God Bless America

Well, it is a 3-Day weekend and you made it here! Congratulations and Happy Fourth of July. Happy independence weekend.

So folks, I’m going to step in it this Sunday. Frankly this is the most nervous I’ve ever been giving a sermon. But I would be a liar if I didn’t follow the still small voice of the Holy Spirit that has called me to say what I will say this morning. The last two Sundays you heard two separate miracle stories from me, one of which was all about listening to God. I take that seriously and this is what God has laid on my heart to say today. I suggested many other possibilities, but this is the one that always bubbled back up. So, I ask you to trust me this morning like you have all these years and let’s explore what the scripture can tell us about our 4th of July Weekend.

Blessing. God Bless America. You hear it all the time. It get’s sung at baseball games (only since 9/11 btw). Our politicians say it all the time. We say it too.

I experience many blessings simply by the fact that I live here and not some other place. I enjoy privileges that many people never get take for granted in other places. I’m free to be here this morning, you are free to be here this morning, and we are free to worship God ,the creator, in our own fashion and with our own particulars even though our particular style of Christian is not the dominant one in our area. We, so far, do not have anyone telling us how to do church or how to worship God and we are free to seek our own paths of wonder and devotion and for that I am grateful. It is a blessing. There are other places in the world where none of that is true and yet, you and I get to do it so easily that we don’t even think to even try to be here every week because it just doesn’t feel that special, but it is.

So for that reason, among many. I thank God for my life, you in those pews this morning, and for my country that allows such riches of blessings. Thank God for that.

In the last few decades, I have been increasingly frustrated that some feel that they have, that their brand of the Christian walk, has a monopoly on Patriotism. I have been so frustrated by the change in our political discourse in the last 30 years that rather than seek to work together, to negotiate and compromise, it has increasingly become about winning or owning the libs, or owning the conservatives. Our faith has increasingly been politicized as well, with one party claiming it’s the God Party. I will never forget just a few years ago, that Pastors accross America got accused of bringing politics into church because they read the beatitudes! The beatitudes. The sermon on the mount. Blessed are the poor, blessed are the meek, etc. The sermon that Jesus gave. Jesus. The central figure of our Christian belief! That is terrifying! What is equally terrifying is that too often these days people that we don’t agree with are characterized as the enemy. Quote:

“Our radical… opponents… want to destroy you and they want to destroy our country.”

Mark 3:24–25 NRSVue

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

Matthew 12:25 NRSVue

He knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

Luke 11:17 NRSVue

But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.

It seems that Jesus had something to say about the state of our politics today. So What about our scriptures this morning?

Isaiah 66:10-14 comes as part of the last chapter of what we call 3rd Isaiah. Isaiah can be divided up into three major sections and this last one is written to a post-exile community that is returning once again to Jerusalem after years of servitude and persecution in Babylon. It calls for rejoicing in God’s comfort and restoration, especially as symbolized by Jerusalem as a nurturing mother. Restoration did not come by their own hands but by God’s providence and blessing. These people were deeply invested in the restoration of Jerusalem and it’s well being — patriots of a sort.

In verse 12 is the phrase šālôm kannāhār: Peace like a river, Shalom: Peace, kannahar: like a river. Shalom is more than just the absence of war: it is wholeness, security, and wellbeing. Like a river, like the Mississippi, abundantly and unstoppably flowing with peace and dignity that are generous and uncontainable. Uncontainable and constant because it comes from God, not from people.

In verse 13, “As a mother comforts her child,” an explicitly maternal image of God. The root of comfort here being the same as prophetic consolation: to comfort, console, or repent.

The mothering loving of God’s shalom spiling out into the the Land from Jerusaelm.

God’s blessing is expressed not in military imagery or domination, but in nourishment, joy, restoration, and bodily tenderness.

It’s a vision of communal wellbeing grounded in mutual care, not conquest.

This is a patriotic vision rooted in grace, restoration, and maternal compassion—not fear or supremacy.

And what about Luke? This passage is about the sending of the 72 disciples. Just before this, as we heard last Sunday, Jesus had set his final sights on Jerusalem where the passion of Holy Week would play out, and here, he is already commissioning people to spread the gospel good news, in his stead, to “the places he intended to go.” Time was running out and Jesus had to get to Jerusalem so he called on his followers to help him spread the word that the Kingdom of God was near.

This was a collective movement, not private piety. He sends them out and the first thing they are to do when they arrive at a place is to declare “Peace to this house.” This not a casual greeting but a missional declaration that they carry with them the Peace of God, not a sword.

The Kingdom of God would be brought into the world, not by a sword, or legislation, but through peace and healing carried by vulnerability. The vulnerability of strangers making declarations of peace to strangers, the vulnerability of God, made human, that chose to die in humility to join in death with all of creation and thus bring life eternal to all.

He tells them if they are not welcome, to shake the dust off their feet in protest and move on. But what does this mean. Is it rejection? No.

