Brian Olson Church Life, Community, Political, Theology, Uncategorized

God Bless America

What is the relationship between Christian faith and patriotism? Are they in conflict with each other? Do they go hand in hand? Is there a place for patriotism in the Church? A friend, a couple of years ago when July 4 fell on a Sunday, expressed the following concern: “Worship services are for celebrating Jesus, not celebrating the United States. I hope your pastor is not planning a special service and message just for the 4th of July. We can celebrate our founding after church.”

He is right that there needs to be a clear distinction between the two. I have seen those who seem to put Christianity and American patriotism on equal footing. And then there are those who argue that to be a good American is to be a good Christian. Taken to the extreme, there are those who are labeled Christian Nationalists; that is they see America as having a special role in God’s work on earth above and beyond that of other nations. While often well-intentioned and possessing some grain of truth, each of these is mistaken in their positions. When considering this, I am reminded of something I wrote several years ago when July 4 also fell on a Sunday.

“On this Lord’s Day which is also our nation’s Independence Day, I am struck with this thought. Being patriotic does not make one a good Christian, but being a good Christian should lead one to a ‘patriotism’ that is thankfulness for God’s past blessing of our nation, a desire to see God glorified in our nation and through our service, and continual prayer for our nations people and it’s leaders.”

The Bible presents us with a clear understanding of our role as Christians in our nation. First and foremost, our identity is not found in the world, or anything in it such as nations. We are sojourners, strangers in a strange land. Jesus in his prayer for the disciples says, “I am not asking that you take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” (John 17:15-16) Peter calls us “foreigners and strangers.” (1 Peter 2:11). Our identity is not found in National, ethnic, or any identity of this world, but in heaven where we have our citizenship. (Philippians 3:20)

So while our citizenship is found in heaven and we merely sojourn in this world. But this does not mean that we have no role in the world today though, for we have already seen that Jesus did not ask that we be taken out of the world. So while we are here, what are we to do? Jeremiah answers this when he writes, “Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters, Multiply there; do not decrease.” (Jeremiah 29:6) We are to live our lives in this place we have been put, but Jeremiah does not end there when he writes, “Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:7)

No, we are not merely sojourners living in a land that is not ours. We are to seek the prosperity of the land in which we have been placed and pray for it. Additionally, Paul writes, “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them, intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

This is the role of a Christian in the world today, and those in America are no different. We are to pray for the peoples and the leaders of the land God has placed us in and we are to seek its prosperity. And while this is the role of a Christian, is this not the job of all citizens of a land. So we see that the roles of a Christian and a patriot are united in their goal. So while we must never make the mistake of identifying the two as the same, we should embrace each role.

So I find myself in agreement with those who declare that a Sunday worship service should not become a patriotic celebration, but to be a time of prayer and worship. However, those prayers should include prayer for our nation, its leaders, and its people. I believe this prayer for our nation is clearly embodied in what could be called our national prayer, “God Bless America”. This simple pray for our nation written by Irving Berlin and most famously performed by Kate Smith should be a prayer of every believer in America.

[Spoken Introduction:]
“While the storm clouds gather far across the sea
Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. “

[Song:]
God bless America
Land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above

From the mountains, to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America
My home, sweet home
God bless America
My home, sweet home

Brian Olson Devotional, Hymns, Worship

When We All Get To Heaven

Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
Sing His mercy and His grace.
In the mansions bright and blessèd
He’ll prepare for us a place.
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!

While we walk the pilgrim pathway,
Clouds will overspread the sky;
But when traveling days are over,
Not a shadow, not a sigh.
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!

Let us then be true and faithful,
Trusting, serving every day;
Just one glimpse of Him in glory
Will the toils of life repay.
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!

Onward to the prize before us!
Soon His beauty we’ll behold;
Soon the pearly gates will open;
We shall tread the streets of gold.
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!

Words by Eliza E. Hewitt, 1898
Music by Emily D. Wilson

 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God
Ephesians 2:8

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
John 14:2 – 3

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Matthew 5:11 – 12

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua 24:15

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
1 John 3:2

 

I am sure you have heard the old saying, you have to know where your going, or you’ll never know when you get there. Having been hiking with the scouts on numerous occasions, I assure you that this is a very useful adage. I recently had the opportunity to attend Florida Sea Base with the scouts. Part of this included canoeing more than five miles on the open ocean to live on an island. Five miles on the ocean, when all you see is water and sporadic islands can be a little disorienting, especially when you have never been there before. Fortunately, our “mate” (guide) knew where we were heading allowing us to arrive safely.

The adage applies to all areas of our lives, including our Christian faith. Yes, there are those who view Christianity as a philosophy of life and a journey of growth, but if this is all it is then as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” Our hope is not simply for this life, it is also for the next. The Christian faith is not just the journey, we have a destination for which we are heading. This is the theme of Eliza Hewitt’s “When We All Get To Heaven.”

The hymn paints a picture of that glorious home to which we look forward. It begins with the words, “Sing the wondrous love of Jesus, Sing His mercy and his grace.” Yes we have a destination, a destination that is available to each and everyone of us because of God’s grace and mercy. Ephesians 2:8 tells us, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” God’s mercy extends to us grace that opens the door for us. A door that opens to our final destination.

This is not a simple destination, it our eternal home. The hymn reads, “In the mansions bright and blessed He’ll prepare for us a place.”God himself has prepared the place for us. In John 14:2 – 3 Jesus says, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

The hymn continues on with a contrast of our lives today, with the home will one day obtain. It speaks of the darkness and troubles we will face. Hewitt writes, “While we walk the pilgrim pathway, Clouds will overspread the sky.” Yes, we will face trials in this life. There will be struggles, but we can travel through knowing the reward that awaits us. Matthew 5:12 tells us to, “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

So we travel on this journey striving to “be true and faithful, Trusting, serving every day.” This is the life we are called to live. This is the journey of the Christian faith, serving every day. We live the words of Joshua in 24:15, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

And so we look forward to the reward for serving, the reward for our faithful journey. The hymn sums up the greatest rewards we will know with the words, “Just one glimpse of Him in glory Will the toils of life repay.” To see the face of our Lord and Savior, one who loved us so much that He gave His very life. This is the fulfillment of our Journey for 1 John 3:2 tells us “But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

So we look “Onward to the prize before us!”, knowing that “Soon His beauty we’ll behold.” Our destination lies before us, and we shall enter in when “Soon the pearly gates will open” and “We shall tread the streets of gold..” We look forward to that day of reward, when our journey shall come to an end. The day we will stand in the very presence of our Lord and Savior. Then “When we all see Jesus, We’ll sing and shout the victory!”

 

 

Read more about “When We All Get To Heaven.”