Sermons
A Message by the Rev. Harvey G. Throop
Palisades Presbyterian Church
San Diego, California
July 5, 2009
“Happy Is The Nation…”
(Psalm 33:1-12)
"Happy is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.”
(Psalm 33:12)
Yesterday across our nation, flags were flown, parades and picnics were held and music and fireworks filled the air as we celebrated the 233 rd anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. For many folks, the celebration continues on today!
And why not? July 4 th is a great holiday. Speaking personally, I especially enjoy the parade at Coronado, with its bands and floats, Shriners in their little cars, thousands of people dressed in red, white and blue and Old Glory flying everywhere. It's quite an event, repeated to varying degrees in cities large and small, from coast to coast and border to border. It's just a wonderful time to celebrate America!
There are many ways, of course, to celebrate July 4 th ! For people of faith, no celebration seems complete without recognizing that the life, history and meaning of this great nation are all dependent upon God, the Sovereign Lord of the Universe. For all the pride and gratitude we feel for our nation, we need always to acknowledge that our nation exists within a larger framework of reality that we dare never to forget.
The psalm that serves as our text this morning – Psalm 33 – provides a helpful perspective on the eternal trustworthiness of God, under whose care and grace we exist.
In this psalm, the writer affirms the almighty nature of God. “God speaks ,” writes the psalmist, “and all creation comes into being.” In and through all that happens, God carries out his plans in this world. Beyond God's word and intent, everything else is vanity. The counsel of the nations is nothing, yet God's counsel “stands forever.” For that reason, we rejoice.
Interestingly, this psalm takes the form of a meditation. Its outline is simple. When you study it closely, you see that it begins with a call to worship, moves to an affirmation of God's word and omniscience, proceeds to recognize the vanity of human might and planning and then concludes with confidence in God's mercy.
The beginning of the psalm summons us to, “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous!” This suggests a public celebration. It is the righteous – those who are morally pure -- who are summoned to worship. From there, the psalmist proceeds to tell us how to praise God – with a new song. The singing of praise is not to be simply traditional or familiar. It is to reflect our creative joy before the Creator and our joyful response to the ever-new acts of God.
By God's word, the psalmist reminds us, God carried out his creative work. “He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses” (Psalm 33:7).
Then he reminds us: “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” (Psalm 33:8-9).
There are times and circumstances when patriotism or a nationalistic spirit can border on idolatry. Such idolatry is born of our forgetting that there is only One who deserves our ultimate loyalty and that One is the God we worship.
There are times when it is so easy to forget that we serve a God who is God not only of this nation, but of all the peoples of the earth, whether they know it or not. And so when we celebrate our nation's independence, we must remember that no matter how patriotic our spirit, even our patriotism is subject to the higher loyalty we have to our God.
Then, we come to the section in which today's text is found:
“The Lord brings the counsel of
the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the
peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands
forever,
the thoughts of his heart to all
generations.
Happy is the nation whose God is
the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen
as his heritage” (Psalm 33:10-12).
The writer is saying that not only does the creation exist by the word of God, but the nations are also judged by that same word. Nations claim a false autonomy. They offer their worldly counsel and they make their plans. Yet, the psalmist continues, their “counsel” and “plans” are only a passing show, while the counsel of the Lord stands forever and his “plans” proceed to all generations. For they come from the eternal God, who speaks his word and does his work in righteousness and in truth.
If nations were saved by their counsel and by their plans, history would be altogether different than what it is. Ultimately, says the psalmist, all the nations' counsel and plans come to naught.
Nations that are blessed, continues the psalmist, are those “whose God is the Lord.” The one true God who creates all things and is above all things and sees all things will come and do his work. He will be our deliverer, our “help,” our defense and our “shield.” Therefore, our trust in him brings the joy of our worship. He will not let us down.
Now, this is where things get a bit mixed up. Someone says the words “Under God” and, immediately a firestorm of protest arises. There are those who want to delete that phrase from the Pledge of Allegiance because they believe it infuses religion onto a society that believes in the separation of church and state. And on the other side, there are those who want to keep the phrase because it acknowledges our nation's religious heritage and is akin to the phrase “In God We Trust” that appears on U.S. currency.
Regrettably, the debate will continue. In spite of the fact that the Supreme Court, itself, begins each of its sessions with the phrase, “God save the United States and this honorable court,” in spite of the fact that the Declaration of Independence refers to God or to the Creator four different times, and in spite of the fact that Congress begins each session each day with a prayer, there are those who object to any mention of God.
The reference to God is a part of the historical record of our nation's founding. It is a fact of history that those who played key rolls in establishing our nation chose biblical images to express what was happening in this new nation.
The complex issue of the relationship between church and state, religion and public life, presents itself periodically in the life of a minister, when he or she is invited to deliver an invocation for some public event. As we respond, we are mindful of how complicated this subject has become. There's the First Amendment, guaranteeing freedom of religion and freedom from state-supported, established religion. The Supreme Court has ruled that mandatory prayers in the public schools are unconstitutional. We are also mindful of who will hear the prayer, in addition to God. And so we proceed with caution out onto a veritable legal and theological minefield.
I have had occasion to pray at such public events as school baccalaureate and commencement services (when you could still do that), at political meetings and at the Allied Gardens Little League Opening Day ceremonies, to name a few.
On one occasion, following my invocation and as I was leaving, a person approached me, obviously distressed. “Why didn't you pray in Jesus' name,” she asked? I explained that I did not pray in Jesus' name because of my awareness of the presence of non-Christians, including Jews and Muslims in the audience -- reflecting the community in which we live. I said I thought it was the Christian thing to do to respect the religious beliefs of others. She didn't buy it. “You had an opportunity to witness for Jesus and you missed it.” I tried to respond by saying that respecting the views of others is witnessing to Jesus. She didn't buy that either.
The issue is ever before us: the relationship between religion and public life, church and state, of course, but more than even that. Should there be prayers in Congress, schools and sport's banquets? Should there be a Christmas nativity at city hall? Does the addition of a menorah make it all right? Should a politician's religious beliefs influence his or her position on public policy that affects all the people: stem cell research, for instance, or abortion or same-sex marriage or family planning?
The founders of our nation intended a nation based on religious conviction that, at the same time, extends religious freedom to all. They made a choice—to bring religion in, but with great care not to abridge the freedom of conscience that was absolutely central to their being there in the first place.
We are blessed, as Christians, to live in a nation devoted to our freedom of conscience, which means our freedom to practice our religion and to follow our Lord Jesus Christ according to the dictates of our hearts, devoted to extending that freedom to all its citizens.
I love something William Sloane Coffin, former pastor of the Riverside Church in New York City, wrote. Coffin loved this country, fought for it in the Second World War, served it as a CIA agent, criticized and demonstrated against it when his conscience required.
He wrote, “How do you love America? Don't say, ‘My Country right or wrong.' That's like saying, ‘My grandmother, drunk or sober'; it doesn't get you anywhere.
Don't just salute the flag and don't burn it either. Wash it. Make it clean.”
May God continue to bless our nation and may we always acknowledge our dependence on Him!
