What Really Matters

Blind Faith (No. 31, 2008)

“Going for the gold” will seem to be all that matters when the

Olympic Games begin in just a few days. Thousands of athletes

worldwide have invested countless hours in training and have sacrificed

countless personal relationships striving for their goal. They stand

to gain wealth and adulation for winning, or penury and anonymity for

losing their games. Many stories will be told of families, larger

communities, and even nations sharing dreams of Olympic competition,

offering tangible and emotional support for the athletes’ quests. Too

many stories will uncover athletes and trainers so blinded by Olympic

gold that they abuse themselves, the rules of their sports, and the

spirit of the Olympics by using steroids and other performance-

enhancing drugs. These sad tales lay bare the widespread obsessions

with winning and commercial success. For some, winning is the only

thing that matters. And Olympic silver medals are not acceptable to

some people. For some athletes and nations, Olympic gold is worth any

cost. But, does it really matter?

Competition for headline space will continue to come from

disasters across the nation and around the world. People lambasted by

the Sichuan province earthquake in China, or the Big Sur and Yosemite

wildfires in California, or the landfall of Hurricane Dolly along the

Rio Grande in Mexico and Texas, or the floods in Iowa and Missouri

reacted to the catastrophes with amazing similarity. Sifting through

the ruins of their homes and lives, many pled for an opportunity to

retrieve whatever personal treasures they could find intact. Many were

barred from their homes for days and weeks at a time, sometimes finally

being allowed as little as a 15 minute window in which to snatch the

few items of value they could locate. The tragedy is that the scenes

are certain to continue being repeated following other disasters. In

such a situation, what really matters? Disaster victims universally

talk about grabbing family photo albums, or Grandmother’s quilt, or

sensitive papers, or collections of love letters. Some people put

themselves at grave risk in order to salvage some representation of

their identities. You don’t usually find anyone saying that they just

had to get their stereo, or some trophy or even their golf clubs. What

really matters seems to be people-to-people links, symbols of intimate

and meaningful relationships. A news crew almost always finds someone

saying, “We’ve lost everything! But we can rebuild, and we can get new

things. We’re thankful to be alive, and that’s all that matters.”

Ambitious striving to achieve worthy goals, charting a new

course after surviving a disaster, or facing temptations to find

shortcuts to either pursuit all raise the crucial question, “What

really matters?” Understanding what really matters is important for

keeping everyday decisions about material things, relationships with

other people, personal integrity, and our awareness of how our actions

affect our fellowship with God in proper balance. The Hebrew prophet,

Micah, offered a concise catalog of what really matters: ” The Lord has

told you what is good. He has told you what he wants from you: Do what

is right to other people. Love being kind to others. And live humbly,

trusting your God.” (Micah 6:8 International Children’s Bible)

Micah doesn’t prescribe a sure-fire training regimen for winning

Olympic goal, or for recovering from natural disaster, but the

principles will equip anyone for taking on those challenges or any

others.

Jesus thought and taught that what Micah said was on target for

what really matters. Some other rabbis were actually trying to lay a

trap for Jesus, looking for a self-justifying shortcut for religious

obligations (see Matthew 22:35-40, Luke 10:25-27), when one of them

asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” Jesus’ answer could be

prefaced with “What really matters is….” What Jesus said was: ” Love

the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind,

and all your strength.’ {31} The second command is this: ‘Love your

neighbor as you love yourself.’ There are no commands more important

than these.” (Mark 12:30-31 NCV) The answer is simple and direct.