In his explanation of the Lord’s prayer, Luther talks about the phrase, “Thy Kingdom come.” And he acknowledges that the Kingdom comes whether we will it or not. It comes because God wills it. And we pray so that we may participate in it’s coming. God’s mission moves forward without coercion. We simply need to let it be known and celebrate what God will do. They moved on because the message was delivered and they could rest in the knowledge that God’s will would be done. The Kingdom would come.

Last week, in our scripture, when Jesus is beginning this journey that we are on now, he admonished the two of the disciples because they wanted to rain hell-fire and brimstone down on the people that rejected or insulted them, these people that were classically political and cultural opponents of the band of Jews headed to Jerusalem. James and John wanted to punish the people that didn’t get on board with the message they were spreading, but Jesus “rebuked them,” Luke says. He rebuked them because that’s not how God does it. God says love your neighbor as yourself. Love your enemies. Love your political opponents. Love the people who disagree with you. Love them into wholeness the same as all the other misfits. Listen to them. Hear them. Love them. Find out what is really going on when they say hateful things, or examine yourself when you feel threatened by someone and ask yourself, “Why? What am I missing?

In verse 17, the 72 come back and report what they have seen, quote:

New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition Luke 10

17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” 18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning,” end qote.

Satan, evil, and injustice fall when peace, healing and Gospel justice are proclaimed.

What does this passage speak about us and the way we carry our own messages to each other? The Gospel mission is not national, partisan, or violent.

Peace is offered, never imposed. Judgment is expressed without hostility. Healing is central. “Peace be upon this house.”

Jesus’ words confront any ideology that confuses power with righteousness, including Christian Nationalism.

The fall of Satan isn’t tied to war or politics—it’s seen in the quiet power of a peaceful, vulnerable mission.

So how then do we do patriotism. How do we give thanks to God for all this. All these things. All this freedom. Freedom that so often got caught up in Manifest destiny, divine right, and the removal the people who lived here before us. Freedom that for some came much later.

How do we avoid being a house divided? Not by eliminating one side of the house, but by starting with the humanity of the other side, by seeing the humanity in both sides. By lovingly coming together to hear one another, not a by winning a tick-tock viewership count by saying the most outlandish things. The algorithms push us apart by only giving us what riles us up. Good news doesn’t get as many clicks. So what do we do? How can we embrace each other, embrace a patriotic spirit, and do God’s Kingdom all at the same time? By aiming for Unity and Dignity for All through a Gospel Vision of Patriotism

When we say “God bless America,” we are not claiming divine favoritism—we are asking for grace to live wisely, justly, and humbly.

Blessing is not about being the best; it’s about being a blessing to others, especially the vulnerable.

Gospel enlivened patriotism doesn’t belong to one party or worldview—it’s an invitation to shared accountability and compassion.

Isaiah calls a hurting people back into joy, not shame—God’s comfort is both truth-telling and healing.

We can name our national flaws, not to tear each other down, but to build a better future together.

In the third stanza of the hymn America the Beautiful it asks“God mend thine every flaw.” This is a prayer we can all say, liberal or conservative, because it’s born from love of country and love of neighbor.

Luke 10 shows that peace begins in the home, in conversation, in neighborliness.

We don’t bring peace by force or by shouting—Jesus sent his followers to listen, depend, and bless. He told them take nothing with them. This made them totally dependant on the hospitality of others and a reliance on God’s provision.

A Gospel-centered America is one where every house is greeted with peace, even when we disagree politically or religiously. I have seen some really nasty political messages in the form of flags and banners that certainly to do not greet every house with peace.

The 72 disciples were ordinary people—diverse, scattered, and sent to different places. That’s a model for unity in diversity. Our unity isn’t sameness—it’s shared purpose: feeding, healing, listening, and lifting up those in need.

Our Patriotism isn’t about uniformity. It’s about showing up for each other with grace, even when we vote differently.

To love our country is to care for it with humility—to tend its soil, protect its people, and cherish its freedoms for everyone, not just those who agree with us.

Our Patriotism is found not in dominance, but in dignity freely shared.

The Gospel calls us to set a wide table, not draw tighter circles.

Whether we are progressive, conservative, or somewhere in between, we can meet at the place where peace is spoken, healing is offered, and joy is shared.

Unity doesn’t mean agreement on every issue—it means seeing the image of God in every person, and treating them with holy respect.

When we say “God bless America,” let it be a prayer that invites us all into a deeper love for neighbor.

Let it be a call to live with courage, kindness, and compassion.

Not red or blue, but beloved. Not left or right, but reconciled in grace.

For only together can we be the kind of people—and the kind of nation—where peace truly rests upon every house.

Peace be upon this House. Happy Fourth of July. God Bless you. And, God Bless America in all of the Gospel joy, love, humbleness and beauty that makes our land a beautiful gift from God.

Amen.