God of Earth and Altar
July 4, 2004
Psalms 97 and 103 Ralph DiBiasio-Snyder
On this Independence Day, with the Independence Day parade going on within earshot even as I speak, we of course think of matters of nation, and freedom, and patriotism. And we remember that the founders of our nation were overwhelmingly religious people - not right-wing religious people as today's Christian Fundamentalists want us to believe - one thinks of Thomas Jefferson sitting in his library at Monticello, scissors in hand, carefully cutting out - physically - any verses in the New Testament that had to do with anything supernatural, miraculous, changing the Bible . . . an act that would send any Fundamentalist today screaming for a heresy trial. Not Fundamentalists, but they were surely people of faith in God. We would be foolish to try to ignore how pervasive was the Christian faith in the hearts and minds of those who declared themselves independent of England 228 years ago today.
But Independence Day, however much its creators were religious, is not a religious holiday. You wouldn't know that in some churches these days. I saw on a report about a church in Green Bay that was holding a special service last week to honor our service men and women. Honoring those who serve on our behalf is a good thing. I was not concerned about that. What did offend me was the image of a large cross at the center of the platform - the cross, THE symbol of our faith; the cross, the sign of God's love and mercy in the death of Jesus who even facing death did not do violence; the cross, the sign of God's love for all people in every nation; - the cross, this great symbol allegiance to God above all for Christians, was covered with red,
white, and blue streamers - Christian faith merged inextricably with nationalism. Christ and nation converged into one. Faith equated with patriotic fervor; love of God indistinguishable with love of country: that scares me, and it is not uncommon these days.
That being the case when Independence Day falls on a Sunday, you might expect that in churches we would be singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic, or the national anthem. And you'll notice we are not! We have sung This Is My Song - expressing our love for country in the words, This is my home, the country where my heart is; here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine. But we also acknowledged other nations, and we prayed for them and for us : In peace may all earth's people draw together, and hearts united learn to live as one.
And we will conclude our service today O Beautiful for Spacious Skies - another prayer that acknowledges the gifts of our land, and the sacrifices that have brought us the freedoms we enjoy - these are legitimate, faithful sentiments; but in that hymn we also pray for God's grace that we might learn servanthood, self-control: God mend thine every flaw. That, it seems to me, is faithful patriotism.
But before we sing that song, I want us to look at another hymn, O God of Earth and Altar. One day this spring I happened upon this hymn, and was struck and very moved by how appropriate are its words for us today even though the first two verses were written a century ago. The poet of those verses is G.K. Chesterton, an English journalist, essayist, poet, best known perhaps for his mystery novels, the Father Brown mysteries.
He lived from 1874 to 1936, and one writer describes him this way:
"He stood 6'4" and weighed about 300 pounds, usually had a cigar in his mouth, and walked around wearing a cape and a crumpled hat, tiny glasses pinched to the end of his nose, walking stick in hand, laughter blowing through his moustache. And usually had no idea where or when his next appointment was. He did much of his writing in train stations, since he usually missed the train he was supposed to catch. In one famous anecdote, he wired his wife, saying, "Am at Market Harborough. Where ought I to be?"
One of the most prolific writers of the 20th century, Chesterton was known for his great wit, brilliant mind, and for his defense of Christian faith, he himself a Roman Catholic by conversion. He is often quoted - Ronald Reagan was one who quoted Chesterton in his speeches - and he had a gift of saying things that might make you laugh and get angry at him, but almost always challenge our assumptions about life and faith and politics and modern society in general. To give you a bit of a feel for the man, let me share a few things Chesterton wrote.
First on a holiday near and dear to Congregationalists:
"The Americans have established a Thanksgiving Day to celebrate the fact that the Pilgrim Fathers reached America. The English might very well establish another Thanksgiving Day: to celebrate the happy fact that the Pilgrim Fathers left England." Sidelights on New London and Newer New York, 1932.
On politics:
"The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected." - ILN, 4/19/24
On the changing role of women: (1913)
"The tragedy of the modern woman is not that she is not allowed to follow man, but that she follows him far too slavishly." The Victorian Age in Literature, 1913.
On the character of a nation:
"A nation that has nothing but its amusements will not be amused for very long."
On patriotism:
"Patriotism is not the first virtue. Patriotism rots into Prussianism [Fascism] when you pretend it is the first virtue. But patriotism is sometimes the last virtue. A man will swindle or seduce who will not sell his country." The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1922.