What really matters is to shape everything we do by demonstrating our

love for God and for other people.
Jesus also explained how we are to maintain the disciplined

life that will lead us to what really matters. It simply means

following Jesus. No exotic religious rites, no austere lifestyle, no

macrobiotic diet, no “Ten Keys to Success.” What really matters is

simply – and radically – to follow Jesus. Here is what Jesus said:

Then he said, so everybody could hear, “If anybody

really wants to share my way of life, let him have no regard for his

own welfare, and let him risk his life every day and walk the way with

me. Whoever puts his own life first shall lose it. But whoever lays his

life on the line for me shall come out on top. For what has a man

gained if he gets the whole world, and his own life is broken or

destroyed?” (Luke 9:23- , Te Cotton Patch Version)

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Shortcuts, extreme training, and many other paths may lead to golden

results, but if Jesus is not at the center of life, it doesn’t really

matter. Only by following Jesus – all the way to our own cross, if

necessary – will we reach genuinely the best life we can live.

What goals are you clamoring to reach? What drives and

disciplines your life? What significance do you attach to material

things, relationships, and personal ethical values? What really

matters to you? If you honestly seek to make your answer, “Jesus,”

that simple answer will lead you to the most challenging and the most

rewarding life you can possibly live. What really matters to you?

J. Edward Culpepper, Ph.D.

God Cares

Blind Faith (No. 30, 2008)

Some days start out brimming full of God’s blessings. A recent

Saturday morning was one of those days. We awoke to surprisingly mild

temperatures, in spite of several scorching afternoons in a row and a

sweltering forecast for later in the day. We checked to see if

breakfast on the deck seemed tolerable. That’s when the blessings

began to flood over us.

First, Although the rising sun peeked under the canopy of shade

offered most of the day by the gingko tree, a filtering haze, then a

puffy cloud held the temperature nicely within our comfort zone. Most

mornings the intense sun makes the table too hot for comfortable

dining, especially with a hot cup of coffee. This Saturday morning was

a delightful mix of sun, natural shade, a slight breeze, and a

generally inviting summer morning at treetop level in God’s gorgeous

creation.

Second, we decided to have blueberry pancakes for breakfast,

out on the deck. These would not be just any Aunt Jemima blueberry

pancakes, though. These would feature blueberries fresh from our own

blueberry bushes, visible in our yard from the deck. We had no

blueberry crop at all the past two years, due to drought and a late

killing freeze. This year, we thanked God all through the Spring for

adequate rain, moderate temperatures, and prolific blossoms that

promised an abundant blueberry harvest. Blueberries are one of God’s

nicest creations, growing on bushes that serve as beautiful hedge

plants, with magnificent scarlet displays of foliage in the Fall, and

sweet blueberries to eat. Picking them from our own yard is an extra

blessing. We thank God for a fine crop this year, and we will enjoy

blueberries from the freezer on harsh winter days to come.

We were reveling in God’s blessings of the day and the

blueberries when the further reminder of God’s care began to play out

before us. Several days ago, my wife, Sherron, spotted a robin family

in the branches of the gingko tree. Their nest is cradled in a fork of

a branch that extends far over the deck. A branch above offers shade

and cover for the nest. One morning, Sherron saw a parent robin land

in the tree, with a worm dangling from its beak. Her viewing angle and

the sunlight filtering through the leaves backlit a baby robin beak

bobbing up to receive the wriggly breakfast. She watched similar

feedings over the next several days. While we were having our

exquisite blueberry pancakes out on the deck, she saw a baby robin hop

up onto the top step of the stairs to the deck. It was still fluffy,

its feathers not yet fully developed. The little robin looked

confused. It flexed its legs several times, finally hopping a step or

two. After a few minutes, it issued a plaintive call – not yet a robin

song. Sherron said that the baby robin seemed to spot us, studying us

carefully. Finally, the little bird appeared to devise a plan. The

robin hopped over to the edge of the deck, between two of the railing

stiles. With a clear path out over the yard, the robin took one more

hop, and launched itself into the air. Sherron lost sight of its

flight – but she didn’t find the little bird crumpled on the ground,

either.

A little later, Sherron walked down the sidewalk away from the

deck, and heard some fluttering underneath an azalea. As she

approached the azalea, she heard the plaintive call again. Suddenly,

she found herself dive-bombed by the protective parent robins, both of

them squawking warnings not to bother their apparently reluctant flier.

