A Celebration of the American Dream

July 1, 2007

Redlands United Church of Christ

Sharon R. Graff

Prelude

Call to Worship (adapted from the hymn “Lift Every Voice and Sing” words by James Weldon Johnson, music by John Rosamond Johnson)

Lift every voice and sing
till earth and heaven ring, ring with harmonies of liberty.
Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the past has taught us.
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.
Facing the rising sun of our new day, let us walk on till victory is won.

(* Please stand as you are able)

*Opening Hymn #593         “Lift Every Voice and Sing”                        Lift Every Voice

*Invocation (please pray together)

God whose love leads us into the light,
keep us on the path we pray,
lest we stray from the places where we meet you.
Shadowed beneath your hand,
may we forever be true to you.
Amen.

A reading from the Gospel According to Luke, chapter 9: 51-62

Introduction:  Today, we continue a tradition begun three years ago on Sunday, July 4th, a celebration of the American Dream of freedom and justice for all.  In honor of the day, I have taken liberties with the service.  Today, we sing tunes and words from the vast repertoire of distinctly American music.  Today, we also hear readings from each of the centuries of American history.  These readings describe and illustrate various facets of the illusive American dream—some speak heartily of the individual, others of the national collective; some are irrepressibly exuberant, others challenging and disturbing in light of current events.  Perhaps the words from these, our fellow citizens, will inspire you to construct your own dreams for our country. 

Some may wonder why we do this in worship today: because we are citizens…because we are progressive Christians who believe that all are welcome and loved by God…we do this because we have a voice…and because our voice needs to be heard.

This morning, I invite you to hear these readings from our nation’s history in sync with the gospel passage from Luke 9 and the Epistle reading from Galatians 5.  These two scripture readings speak of freedom—the freedom that permeates solid, everyday decisions to follow in the footsteps of Christ.  May you hear our nation’s readings paralleled with the biblical texts, and may the Spirit set you free to stand up and speak out for freedom and justice for all!

Hear these words from the Gospel According to Luke, chapter 9:51-62

Response #472      “Precious Lord, Take My Hand”                 Precious Lord

A Reading from the Iroquois Federation Constitution, 1550

Hiawatha was a prominent citizen and leader of the Iroquois Federation.  The Iroquois consisted of five nations—Mohawks, Oneidas , Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas—who lived together for centuries in a large territory in what is now upstate New York .  The tribes were divided into clans, forming tight-knit communities.  At a certain point in their history, however, the clans and tribes feuded fiercely with each other.  According to legend, to stop the cycle of violence, a Huron elder appeared in the five nations to bring peace and preach thirteen laws by which the nations could live in unity and peace.  He spoke with Hiawatha, who became the chief spokesman for the new laws.  To administer the law, a new structure of governance was created in which members of all five tribes had to work together in common councils to make decisions.  It was a form of democracy and self-government that influenced European philosophers and settlers, as well as directly influencing the formation of the US government.

“This is wisdom and justice on the part of the Great Spirit to create and raise chiefs, give and establish unchangeable laws, rules and customs between the Five Nation Indians, the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas and the other nations of Indians here in North America.  The object of these laws is to establish peace between the numerous nations of Indians; hostility will be done away with, for the preservation and protection of life, property and liberty…

And the number of chiefs in this confederation of the Five Nation Indians are fifty in number, no more and no less.  They are the ones to arrange, to legislate and to look after the affairs of the people…

And when the Five Nation Indians confederation chiefs assemble to hold a council, the council shall be duly opened and closed by the Onondaga chiefs, the Firekeepers.  They will offer thanks to the Great Spirit that dwells in heaven above: the source and ruler of our lives, our daily wants and daily health, and they will then declare the council open for the transaction of business, and give decisions of all that is done in the council…”

Response #591“This Is My Song”                       Finlandia

 (Children are invited to go to their classes, returning for the family meal of communion.)

A Reading from Roger Williams and the Rhode Island Colony, 1636

Tolerance ran shallow in Puritan Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies.  It did not take long for religious factions to emerge.  Roger Williams questioned the church’s authority to mediate between an individual and God.  As a result, the young minister was expelled from Massachusetts .  In 1636, Williams headed west and founded Rhode Island as a sanctuary for religious toleration.  The charter for the young colony stated that no person would be persecuted for his or her religious beliefs.  As a result, Rhode Island would become a destination for Jews and Quakers, and would become the home of the first Baptist church and first American synagogue.

“When I was unkindly and unchristianly, as I believe, driven from my house and land at Salem…I took the motion as a hint and voice from God and waving all other thoughts and motions, I steered my course from Salem unto these parts, wherein I may say I have seen the face of God…Here all over this colony, a great number of weak and distressed souls, scattered are flying hither from Old and New England, the Most High, and only wise hath in infinite wisdom provided this country and this corner as a shelter for the poor and persecuted, according to their several persuasions…We must part with lands and lives before we part with such a jewel.”

