For Wilshire Baptist Church
Watching “A Capitol Fourth” on PBS, I had a thought as the military band struck up “The Stars and Stripes Forever”: they were playing the same arrangement I’ve played countless times over the years beginning in junior high school. And listening to a recording from 1909, it’s pretty much the same arrangement that composer John Philip Sousa premiered in 1897. I find a curious comfort in knowing I’ve been part of something that has been so constant.
I had a similar thought Sunday morning in church when we prayed “The Lord’s Prayer.” It struck me that we were saying the same words written into the Gospels in the first century and recited in prayer by untold billions of people since then. I’d say both the march and the prayer have become what we call “classics” or at least deeply engrained in our Western cultural tradition. But will they last forever?
Both the march and the prayer point to forever. It’s in the title of the march, and also in the seldom-heard words added by Sousa: “Hurrah for the flag of the free. May it wave as our standard forever.” The march wants us to believe that the flag and the constitutional representative democracy it represents will stand forever. That remains to be seen.
Our nation is going through a transition the likes of which we haven’t seen in a long time. I won’t say “unprecedented” because that is a short-sighted, arrogant term that says this is the only important time in our history and discounts the struggles and perseverance of earlier generations. Still, there’s no denying that our culture and our form of government are feeling the pains of change. Good or bad? I heard a producer of Ken Burns’ historical documentaries say they usually stop 25 years back in order to leave time for more recent history to gain context and meaning. In other words: time will tell if these times now will lead to better times tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the church and organized religion as we’ve known it is also going through a transition. Some say the golden age of the church and denominational religion is coming to a close. That may or may not be true. Regardless, the words in “The Lord’s Prayer” point to a larger truth that no human – whether standing alone or marching in armed regiments – can challenge: God is “the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”
The rub right now – and the reason these transitions are so unsettling – is there are wildly different opinions on the role of government and the role of the church. Some want a lot of government authority, and some want just a little. Some want a church that dictates the movements of the Holy Spirit, and some want to set the Holy Spirit free. Some want religion rolled up into a ball with government, and some want them kept far apart.
We watched a recording of “A Capitol Fourth” on July 5th because on the fourth we were hosting a neighborhood watermelon party in our yard. We had old friends and new acquaintances getting to know each other and sharing news and stories. It was a civic event to be sure, but there also was some “kingdom” in it too. Whether young or old, brown or white, decades in the neighborhood or just months on the street, all have an opportunity to be a part of this United States of America for as long as it lasts. And all already are members of God’s kingdom forever.
I sincerely believe the words of the prayer – “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” – mean that God’s forever kingdom is already here and now. Our country might last longer and stand stronger if we treated each other with that truth in mind.