We monitored the little robin’s plight through the day, hoping that we

might sight it back in the gingko branches, but we never did. Sherron

had another encounter with the dive-bombing parents near our fig tree

later that morning. We were thankful that our yard is fenced, and that

the young robin seemed to be safe, watched over by two anxious parents.

We hoped that the grace of flight would come quickly to the little

bird.

As the drama unfolded, I recalled Jesus’ apparent appreciation

for birds, and for his Father’s care for them. Jesus called his

hearers’ attention to birds and other parts of God’s splendid creation

numerous times in his teaching ministry. Once, the crowd clamoring to

hear Jesus was fretting about everything from economic security, to

family provisions, to how they could receive God’s eternal blessings.

Times were hard, and they equated God’s blessings with having nice

clothes, plenty of food for their families, and other material

possessions. Jesus gently chided them for their high anxiety,

illustrating the abundance of God’s blessings and his loving care by

references to God’s care for the birds in his creation:

“What is the price of five sparrows? A couple of

pennies? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. {7} And the very

hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more

valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows….” {22} Jesus said to

his followers, “So I tell you, don’t worry about the food you need to

live, or about the clothes you need for your body. {23} Life is more

than food, and the body is more than clothes. {24} Look at the birds.

They don’t plant or harvest, they don’t have storerooms or barns, but

God feeds them. And you are worth much more than birds.” (Luke 12:6-7

NLT, 22-24 NCV)

God demonstrates his sustaining grace all around us. We can be

spared from much of our worry and anxiety, if we will only stop our

frantic scrambling for “just a little more,” and simply relax in the

care he provides for all creation. The little robin in our yard

matters to God; how much greater is God’s care for us and how

overwhelming are his blessings for us each day!

Of course, not every day begins with such delights as our

Saturday breakfast on the deck. Some days are shrouded in storm clouds

from even before the time your feet hit the floor in the morning.

Anxieties of every variety – economic, relational, work-related,

national and international, spiritual, and more – grip us and threaten

to drain the life out of us. We rush through the day in a futile

attempt to take care of everything ourselves. We may not take the time

to notice how marvelously well God takes care of his beautiful

creation. But be still … breathe in that fragrant smell … hear the

birds singing praise to God … see the grandeur of flowers … feel

the warmth of the sun and the cool of the breeze. Calm your restless

spirit, remembering to ” Give all your worries and cares to God, for he

cares about what happens to you.” (1 Peter 5:7 NLT) If God cares about

our little robin, the faulty flier, he certainly cares about your

needs.

Are you having a great day today, with delightful surprises

continuing to give you opportunities to give thanks to God? Are you

remembering to take time to enjoy God’s blessings and care, and to be

thankful? If the day has you fretting and full of anxiety, have you

listened for a bird’s song, an unexpected joy, an example of God’s

goodness in the world? Take a moment to look for them, letting God

quiet your spirit as you find them – because you can be certain God has

put them there. If anyone asks why a smile suddenly spreads across

your face, tell them a little birdie told you that God cares for

you.

J. Edward Culpepper, Ph.D.

Repetition Is the Key

Blind Faith (No. 29, 2008)

Repetition is an important key to memory. How many times have

you been introduced to someone for the first time, and the new person’s

name is said only once by the person making the introduction? Did the

new person’s name stick with you, or did you almost immediately forget?

Some memory coaches suggest repeating the new name at least three

times in the first minute or two after being introduced in order to

help retain the person’s name. Repetition is one of the keys to

memory.

Losing the ability to remember names, things to do, or other

information is a universal complaint. Advancing age, contrary to

widespread assumptions, does not cause an appreciable loss of ability

for most people to remember. Yes, some medical conditions and a few

medications can interfere with a person’s memory, but for most people,

the brain retains its mysterious and amazing capacity to memorize and

retrieve information undiminished by age. Perhaps as we grow older, we

may be called upon to access some information from our memories less

frequently, or we may encounter a person less often, or we may hear or

see less clearly the things that prompt memories, reducing the

reinforcing repetition that may have kept our memories fresh in earlier

days. Maybe we figure that life has taught us enough, so we just don’t

pay attention or devote much psychic energy to committing new names and

other information to memory. For most people, regardless of age,

repetition is one of the keys to memory.

