"I Pledge Allegiance..."

Photo by April Sikorski

This is basically my post from the 4th of July with a new introduction. But what I wanted to point out then is the same thing I'm trying to get at now, so I think it is justified.


So we Americans just elected a new President. Whether we're jubilant or depressed by the result we at least ended up doing what we always do: the winner and loser graciously congratulate each other, and move on. The peaceful transition of power, at least, is something to be proud of; it doesn't happen everywhere.

In ancient Rome, of course, you didn't get to vote for the Emperor, but Romans were still proud of being Romans. In fact, most people have probably felt the same way about their homelands down through the ages. Mongols were proud to be mongols, serfs were proud of their lords, and Romans thought it was an illustrious thing to be a Roman. Even St. Paul would pull out his Roman citizenship on occasion:

But Paul said to the police officers, “They had us beaten in public without a proper trial—even though we are Roman citizens—and they threw us in prison. And now they want to send us away secretly? Absolutely not! They themselves must come and escort us out!”

(Book of Acts 16.37)

Where Paul claimed his rights as a Roman

Real Country

Interestingly enough, a few years later Paul wrote a letter to the group of Jesus' followers in Philippi, the city where this happened. In it he makes a point that we 21st century US citizens who claim to follow Jesus of Nazareth would do well to keep in mind as we mull over election results.

To the very people who had witnessed the Apostle forcefully insist on his citizenship in the only superpower of his time, Paul reminds them what country they really belong to.

But our citizenship is in heaven—and we also eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.

Philippians 3.20-21

No matter what nation we live in or how much we may love it, members of the Christian movement have given their allegiance to another country and another ruler.

Paul had just finished writing this:

And so God raised him high

     and bestowed on him the name beyond all names,

that at the name of Jesus 

     every knee will bow,

those in heaven, on earth and beneath the earth,

     and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

     to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2.9-11  (my own translation)

I'm particularly fond of N.T. Wright's little quote, "If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not." Jesus of Nazareth is our true King now, and eventually every knee will bow down to him.  Our knees -- the knees of the Christian movement -- have already had the privilege of bowing to him. We have independence from every 'Caesar' that rules anywhere. And our true allegiance to Christ's kingdom should condition our actions toward whatever other governments we happen to live under. 

Today, amidst your joy or agony over the election results, remember what country you truly belong to and who you really are.

On Loving Your Country

U.S. Navy photo

If you live in the United States, like the bulk of this blog's readers do, you'll probably spend today celebrating Independence Day. This is where we band together and enjoy the fact that, despite it's many, many problems, flaws, disagreements, and odd way of choosing Presidents, we have a pretty good country here. Personally, I'm a big fan of the US and proud to be a citizen of this country.

Of course, most people probably felt the same way about their homelands down through the ages. Mongols were proud to be mongols, serfs were proud of their lords, and Romans thought it was an illustrious thing to be a Roman. Even St. Paul would pull out his Roman citizenship on occasion:

But Paul said to the police officers, “They had us beaten in public without a proper trial—even though we are Roman citizens—and they threw us in prison. And now they want to send us away secretly? Absolutely not! They themselves must come and escort us out!”

(Book of Acts 16.37)

Where Paul claimed his rights as a Roman

Real Country

Interestingly enough, a few years later Paul wrote a letter to the group of Jesus' followers in Philippi, the city where this happened. In it he makes a point that we 21st century US citizens would do well to keep in mind as we celebrate our country.

To the very people who had witnessed the Apostle forcefully insist on his citizenship in the only superpower of his time, Paul reminds them what country they really belong to.

But our citizenship is in heaven—and we also eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.

(Philippians 3.20-21)

No matter what nation we live in or how much we may love it, members of the Christian movement have given their allegiance to another country and another ruler.

Paul had just finished writing this:

For this reason God raised him to the highest place above
     and gave him the name that is greater than any other name.
And so, in honor of the name of Jesus all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below
     will fall on their knees,
and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord,
     to the glory of God the Father. 

(Philippians 2.9-11, GNB)

I'm particularly fond of N.T. Wright's little quote, "If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not." Jesus of Nazareth is our true King now, and eventually everyone will "fall on their knees" to him.  Our knees -- the knees of the Christian movement -- have already had the privilege of bowing to him. We have independence from every 'Caesar' that rules anywhere.

Today amidst our fireworks and barbecue and current geopolitical dominance, remember who you really are and where you really live.

"...I know only one Lord..."

Thoughts for a Sunday Afternoon

Those who declare publicly that they belong to me, I will do the same for them before my Father in heaven. But those who reject me publicly, I will reject before my Father in heaven.

(Gospel of Matthew chapter 10 verse 32 - 33, Good News Translation)

Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, a king, and the ancients understood this well enough (see Gospel of Luke 23.2 or Acts of the Apostles 17.7 for example). He sits on a high and lofty throne ruling a very real kingdom of which we are citizens (Letter to the Philippians 3.20).  In New Testament times "declaring publicly that you belong" to this king (or "confess him," as the old Bibles put it) was seen as nothing less than sheer disloyalty to the empire and, as most people know, could get you tortured and killed. 

Over the past 2000 years though this fact -- that Christianity is a clash of kingdoms and in today's scripture Jesus is asking us to choose sides in the conflict -- has mostly been stripped away. In the 21st century we see "confessing Jesus" as simply picking a belief system that we feel comfortable with. And the unspoken assumption often is that we can always switch to another system if the first one gets uncomfortable.

But for Jesus, we don't declare allegiance to a belief system, we declare allegiance to him as king. And the stakes are rather serious.

_________________________

Saturnius said, "...Swear by the genius of our lord the Caesar!" 

Speratus answered, "I do not recognize any empire of this present age. I serve that God whom no person has seen, or can see with these eyes. I have not stolen. On the contrary, when I buy anything I pay my taxes, for I know only one Lord, the king of kings, the ruler of all nations.

(Acts of Martyrs, official court minutes from Carthage, July 17, 180)