Ethan Allen, leader of the Green Mountain Boys during the Revolutionary War, was with a group of fellow patriots at a Sunday service led by a stern Calvinist preacher. The preacher took as his text, “Many shall strive to enter in, but shall not be able.” In typical predestinarian fashion, the preacher observed that God’s grace was sufficient to include one person in 10, but not one in 20 would endeavor to avail himself of the offered salvation. Furthermore, not one man in 50 was really the object of God’s favor, and not one in 80…
At this point, before the preacher was able to utter another depressing divine statistic, Allen seized his hat and left the pew saying, “I’m off, boys. Anyone of you can take my chance.” I don’t blame Ethan Allen for walking out on that, but most people wouldn’t have taken that liberty. Obviously, Allen was a free thinker as well as a fighter for freedom. Last Thursday marked the 248th anniversary of the adoption by the continental Congress of the Declaration of Independence. The declaration was the work of a committee of five: John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. That day on which this committee presented the Declaration of Independence must have been an intensely exciting one, for they knew that this declaration would lead the colonies to war against the most powerful nation on earth. The declaration makes it clear that this move toward revolution was based on universal principles concerning the rights of the individual and the responsibility of government: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” That declaration did indeed lead to war, to the shedding of much blood, as well as countless other sacrifices, and ultimately to the establishment of this great nation.” Throughout my life, I have occasionally fantasized about one of the founding fathers, for example, George Washington, coming back to earth and seeing what he helped to set into motion. What would he think about what the United States has become? Our boundaries extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific. What would Washington think about airplanes, subways, railroads, and automobiles; electric lights, hot tapwater, and indoor bathrooms; about buildings that reach as high as the clouds, microwave ovens, fast food, the Internet, cell phones, Facebook, and Twitter? After I fantasize for a while about what Washington would think about all of the wonders of our high-tech world, my imagination turns toward the more negative aspects of modern life. What would he think about the thousands of homeless people in every major city in this land, of our huge crime rate, the many lives destroyed by drug addiction, and our high rate of illiteracy in spite of the fact that education is available to every child in this country? What would he think of our current candidates for President? Washington was an Episcopalian. What would he think about the fact that there are beautiful Episcopal churches all over this country and yet we had an average Sunday attendance in 2022, the last year for which we have figures, of 372, 952 — fewer than 400,000 people in church in the Episcopal Church and dwindling every year? My fantasy always ends with Washington having very mixed feelings about our condition. How can a nation with so much wealth, so much power, and capable of doing so much good have so many overwhelmingly sad problems? And then I come back to the present, and I realize that my fantasy wasn’t about George Washington at all, but was a way of helping me to reflect on our society. We all have a tendency, I think, to be rather schizophrenic when it comes to thinking about our country. On one hand, we can get caught up in singing patriotic songs and celebrating so much that is good about this land, and on the other hand, we can look at all of the problems and become very pessimistic and despairing. Neither view taken by itself, is realistic or helpful, but put the two together and add to them God’s love for us and our love for God and his Church, and we have all that we need to do our part in dealing with the problems that face this nation. As people who love our country, and who love God, most of all, the only part of the world that we’re responsible for changing is that part in which we live. We cannot alleviate world hunger, but we can and must help to feed the hungry in this community, and we’re doing that on a daily basis with our lunch program. We haven’t been able to do away with crime, but we can and must teach our children right from wrong. We can’t alleviate the problem of literacy, but we can and must work toward making our schools the best they can be. It’s important for the Church to celebrate Independence Day. The Episcopal Church has made Independence Day a Major Feast, so that we can remember and give thanks for those who gave their lives that we might be free. It’s important to give thanks for the many blessings we enjoy as citizens of this country, and to use that thankfulness to stir within us the will to be sacrificial in serving the common good. That’s where our faith and patriotism come together, and it is that point where we are ready for our Lord to send us out, as he sent his disciples, to proclaim the Gospel. Adam Smith, whose economic and philosophic ideas helped to shape our constitution, said that “to feel much for others, and little for ourselves; to restrain our selfish, and exercise our benevolent affections, constitutes the perfection of human nature.” It is when we become this kind of patriot that patriotism will serve its proper end, and be altogether consistent with our calling as Christians. God bless our native land; firm may she ever stand through storm and night: when the wild tempests rave, ruler of wind and wave, do thou our country save by thy great might. For her, our prayers shall rise to God, above the skies; on him we wait; thou who art ever nigh, guarding with watchful eye, to thee aloud we cry, God save the state!
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