For the first months after I became blind, I asked church

members to read the Bible texts from which I would preach in the

worship services. One Sunday, I wanted to give the text a particular

interpretive vocal inflection. I decided to memorize the five or six

verses and recite them myself. I was surprised at how many listeners

seemed to pay closer attention to the memorized text. (I wondered if

some people followed me word-for-word in their open Bibles, checking to

see if I got all the words just right.) Perhaps the increased oral

interpretation while reciting rather than reading the text helped.

Memorizing the text soon became a standard part of my approach to

preaching.

Memorizing the text also changed my own experience with the

sermons I preached. In order to memorize the text, I would listen to

it repeatedly. Phrase by phrase, I would have my talking computer read

it to me. Then I would begin repeating the verses back – first in my

head, then aloud – until I was confident of being able to recite the

passage publicly. During the cycle of repetition, I found that nuances

of the Bible text began to emerge. The more often I repeated the text

to myself in preparation for preaching, the better I felt that I

understood those Bible verses. I began to memorize the text first, then

to prepare the sermon, because prayerfully repeating the text to

memorize it always provided opportunities for God to lead me to new

insight and appreciation for the text. Repetition of the Bible text

became one of the keys both to memorizing verses for public

presentation and – more importantly – for that part of the Bible to

change my life.

None of this should be a surprise to us. From the beginning of

God entrusting his written word to his people, they were instructed to

practice repetition of his word. In personal, family, and community

life, God’s commandments and guidance were intended to be repeated

continually so that his people would be changed by them. When Moses

came down from the mountain to present the 10 Commandments to the

people, he first told them: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the

LORD alone. {5} And you must love the LORD your God with all your

heart, all your soul, and all your strength. {6} And you must commit

yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. {7}

Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you

are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down

and when you are getting up again. ” (Deuteronomy 6:4-7 NLT) Moses

went on to explain that this repetition would help them to remember

God’s grace in delivering them from slavery in Egypt, and his covenant

promise to love and to care for their needs. Unfortunately, they

forgot to remember and to repeat God’s words, and wandered aimlessly

for forty years in the wilderness. Centuries later, when God’s people

had experienced sweeping renewal of faith and national solidarity, they

were reminded of the necessity of actively committing God’s words to

memory. Repetition is cited as one of the keys: ” Listen carefully to

what wise people say; pay attention to what I am teaching you. {18} It

will be good to keep these things in mind so that you are ready to

repeat them. {19} I am teaching them to you now so that you will put

your trust in the LORD.” (Proverbs 22:17-19 NCV) The result of

repetition and memorization of God’s words is clearly and poetically

stated in one of the first Bible verses I recall memorizing: ” Thy word

have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Psalm

119:11 KJV)

What gets repeated in your daily routine? Whatever gets

repeated is what will stick in your memory. It could be the rerun of

Friends that you have seen innumerable times already, so that

you can now recite the dialog verbatim. It could be the argument you

had with a loved one, which you have replayed so many times that it is

now etched in your memory as irreplaceably as your phone number or

address. It may be the dirty joke your neighbor told you, and you told

a friend, and you heard your friend tell someone. It may be the

oppressive tedium of your daily routine, the things you have to do over

and over and over every day. Remember, repetition is one of the keys

to memory. And what you remember does change you from the inside

out.

How long has it been since you committed a Bible verse to

memory? Here’s an assignment for this week. Repeat the following

Bible verse every day, several times at breakfast, lunch, supper, and

bedtime. Enough repetition of this one verse will cement it in your

memory, if it is not already there. If you know the verse, repeat it

daily, anyway, so that it can exert new life-changing power. This

week’s memory verse is:

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my

heart, be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength, and my

redeemer. (Psalm 19:14 NKJV)

Repeat the verse in your mind. Repeat the verse aloud. Pray

it as a first-thing-in-the-morning prayer. Find a friend with whom you

can share the verse, and repeat it to one another. Repeat it as you

are going to sleep, expressing your hope and commitment for the next

day. Remember, repetition is one of the keys to memory. What else

will you repeat this week?

