A PILGRIM'S PATRIOTISM

As the fourth of July approaches I offer the following thoughts on being a Christian patriot:

In Romans 9:1-4 Paul writes, I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel.

PAUL’S PATRIOTISM WAS NOT REMOVED AND REPLACED BUT RATHER REDEEMED AND TRANSFORMED

At first blush these words in Romans 9:1-4 seem at odds with Peter's words in 1 Peter 2:11, or Paul’s own words in passages such as Philippians 3:20, and 2 Corinthians 5:20, in which he tell us that our citizenship is in heaven, that we are to live here as foreigners, pilgrims and ambassadors of Christ. It is clear from Romans 9:1-4 that Paul holds a special and passionate affection for his own people, Israel, that is separate and distinct from the love that he has for God’s people, the church. In fact, Paul makes that distinction clear in the next paragraph when he says that not everyone descended from Israel are Israel (v. 6), and not all of Abraham’s descendants are God’s children (v. 7).  So in Romans 9:1-4 he is speaking with patriotic fervor about his special affection for his own people- the Israelites- who are not God's people.

Sometimes in the church we wonder if it is possible to be a wholehearted citizen of heaven and an American patriot both, and what we must see from Romans 9:1-4 is that Paul models for us what the patriotism of a pilgrim should look like. God didn’t remove and replace Paul’s patriotism for Israel, He redeemed and transformed it. Paul was a patriot both before and after his encounter with the risen Lord, but as a result of that encounter everything in Paul’s life would change including the nature of his patriotism. His old patriotism for Israel was transformed from an idolatrous desire to see Israel exalted to a new redeemed desire to see Christ exalted in israel.

Before Christ, Paul’s identity had been totally wrapped up in his heritage. In Philippians 3:5, Paul gives us a glimpse into this- he says, “…circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee.” He describes himself as “a Hebrew of Hebrews.” That was his identity before Jesus. His pride and his identity and his hope was totally wrapped up in his national/ethnic identity. It was his idol, but then just a few verses later he goes on to say,  “I count everything as  loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage,  that I may gain Christ.”

So his patriotic fervor for Israel is radically transformed, and whereas before he felt pride and delight in Israel now he feels sorrow and anguish. And like all true patriots Paul is even willing to sacrifice himself for the people that he loves. He says, For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people. If it were possible, Paul loves the people of Israel so much that he says he would trade places with them. He would take their place under God’s wrath if, in return, they could come to a saving knowledge of the Gospel. And he was not speaking in Hyperbole either-  he said in verse 1, I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit. He meant what he said. So we see that Paul’s patriotism was marked by a willingness and a desire to lay his own life down in sacrifice for his people.

SORROW AND ANGUISH

During those seasons in life when a person suffers terrible loss, like when a loved one has died, well-intentioned people will sometimes try to cheer up the person who is mourning, but when you’re grieving you don’t want to be cheered up. You want to cry. You want someone to understand and to share in your grief. As Romans 12:15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”   

It can be very difficult to find the words to say to someone who is grieving, and, as a pastor, I feel like, to some extent, that is my job every year as the fourth of July approaches. Those who have spiritual eyes to look on the United States know that we are sitting by the bedside of a dying America. She is dying from a cancer of the soul. What can I say to comfort my pilgrim-patriot friends and bring hope into the midst of our collective grief over the course of our country? I’ll begin by telling you what I won’t say. I won’t tell you to “cheer up.” I understand and I share your grief. And I won’t say that things are worse in countries like China or Syria anymore than I would tell a parent who lost one of their children to look on the bright side because they didn’t lose all of them.

I have noticed that often, after the death of a loved one holidays, birthdays and other occasions are especially difficult times when the loss is felt more sharply, and July 4^th is increasingly a difficult day for many Christians across the country because we don’t feel like celebrating- we feel deep anguish and unceasing sorrow over the United States.

 All of the fireworks and the patriotic songs and flag waving seem to be saying “cheer up,” and I don’t want to cheer up. The America of bygone years celebrated independence from King George III, but Americans today are openly celebrating their independence from the King of kings, and we cannot join them in that. There is so little that our country celebrates today that we can join her in celebrating.

 So, like Paul, let’s allow ourselves appropriate emotions to go with the state of things in our country this fourth of July. Let’s not put on a mask of proud celebration that is out of step with the spiritual realities that surround us.

There is a way to love one’s nation or people that is idolatrous and that competes with God for space in our heart.  We see this sometimes even in the church, but we need not reject or tamp down every patriotic impulse that will arise in our hearts, as though it were a betrayal of our identity as a citizen of heaven. Paul didn’t see it that way. Like so many other relationships that we hold before and after coming to Christ, our special love for country is not removed and replaced when we become a Christian- it becomes transformed and redeemed into missionary zeal. Whereas before we may have delighted in the exaltation of the USA, now our hearts beat with a redeemed patriotic desire to see Christ exalted among our people.  Christian patriotism in 2017 should not find expression in a boasting celebration, but in prayers, in anguish and sorrow, and in a sacrificial willingness to bear the scorn of our countrymen in order  to be salt and light in the midst of this generation. The pressure is great to give our fellow Americans what they want, but in this hour we must show ourselves to be true patriots by trying to give what is most needed even though what is needed may not be what is wanted.  Like Paul we will love our people best when we love Christ most.