"Singing Our Faith: This Is My Song" - Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Singing Our Faith: This Is My Song
Pentecost 6
July 5, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Psalm 65.9-13; Matthew 6.9-13

May 1978 began an odyssey starting in my native Twin Cities MN that would involve sojourns in Chicago, IL, Louisville, KY, Alexandria, VA, Gettysburg, PA, and then back to Central IL. In 2000 I accepted a call to a congregation in Winona, MN, returning at last to “God’s Country,” where we all know that talking to God is a local phone call. As much as each of these various places I lived had something to commend itself, there was always the pull of Minnesota on me. Not surprisingly, there were many “natives” of other areas who felt the same passion and attraction in their place. They believed that theirs was an exceptional place to live every much as I believed about Minnesota.

I thought about this local brand of nationalism as I pondered patriotism and what it means to be a Christian who is also a citizen. Yesterday was Independence Day and today we are celebrating by focusing on the hymn This Is My Song. Bob and Donna Mertesdorf suggested today’s hymn, saying, “This hymn is a wonderful National song. We appreciate the prayer for our country and all the countries of the world.”

This Is My Song was written by two people: Lloyd Stone (vv. 1-2) and Georgia Harkness (vs. 3).
Stone was born in California in 1912 and planned to attend the University of Southern California as a music major with the intent of teaching. Instead, he joined a circus bound for Hawaii and remained there the rest of his life. He wrote his stanzas in 1934 as a 22 year old. Stone also wrote many other poems and even a musical based on Joyce Kilmer’s “Trees.” He died in 1993.

Harkness, born in 1891, was fortunate to be born into a family that was both upper middle class and progressive, giving her many opportunities for education denied most women of her generation. Though she was denied entry to theological schools, she found a way around it earning a PhD in the philosophy of religion in 1923. She became the first woman to teach theology in an American seminary and taught in several prominent theological schools. She was ordained in the United Methodist Church in 1926 but because she wasn’t admitted to a conference, she could not function as a minister until she was accepted in 1956. In addition to writing 30+ books, she was a force to be reckoned with on the world theological stage, even standing toe-to-toe with the equally formidable Karl Barth. You can see the theologians touch in verse three of This Is My Song.

The poems of Stone and Harkness are most often set to Finlandia, a hymn based on the seventh movement from Opus 26 by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). Ironically, the symphony was a covert protest against increasing censorship in Finland from the Russian Empire. It was accompanied by a tableau depicting scenes from Finnish history. To avoid censorship, Opus 26 had to be performed under less nationalistic names. Most of the piece is turbulent reflecting Finland’s own national struggle, until the end when the serenely melodic Finlandia Hymn is heard. With Finnish lyrics, is one of Finland’s most beloved national songs. Of course, Finlandia is also used with other Christian hymns.

Today, we are putting This Is My Song in conversation with Psalm 65, Matthew 6 and July 4. Psalm 65 extols the beauty and blessing of creation and how God provides richly and abundantly in so many ways. Matthew 6 is from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the greatest block of Jesus’ teaching of the way of the kingdom for his followers. A key verse in what we know as “The Lord’s Prayer” for us today is, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.” As for Independence Day, there are a lot of themes to choose from, but perhaps the one most pertinent for today is the notion of America’s exceptionalism, that we are more special than other countries.

This is a massive undertaking well beyond the scope of a Sunday sermon, so here are some thoughts about kingdom living and citizenship in today’s world. First, I do believe that America is exceptional, but not in the way some people mean it. God has gifted our country with wonderful resources and the opportunity live in amazing ways. But, I think that it’s helpful to recognize that most citizens of other countries love theirs as much we do or even more. Imagine my experience with living in different states on a global level and you get an idea of what I’m talking about. Yes, there are countries that have significant problems, but we have to admit that we do, too. Second, I also believe that God has gifted and is present among every other country in unique ways. If we believe that God is present in, with and under everything in creation, then God is present in every people of every land. There is no such thing as a godless country.

Third, when we talk about God’s kingdom coming on earth, we need to realize that it is God who will bring about the kingdom, not us, and that it will be a kingdom of peace, justice and mercy. Furthermore, we realize that cannot legislate kingdom living, but as good Christian citizens we can be signs of the kingdom. We can do that by affirming the diversity of our nation as blessing and gift. We can do it by affirming the interdependence we share with all peoples of the world. We can do it by praying for our leaders and elected officials, like them or not, that they will work for justice and peace. Fred Buechner says that what it means to be a patriot in our world today is to realize that we need find ways to live interdependently with all the peoples of the world. I think he’s right.

And, of course, we can do this by giving thanks, to God for blessings received and for those who have shaped our national life, often at great personal cost as we carry on this tradition. This, indeed, is our song, a song of gratitude, peace and prayer for God’s kingdom to shine through us. Amen.