J. Edward Culpepper, Ph.D.

Pay Attention!

Blind Faith (No. 28, 2008)

Student attitudes in school are a frequent topic of conversation

with our high school teacher son. Often, any ideal of the classroom as

a place where young minds eagerly seek to expand their knowledge and

experience soars far above the schoolday reality. No matter how gifted

the teacher might be, students sometimes respond with boredom,

indifference, or other self-serving lack of attention.

Several discussions of classroom deportment reminded me of a

wry fictitious encounter someone wrote about how contemporary classroom

behavior might sound if Jesus was teaching his 12 students today:

“Then Jesus took his disciples up the mountain and

gathering them around him, he taught them saying: “Blessed are the poor

in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven, Blessed are the meek…

Blessed are they that mourn… Blessed are the merciful… Blessed are

they that thirst for justice… Blessed are you when you suffer… Be

glad and rejoice for your reward is great in Heaven.”
Then Simon Peter said: “Are we supposed to know this?”
And Andrew said: “Do we have to write this down?”
And James said: “I don’t have any paper.”
And Bartholomew said: “Do we have to turn this in?”
And John said: “The other disciples didn’t have to learn this!”
And Matthew said: “May I go to the rest room?”
And Judas said: “What does this have to do with real life?”
Then one of the Pharisees who was present asked to see Jesus’ lesson

plan and inquired of Jesus: “Where is your anticipatory set and your

objectives in the cognitive domain?”
And Jesus wept.
(Author Unknown)

We are conditioned to imagine the disciples intently absorbing

every word Jesus said as he taught them a radical understanding of the

Kingdom of God. Several times in the Gospels, however, Jesus chides

them for failing to catch onto his teaching. Only after Jesus’

resurrection did they recall that he had told them prior to his

crucifixion that he would rise from the dead on the third day. I

wonder what the disciples were doing , instead of paying attention to

those lessons. And what keeps us from paying attention to what the

Lord is trying to teach us about the love of God today?

At least three examples of paying proper attention to Jesus are

recorded in the New Testament as models for becoming sharper students

of the Master. Educators today seek to engage students with diverse

learning styles. Even though a particular student may have a dominant

learning style )visual, auditory, tactile-kinesthetic), applying

multiple teaching methods often produces the best understanding for the

most students. Jesus always offers lessons of his love and grace so

that every person can get the point.

Visual learners often need to see the instructor’s body

language and facial expressions to fully understand the subject matter.

They tend to prefer sitting at the front of the classroom. Once when

Jesus was teaching at the home of his friends Lazarus, Mary, and

Martha, he validated this approach to learning:

As they were traveling along, Jesus went into a village.

A woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. {39} She had a sister

named Mary. Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to him talk. {40}

But Martha was upset about all the work she had to do. So she asked,

“Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work all by

myself? Tell her to help me.” {41} The Lord answered her, “Martha,

Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things. {42} There’s only one

thing you need. Mary has made the right choice, and that one thing will

not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42 GWT)

Mary appears to have been a visual learner, sitting at Jesus’ feet,

able to concentrate on both his spoken words and his body language.

Jesus affirms her choice of methods for receiving the instruction he

was offering — and that Martha was unfortunately missing on that

occasion.

Auditory learners gather and process information through

listening or speaking. They are best able to learn through verbal

lectures, discussions, and listening to what others have to say. Jesus

encountered two students who were already deep in discussion, trying to

sort out the events of Good Friday and what they had understood of

Jesus’ teaching up to that time:

On the same day, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a

village called Emmaus. It was about seven miles from Jerusalem. {14}

They were talking to each other about everything that had happened.

