Thankful to Be a Citizen

We had a wonderful time with the family at Cottonwood Church of Christ this morning. It was a great experience and it is obvious that they are a very loving and caring congregation. One of the ladies even graciously invited us to have some lunch with her after church at Subway over in Cross Plains (in which she is a part owner). Now, though I find myself very worn out as today probably required the most excitement and energy I've had to give the last few days. For those interested, the following is basically what I shared in the service this morning:

I don’t know about you but I am thankful to be a citizen. I believe that in my short twenty-four years of life I’ve had a fair share of opportunities to experience other countries and other cultures, at least enough to realize that I am grateful to live in America. I’ve spent some time in Mexico and I’ve been to parts of Africa where it’s evident they don’t have the same opportunities nor the same access to the choices we have available to us each and every day. It’s a different way of life in those places. They are places in which poverty and persecution prevail. By no means is it life lived on easy street. Yet it is a way of life they are used to and for some reason, at least with the majority of people that I have encountered in these places, they don’t let the challenge of lesser circumstances get them down.

Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to grow up in a different country and culture. What would my life look like? What kind of person would I be today if I had grown up in Thailand, Kenya, China, London, Brazil or any other place for that matter? What kind of limitations would I have had to face or what obstacles might I have had to overcome? Would I have grown up in the streets with hands outstretched hoping for just a meager handout that I might have something to feed my family? Would I have found myself caught in the cycle of poverty and sub-standard living reaching up in failed attempts to break through the ceiling to a future of prosperity? Would I be persecuted for my beliefs and scoffed at for the priority of my allegiances? At this point I guess I’ll probably never know. For, it is a world and a way of life that is completely foreign to me and I would imagine completely foreign to the majority of us.

However, it is in these moments of reflection on what could have been that I am humbly reminded of the blessings we have in America. There really is something to the gift of freedom we have been given. I am not trying to say that these other areas throughout the world are not good places to live or that it is impossible to experience a positive and fruitful way of life. Nor am I attempting to elevate America or our status as Americans over and above any other human beings throughout the world. I realize that in some ways there are conditions here in America which parallel those in other countries. But, my point thus far is simply that we cannot escape that life in other circumstances would be different.

So we come to a day such as today, known to us as Independence Day. I have many fond memories of celebrating the Fourth of July with my family and friends. From barbecue cookouts and picnics to sparklers and the big red, white and blue, July 4th has always been a celebration. But it’s taken me to this point in life to really begin to appreciate the meaning behind the celebration. I’ve lived a simple, sheltered life and as I get older I realize that I am called to so much more as a citizen. There is more to Independence Day than the ooh’s and awh’s in response to the orchestra of fireworks in the night sky. It is a day in which we remember and recognize that the freedom we have been given did not come without a price. Many people have sacrificed as much as their lives that we might live, work, and worship in freedom. In fact, you or your relatives or other loved ones may have already given their lives in the pursuit of freedom. It may be that you have family members right now who are committed to serving our country and protecting our freedom that we so gratefully cherish and I pray God’s guidance and blessing upon them all.

Yet with all the thoughts and emotions that arise on a day like today it seems hard to ignore the words of Paul in Philippians chapter 3. He offers more than a passing suggestion and does more than simply whisper in our ears. Instead he boldly proclaims that his identity is found in something greater than his heritage as a Jew. Not that I am any less grateful to be American but I must consider to what and to whom I ultimately pledge my allegiance. Much like Paul, we must question the source of our own identity. We do not boast in the fact that we are Hebrew or Gentile, Brazilian, Mexican, African or even American. For our citizenship is defined on an other-worldly level. The goal of our existence is that in effect we consider our status as Americans rubbish to knowing Jesus Christ our Lord. I believe we want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, participate in his suffering, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that we have already obtained all of this but one thing we do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, we press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus.

In verse 15 of chapter 3 we catch the tail end of Paul’s challenge to and vision for the Philippians as we too seek to follow his example:

15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

4:1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

These statements from Paul do not deny the nationality found on our passports, if you will, whether it be American, Kenyan, Brazilian, German or any one of many others, but it does suggest that as Christians our most recent and everlasting identity is stamped with the seal of the Kingdom. You see, our purpose is not to live to be Americans but to live to imitate Christ as we seek to lay claim to our heavenly citizenship. Here, we revisit a common theme for us as Christians that we live in the world but not of the world. According to Paul our focus should not be on earthly things and what we might obtain in the present but our focus is grounded in the fact that we are representatives and citizens of the Kingdom here on this earth, filled with the desire to not only image Christ ourselves, but together with all the Saints call others to do the same.

In Paul’s writing to the Philippians he does not intend to discredit the legitimacy of the people’s common Roman citizenship but he does emphasize that they are first and foremost followers of Christ and citizens of heaven. He seems to suggest something more along the lines of dual citizenship. They are to live in Rome not simply as subjects of Caesar but as servants of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As American citizens we participate in the traditions and history of our country in which we exemplify what we envision as life in America but above and beyond our commitment to our country we are committed to exemplifying the life and message of Jesus Christ while we live as Americans.

The simplicity of Paul’s message yet at the same time the challenge is that we are to be a counter-cultural people. In order to accomplish that goal it might very well mean that we are to place less priority and standing on our identity as Americans and greater priority on our ultimate identity as Kingdom people. We are members of a greater society; we belong to heaven both now and forevermore.

Consider these words from Abraham Lincoln, a man who was a major contributor to and influence on the history of our own nation:

"It is the duty of nations, as well of men, to own their dependence upon God and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord."

Today, as on every other Independence Day let us celebrate and recognize those who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Let us take pride in our heritage and history. Let us sit back and enjoy the wide expanse of a firework filled night sky! Yet above all let us remember that our true identity is found in the One who gave his life as a sacrifice for mankind once and for all providing us with the ultimate gift of freedom. To him we owe our allegiance. In him we place our hope.

I appreciate this rewording of the same passage in Philippians 3:

Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.

But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthly bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.

My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don’t waver. Stay on track, steady in God.

There’s more to life for us who are in Christ Jesus. Throughout the journey, may we run the race together, united in the same goal, as we eagerly await the arrival of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I don’t know about you but I am thankful to be a citizen—that is first and foremost a citizen of the Kingdom!