Christian Citizenship Sunday

When the disciples were welcomed they were to share a common meal and as a repayment for hospitality shown to them the seventy were to offer healing. When hospitality was not shown to them, the disciples were to shake the dust off their robes upon leaving the town as a symbolic judgment upon the people. Judgment was in God's hands, not the disciples. Jesus saw the rejection of his disciples as a rejection of him and his message. Those towns and villages that rejected Jesus and his message of the kingdom of God would be judged in the last day.

Hospitality and peace are interconnected in Luke's gospel. Immediately preceding this missionary text in Luke 10 is a story of inhospitality and violence. It stands in contrasts to Christ's mission of hospitality and peace. The disciples went ahead of Jesus into a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception among them. Because Jesus was headed for Jerusalem the Samaritan villagers would not welcome him. James and John suggested that their inhospitality be answered, not by symbolically "shaking off the dust," but with fire from heaven to consume them all. They wanted revenge and retaliation. Jesus rebuked his disciples for their own inhospitable and violent attitudes and imaginations.

What in the world does this lectionary text have to do with Christian Citizenship Sunday? As Jesus' disciples we have been sent into a post-9/11 world that may be hostile and violent to those who come with the word of peace and the message of God's reign. We are citizens of a nation that has engaged in a pre-emptive war on Iraq and is engaged in an endless war on terrorism. In Iraq "fire from heaven" was sent upon innocent people who were seen as enemies by Saddam Hussein. In the United States our leaders sent "fire from heaven" in Afghanistan and Iraq in retaliation to consume "our enemies" and countless innocent women and children were caught in the cross fire. On both sides of the fence we have been engaged in a crusade, a "jihad," a war of good against evil and have proclaimed to the world that "you are either with us or against us." Because the message of peace and God's reign has been rejected , the United States has become a less hospitable place for the foreigner, stranger, and "non-white." The Muslim world has become an inhospitable place for Americans/Christians. For many Muslims, and sadly for many Christians, Christianity has become synonymous with our nation and its political policies. For many Americans Islam has become synonymous with terrorism. Our post-911 world has become an unwelcoming, inhospitable, and hostile world. The apostles James and John have their contemporary counterparts. I wonder, is Jesus rebuking us?

As citizens of God's realm we are sent into the world as Christ's missionaries. We share the welcome table with all "children of peace." As Christ's ambassadors we are sent to share hospitality with the foreigner and the stranger among us, including Muslims, as many of us or our ancestors were shown hospitality as we came to this nation (Sadly, some among us came to this nation as slaves! Also, remember that we were not the first ones on this land! We were the strangers and foreigners.) We proclaim a kingdom that transcends national allegiances, ethnic and racial differences, political loyalties, and partisan politics. This will be a difficult message for many to accept, especially among those who have uncritically wedded church and state, Christian values with our ethnic, racial, or national agenda. Those who embody and proclaim the message of Christ's peace and God's reign, which transcends national boundaries, may find themselves moving about as lambs among the wolves. It is jagged message for our times. To all who honor each other, share hospitality, and welcome peace, we offer Christ's healing to individuals and nations and a hope for that day when the wolf will lie down with the lamb.

1. Write a sermon exploring hospitality as a means of expressing our faith as citizen's within the United States and as citizen's of God's kingdom. How did our ancestor's experience hospitality and/or rejection as they came to this land? How do Christians show hospitality to the newcomer, stranger, or foreign-born in our midst?
2. Focus the sermon on the personal and political ways of sharing the message of peace and God's reign in an environment of nationalism and strong support for violence, war, and retaliation. How do Christians talk about peace within the public square? Who are the "children of peace" in our communities who may welcome Christ's peace? What responses can Christians offer when their message is rejected?
3. Consider preaching on the ways people accept or reject Christ's peace and the proclamation of God as ruler of all nations. Can we find "children of peace" among those who do not know Christ? Can Christians reject Christ's word of peace? How is Christ's peace related to peace in the community or international peace? Are they totally different? What might be the judgment in this life upon those who reject Christ's peace and the message of God's reign?

Gathering Song

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic HWB (Hymnal: A Worship Book) No. 112

Call to Worship- Isaiah 42:1-4

Here is my servant, whom I uphold
My chosen, in whom my soul delights;
      I have put my spirit upon him;
      He will bring forth justice to the nations.
...a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
      he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be crushed
      until he has established justice in the earth.

Invocation

Sovereign God, Ruler of all nations, we come into your presence as children of your peace. You sent Jesus among us as your missionary of peace and reconciliation. In Christ you have reconciled us and called us together as the church to be a race of many races, a royal priesthood, a holy nation among many nations, your own people. We give thanks for this land where we dwell as sojourners and resident aliens, a land of abundance and many freedoms. We give thanks for the many nations, peoples, and cultures that make up your world and from which you have called out citizens of your kingdom. Give us wisdom to know how to show our appreciation for our freedoms and blessings as a nation. Give us courage to pledge our ultimate allegiance to you, even within a world of competing nationalities and loyalties. Give us your Holy Spirit who transcends all earthly divisions and empowers us to go into the world with the good news of your reign on earth as in heaven. Amen.

Praise Hymn- Jubilate Deo omnis terra HWB No. 103

CONFESSING

Call to Confession

As creatures of dust and as citizens of this world's kingdoms, we must confess our sins as individuals and collectively as a people. Let is come before God in humble confession.

Corporate Confession

Creator of all peoples, we confess that we have failed to respect your image within ourselves and in our neighbor. In our pride we have elevated ourselves above your other children in the world. We have labeled others as "evil" or "enemies" and have dehumanized them into objects to be ridiculed, abused, and sometimes killed for our own benefit. As a people we have turned our nation into a chosen people, our freedoms into idols, and our foreign policy into a divine mission. Forgive us for not taking your message of peace to people who would welcome it. Pardon us for placing "Caesar's" reign above God's reign. Deliver us from the judgments that you would bring upon people and nations that reject the message of your kingdom of justice and peace. Show us the way to live as citizens of two realms without confusion or compromise. We wait, O God, for your mercy. Amen.

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;
therefore God will rise up to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
blessed are those who wait for God.

The Ancient Word- Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20

Theme Hymn- How buoyant and bold the stride HWB No. 394

The Contemporary Word

SENDING

Sending Hymn- Now go forward HWB No. 399

Sending Forth

Go forth as missionaries of Christ
      We go as bearers of good news
You are sent into a violent world
      We go as lambs among wolves
You are to travel light
      We go as children of peace
You are residents of this nation
      We go as citizens of God's reign