{15} While they were talking, Jesus approached them and began walking

with them. {16} Although they saw him, they didn’t recognize him….

{27} Then [Jesus] began with Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets to

explain to them what was said about him throughout the Scriptures. {28}

When they came near the village where they were going, Jesus acted as

if he were going farther. {29} They urged him, “Stay with us! It’s

getting late, and the day is almost over.” So he went to stay with

them. {30} While he was at the table with them, he took bread and

blessed it. He broke the bread and gave it to them. {31} Then their

eyes were opened, and they recognized him. But he vanished from their

sight. {32} They said to each other, “Weren’t we excited when he talked

with us on the road and opened up the meaning of the Scriptures for

us?” (Luke 24:13-16, 2732 GWT)

Jesus led them to verbalize what they had seen and heard, and what

they understood it all to mean. Then, as they walked, he explained

God’s saving grace. They were excited to have God’s saving message

presented in a method that they could readily comprehend.

Tactile-kinesthetic learners respond most effectively to

moving, doing and touching. They learn best through a hands-on

approach. Jesus set his disciples on this course of learning what he

had demonstrated for them. After teaching them by both word and

example in the Upper Room, he gave them the hands-on assignment of

serving one another in the spirit of his love:

[Jesus said,]“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and

rightly so, for that is what I am…. {15} I have set you an example

that you should do as I have done for you…. {17} Now that you know

these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:13, 15, 17

NIV)

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had taught that hearing and doing

what he taught made the lesson rock-solid, while merely hearing it

often resulted in the lesson being swept away. (See Matthew 7: 24-27)

James adopted the teaching method, counseling, ” be doers of the word,

and not merely hearers who deceive themselves…. not hearers who

forget but doers who act–they will be blessed in their doing.” (James

1:22, 25b NRSV)

How do you learn best? Do you pay attention to the lessons

from Jesus’ love and instruction in living by grace God tries to teach

you? Do you pay as much attention to God’s lessons as you do to

instructions about a hobby or new skill you want to learn? For those

pursuits, do you attend to private lessons, extra reading, practice and

repetition, or rapt attention to demonstrations by a master? Do you

pay that kind of attention to God’s lessons? God offers his grace by

methods corresponding to your best learning style. So, students, no

excuses this week! Pay attention in God’s personal classroom.

J. Edward Culpepper, Ph. D.

Display Your Sacriotism!

Blind Faith (No. 27, 2008)
Show Your Sacriotism!

Patriotism is on unabashed display this week. Wardrobes explode in bursts of red, white, and blue, instead of mauve, khaki, and green. I hope that American flags will be flown with proper honor from homes, businesses, and government buildings. Patriotic music will be played and even sung at all kinds of gatherings. Many people will read the profound phrases of the Declaration of Independence, and may feel a quickened heart rate, a lump in the throat, a sense of awe at the values proclaimed, and a depth of gratitude for noble men and women who have defended its principles. Favorite American foods will be consumed in abundance. Patriotism will rank high on everyone’s list of motivators for daily activities, quite appropriately.

As a lover of words, and with patriotism swelling in my heart, I reacquainted myself with the meaning of the root word, patriot: “one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests.” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2008) Wikipedia’s contributors capture positive components of patriotic feeling: ” Patriotism covers such attitudes as: pride in its achievements and culture, the desire to preserve its character and the basis of the culture, and identification with other members of the nation.” An anonymous source views patriotism as, “the passion which inspires one to serve one’s country.” Especially during this week of 4th of July, I long for and, indeed, do feel deeply those impulses toward our beloved America.

Patriot, of course, is derived from the root, pater, or father. In Greek, patriota were one’s fellow countrymen and women. From ancient times, different languages employing various forms of patriot communicated love for one’s fatherland, its virtues, and one’s family, all children of the same fatherland.

