “Upon my arrival in the U.S., the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there the more did I perceive the great political consequences resulting from this state of things, to which I was unaccustomed. In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other; but in America I found that they were intimately united, and that they reigned in common over the same country.” Furthermore, . . . “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. Indeed, it is in this same point of view that the inhabitants of the United States themselves look upon religious belief. I do not know whether all the 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. This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizen or to a party, but it belongs to the whole nation, and to every rank of society.” His comments reached their peak when he wrote, “America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!”

Our great national time for decision also occurred prior to the War Between the States, as well as during the Great Depression, which was climax by the Second World War. Now we stand on the cusp of history once again where we as a nation are struggling to decide how, when, and where to jump. Nevertheless, it is important to note that those who have already “jumped”--noisy left and right--are even now determining our future. The question that awaits an answer is, “Will we remain the City on the Hill? -- a paraphrase of former President Ronald Reagan, who was quoting from a colonial preacher, who was quoting from the words of Christ. Will all is said and done, will we be “Apostles of Good” or “Apostles of Evil?”

Presently we do not know the answer to this question. All that we can safely say is that once we are through the coming vortex of chaos we as a nation will be different, just as we were different following the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the Second World War. Indeed, this same truth was experienced in our Gospel as well. Those who followed Jesus to Jerusalem as disciples witnessed his unexpected death, resurrection, ascension, and then the creation of the Church through the sending of the Holy Spirit. Through this crisis these same disciples then became apostles and literally turned the world upside down.

So therefore, let it be resolved that we are fixing to be different, . . . but will we remain free? Will we still remain Christian? Let we who are gathered here today on this Fourth of July pray that God will continue to bless America.