You may have noticed
that our flags- our American flag and our Episcopal flag since the remodel have not been as
prominently displayed as they once were.
You may remember that when the altar was back there the American Flag
was to the right of the altar and the Episcopal flag was to the left.
As we were moving back
into the space and returning all of the various liturgical accoutrements to the
church, I realized that we hadn't made provision for where the flags were going
to be displayed in the new configuration. I made a snap decision to place the American
Flag in the columbarium- I wanted to keep it in this holy space- because it as such an important symbol and I thought it’s place in
the columbarium would in some way honor those
in the columbarium who have served in our nation’s armed forced forces. I also
felt returning the flags to their previous residence kind of cluttered the
space back there where the choir now resides.
At the time, I decided
to leave the Episcopal flag out of the sanctuary and think more about where to
put it later.
At the time- and as you
all began to ask questions, like where is the flag, I also began to think more
about what the theological rationale might
be for having flags displayed in worship—there
are good number of our sister Episcopal churches that do not display flags.
I also began to ask myself questions like--If
God and The Gospel are at the center of what
we do in Sunday morning worship should
flags be displayed, and if so, where is the appropriate place? Should they be in the center - in a place of
prominence or displayed somewhere else?
I also began to wonder--Are
there not times when we as a nation do things that are contrary to the Gospel
of Jesus Christ - how does that work when the policies of a nation directly
contradict the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How does it work when we may have
symbols or messages that some may see as competing with one another? Cross vs. flag?
I began to think about the potential that the
flag has to become an idol, the potential
that it has to distract us from our
ultimate allegiance not to country, but to God.
As these questions-as
these thoughts swirled in my head—I consulted my liturgical manuals that guide
a lot of my decisions around worship and liturgy. Both the Prayer Book Rubrics Expanded and A
Priest’s handbook—were surprisingly- silent on the matter of flags in the
church.
Earlier this week
though I finally came across an article that helped frame this debate for me
theologically and spiritually. As the one responsible for the spiritual lives
of many- I need to understand the spiritual and theological ramifications of
what we do and why we do it. Up to this
point in my career I hadn't given the flag in worship much thought- but once
this can of worms got opened I needed to understand why.
The article I read was
written by a woman named, Julie Wortman, entitled, “Let the Banner wave in
church.” Essentially her argument is that the when the
American flag is displayed in the church
it is meant to be a symbol that reminds those who see it, of the responsibilities all of us have--- to
build a nation where liberty and justice
is available to everybody.
Wortman writes, “If
you’re displaying the flag, you are signaling that the national public life is…
a proper focus for theological reflection or debate.” What that means is that the when we display a
flag in church we should be framing the issues facing our common life together
theologically- we should be asking questions like-- how does love of neighbor
speak to and inform how we deal with
immigration - we should be asking
question of how do we uphold the dignity of every human being in the face of places like Gitmo or the use
of torture.
She continues further
on in the article speaking about the
evocative role that the flag can play in worship she writes-- “ Let it [the
flag] be a regularly visited station of penitent prayer and contemplation. (What would it mean to
stand at that flag and ask for God’s forgiveness for the countless people we
enslaved for several hundred years - realizing that some of the greatness of
nation was built on the back of people in captivity)
She continues, “Let its
presence nag us as we speak the words of the baptismal covenant. Let its
presence insist we reconsider the meaning of “liberty and justice for
all.” Let it pester us as we pray for
all who have died or [all] who live in poverty or [all who] suffer from
exploitation.” [1]
Our flags will be here-
we will figure it out --I will meet with the working group who has been making
recommendations about this space and figure out where the best place to display the flags is.
I think we also need to
remember that one the one hand we have very patriotic folks who think that the
flags should be displayed and displayed prominently. On the other hand we have very patriotic folks
who feel flags shouldn't have a place in worship and we also have a whole
lot of folks in the middle who could go either way.
This is the Episcopal
Church were we up hold the via media- the middle way.
How do we honor where
everyone is on this matter? As the rector that's my job.
Ladies and gentleman
when we look at the American flag we often think of the sacrifice that
countless Americans have made- blood has been spilled- men and women have
marched off to war some not to return - so that liberty and justice might be
available to all from sea to shining sea. The gospel and our faith also speak about
kingdom, about a dream that God has where liberty and justice flourish.
Like the slaves in this morning’s parable-- we
have been handed something valuable to steward as Christian disciples of Jesus
and as citizens of this nation we have been handed a dream of liberty and justice.
We trample on the
graves of those who died- if we do not
commit ourselves to insuring that liberty and justice is available to all who
walk on this soil.
The problem is that
when we step through those doors and out into the world--, we find places where freedom is not reigning--
places not too far from here, in this great country where children are not free
to go outside and to play baseball or go to the park because their
neighborhoods are infested with drug dealers and drive by shootings and
their families do not have the means to get themselves out- What are we to do about?
What about our students
who have limited opportunities because the educational systems are failing them --because we are not pumping enough resources into them?
My wife a school
psychologist works in a elementary school where she serve as social
worker-psychologist and guidance counselor- why are we not demanding that we
staff our schools appropriately with appropriate number of mental health
professionals- it’s no wonder things like bullying continue its no wonder we
see young people walking into schools brandishing weapons and then injuring and
killing their teachers and classmates.
Many of our veterans who are coming back from
wars are not free-- many of them are trapped in bodies that are so damaged they
no longer work and trapped in brains that are traumatized- what are we to do
about- should we not be demanding that they are cared for appropriately—shouldn't we be asking the questions of whether or not the wars we are sending them into
are just- and if not just shouldn’t we
be storming the halls of government crying out--- fighting for fight for those of us.
The flag and our gospel
demand that we work toward those dreams of liberty and justice for all. Many
have died – for that dream including a man who long ago who stretched his arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross?
So may the flag we
display symbolize not only the sacrifice and dedication of countless but may it also remind
us of our duty to do the work that we
all have to do and may that flag and the cross inspire to get up off our duffs
to do it.
AMEN
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