References of patriotism to our father redirected my thoughts to our relationship with our Heavenly Father. While part of patriotic expression may be thanksgiving to God for the blessings of our marvelous country, patriotism and Christian faith are not the same. Patriotism is an expression of devotion for a human creation, our nation. America, the object worthy of our patriotic zeal, possesses many great virtues, but like all human endeavors, is riddled with shortcomings and is capable of falling short of the very virtues upon which it is built. Our devotion to God, on the other hand, relates us to the One who is Father of all, whose most succinct description is love, whose perfection, justice, and grace alone is genuinely worthy of the word awesome. We should join wholeheartedly in patriotic displays for our country, but there should be a word for similar wholehearted, public displays of devotion to God.

Now that I have coined it, there is such a word: sacriotism! A sacriot is one who loves God, feels kinship with fellow believers, and has passion for serving God and preserving and proclaiming the character of God. Sacriotism is fitting for public display. It is not merely a private sense of closeness to and appreciation for God. Sacriotic acts are not the same as patriotic acts – not displays of the American flag, or recognition of armed forces service, or any other public displays of American pride, all of which are justified and proper. Sacriotic displays express faith in God, alone, as the only recipient of our worship and faith. Why do we often put more energy, though, into patriotic celebrations than we put into our public sacriotic expressions of devotion to God?

An important part of patriotic celebrations is the special repertoire of music. No matter how many times they are repeated, songs such as God Bless America, America, the Beautiful, America (My Country, ‘Tis of Thee), God Bless the USA, The Star Spangled Banner, and many more will thrill our hearts this week. They will be sung, played, and hummed by people glad to embrace the rich catalog of ideas the songs convey. Sacriotic songs, too, coalesce many more reasons for our devotion to God than we ordinarily express in a brief time. The great psalms Israel sang in mass public worship celebrations tell God’s story in breathtaking breadth:

1 Hallelujah! I give thanks to GOD with everything I’ve got–Wherever good people gather, and in the congregation.
2 GOD’s works are so great, worth A lifetime of study–endless enjoyment!
3 Splendor and beauty mark his craft; His generosity never gives out.
4 His miracles are his memorial– This GOD of Grace, this GOD of Love.
5 He gave food to those who fear him, He remembered to keep his ancient promise.
6 He proved to his people that he could do what he said: Hand them the nations on a platter–a gift!
7 He manufactures truth and justice; All his products are guaranteed to last–
8 Never out–of-date, never obsolete, rust-proof. All that he makes and does is honest and true:
9 He paid the ransom for his people, He ordered his Covenant kept forever.
He’s so personal and holy, worthy of our respect.
10 The good life begins in the fear of GOD- Do that and you’ll know the blessing of GOD.
His Hallelujah lasts forever!
(Psalm 111, The Message)

I wonder if they hummed that sacriotic song for days before and after one of the festivals celebrating God’s care. We would be more likely to hum a more classic/contemporary sacriotic song that tells our story of communion with God, such as How Great Thou Art:

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder, Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
(Chorus)
When through the woods, and forest glades I wander, And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.
(Chorus)
And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin.
(Chorus)
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation, And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration, And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”
(Chorus) Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
(How Great Thou Art, words & music by Carl G. Boberg and R.J. Hughes)

Both songs tell anyone who hears them why we would be excited to declare our allegiance publicly to such a Father God.

Of course, we have opportunities to display our sacriotism every week, on Sunday. Some sacriotic displays have become so familiar that they have lost much of their meaning. Wearing an American flag lapel pin may be an essential display of patriotism this year, but wearing a cross is taken as only a quaint fashion cliché`. Maybe we need to reclaim some exuberant displays of sacriotism, or to invent some new ones. All the world needs to know the love and grace of the God to whom we owe more than life, itself.

Is your sacriotism on display? How would anyone know that you are a follower of Christ? Does your heart skip, your throat tighten, or your tears swell when you think of your loving relationship with your Heavenly Father? How do you show it publicly?

Proudly and patriotically, I will fly both my U.S. flag and my Culpeper Minutemen flag this 4th of July. I’ll be looking for additional opportunities for sacriotic displays to make in coming days.

J. Edward Culpepper, Ph.D.