"I have generally found [that patriotism is ] thrust into the foreground by some fellow who has something to hide in the background. I have seen a great deal of patriotism; and I have generally found it the last refuge of the scoundrel."
And on Christian morality:
"The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people." - ILN, 7/16/10
"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." - Chapter 5, What's Wrong With The World, 1910
"If there were no God, there would be no atheists."
With that very brief introduction to this fascinating character, I invite you to turn to page 724, as we look together at this prayer-hymn that is as relevant to the world today at it was when it was published nearly a century ago, in 1906.
O God of earth and altar, bow down and hear our prayer . . .
God is Lord over not just the altar, heavenly matters - the realm of the church - but also of earthly matters, or ought to be. And then Chesterton uses the almost childlike image of God towering over the world, bending down to listen to our plea for the world.
Our earthly leaders falter,
Ever heard of an earthly leader faltering, betraying the trust of their people? Say, in this country, and in other nations?
our people drift and die, When leaders betray our trust, we lose our bearings, and our way as well.
The walls of gold entomb us,
The materialism that so defines our age - the gold that we seek after, thinking it will bring us freedom and joy, and yet it only brings bondage of heart and mind - Hopes of "streets of gold" in the next life lead to walls of gold that entomb in this life.
the swords of scorn divide . . .
Mockery replacing political discourse; religious bigotry, racial and ethnic hatreds perpetuate violent divisions. And then notice that last, intriguing line, addressed to God:
Take not your thunder from us . . . . That is, don't cease to be a mighty God, don't become what we would make you, God, to be: simply my buddy, my friendly advisor who makes no demands, a God cut down to fit our dreams and our ideals, instead of a real God.
But take away our pride.
Pride: the ridiculous idea that we alone can make it; that we have figured out God's plan, using religious language and fervor for our own purposes. That we can go it alone in the world, that we know what is best for the rest of the world.
Look at verse two: Here is a list of things from which we need divine deliverance.
From all that terror teaches . . . Terror teaches us to fear . . . . and we have become a culture of fear;
from lies of pen and tongue.
Depending on your political point of view you can fill in for yourself what lies are being told by politicians and pundits, in congressional hearings, and on radio talk shows, television news, the print media and film.
From all the easy speeches that soothe us in our wrong,
Easy speeches - we're really doing fine, things are getting better, yes, we have a few problems, but we're making progress, all will be well, God of course is on our side; we all just need to buy more and everything will work out in the end.
Ironically in our time the speeches that warn us of coming terror put us to sleep too. We're being constantly warned of pending doom, from the color-coded terrorist alert scale, to at least one local TV station that has a "severe weather alert" meter featured every day, even when the little arrow is pointing to "Low."
From sale and profanation [profaning] of honor and the sword.
Has "honor" become a commodity, to be packaged and marketed? And when is the "sword" - the use of force - sold to the highest bidder, used not for legitimate defense against aggression, but for political advantage?
And this last line: From sleep and from damnation, deliver us, O Lord!
Save us, O God, from an insensitive, uncaring detachment from the crying needs of the world, and our own spiritual anemia too - a people in spiritual hibernation even in the midst of outward show of religion.
And from the ultimate disaster - Chesterton uses the old word "damnation" - that awaits a people who is entombed by its own wealth and chooses to go on sleeping rather than face the hard truths of the world and themselves - remember he said "A nation that has nothing but its amusements will not be amused for very long."
The last verse was written by a contemporary hymn writer, Jane Parker Huber. In it she prays that we be awakened to take action, and to overcome what divides us, whether it be religious or political differences. "Oppressive systems snare us," she says, and much has been written about that in recent years, how often it is not only individuals who perpetuate injustice, but the very structures of society that wrong people. At the same time "apathies increase," sadly. But the answer is not resignation, and withdrawal from the world, but that God might in mercy use us to bring justice to the world, and in bringing justice we work toward peace.
This is not a flag-waving, my country right or wrong, don't ask the hard questions of our leaders because God is with us kind of song, is it! It is a challenging, convicting hymn for all nations, for all people of faith who long for a more peaceful world. As we give thanks this day for our nation and for many, many blessings that we have because of our citizenship in this land, let us also ask to be shown how we can be a better, more faithful people, citizens of the world. May we continue to ask of ourselves the questions that these hymn writers have raised for us.
I invite you to stand and sing as an act of commitment to our God first and then to our country the hymn, O God of Earth and Altar.