Response #553“There is a Balm in Gilead ”                Balm in Gilead

(Please begin with the refrain, then sing verse 1 only, followed by the refrain)

A Reading from the Virginia Declaration, 1776

As independence was becoming more and more of a foregone conclusion, states started to write constitutions for themselves.  Having been familiar with bills of rights for more than a century in the American colonies, the new constitutions included a listing of citizen’s fundamental rights and privileges.  The more influential and famous bill of rights was Virginia ’s.  Drafted by George Mason, this document served as a model for many other American states.

“A declaration of rights made by the representatives of the good people of Virginia, assembled in full and free convention; which rights do pertain to them and their posterity, as the basis and foundation of government…That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights…namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety…That government is or ought to be instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community; of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is most effectually secured against the danger of maladministration; and that when any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, unalienable and indefeasible right to reform, alter or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal…That no free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people, but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality and virtue...”

Response #592, vs. 1         “God of the Ages, Who with Sure Command”      National Hymn

A Reading from Abigail Adams, 1776

Abigail Adams was more than the wife of John Adams.  Intelligent and forthright, she is one of the leading female voices of the 18th century and was in a position to express her views to influential ears.  She maintained a lengthy correspondence with her husband and served as his informal advisor and confidante.  Here she offers some advice from two letters on the role of women in the new republic.

“I long to hear that you have declared an independency—and by the way in the New Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.  Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands.  Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could.  If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or Representation…That your Sex are Naturally Tyrannical is a Truth so thoroughly established as to admit of no dispute, but such of you as wish to be happy willingly give up the harsh title of Master for the more tender and endearing one of Friend…”

Response #592, vss. 2,3       “God of the Ages, Who with Sure Command”      National Hymn

A presentation of the Preamble of the US Constitution, 1787

Introduction:  Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., the great Supreme Court justice and son of the poet, captured the genius of our government when he wrote of the Constitution, “It is an experiment, as all life is an experiment.”  Now the oldest written Constitution in the world, it has provided both stability and flexibility throughout our history.  What do you think and feel about this experiment as you hear its preamble again today?

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Response #592, vs. 4        “God of the Ages, Who with Sure Command”      National Hymn

Introduction:  And who were these writers, these framers of the Constitution?  They were Deists, not necessarily Christian, who believed that the Divine would guide them on the path of freedom.  Their words on freedom ring alongside the words of the Apostle Paul who wrote in Galatians, 5:1, 13-25:

A Reading from Galatians 5:1, 13-25

A Presentation of the Founders on Freedom, 1700’s

From James Madison (1751-1836)
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

From Phyllis Wheatley (1753-1784)
In every human breast, God has implanted a principle, which we call love of freedom; it is impatient of oppression and pants for deliverance.

From Samuel Adams (1722-1803)
Our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty.

From Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.

From Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
The human mind will some day get back to the freedom it enjoyed 2000 years ago. This country, which has given to the world the example of physical liberty, owes to it that of moral emancipation also.  For, as yet, it is but nominal with us.  The inquisition of public opinion overwhelms in practice the freedom asserted by the laws in theory.

Musical Response

A presentation of the Gettysburg Address, 1863

Introduction:  In 2005, when this congregation sent me as a representative to the Peace March in Washington , DC , it became for me a pilgrimage of sorts.  For the first time in my life, I walked up and down the National Mall, in awe of the buildings and structures honoring freedom.  Standing in quiet guard and casting its magnificent shadow is the shrine honoring President Abraham Lincoln.  There is a hush that beckons one inside to remember the aftermath of the Civil War.  The Battle of Gettysburg was a crucial victory for the Union and the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.  Fifty-one thousand soldiers were killed or wounded in three days.  Four months later, Abraham Lincoln visited the site to dedicate a cemetery for those who had fallen in battle.  After the main speaker, a renowned orator, gave a speech that lasted two hours, Lincoln spoke for only two minutes.  In one of the briefest yet most eloquent eulogies of all time, Lincoln connected the Civil War to the Declaration of Independence and articulated the significance of the Civil War for freedom and democracy. 

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.  We are met on a great battlefield of that war.  We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that the nation might live.  It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.  But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground.  The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.  The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.  It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.  It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Offertory    

*Offering Response “Simple Gifts”

[Insert words and music from Chalice Hymnal, #568]

*Prayer of Dedication

A reading from Eleanor Roosevelt, From The Moral Basis of Democracy, 1940

Introduction:  Much has been said of Eleanor Roosevelt’s influence on American politics during the mid-20th century.  Her commitment to social justice and to democracy was rooted in religion and spirituality, as is evident from the following words.

“At a time when the whole world is in a turmoil and thousands of people are homeless and hungry, it behooves all of us to reconsider our political and religious beliefs in an effort to clarify in our minds the standards by which we live. 

What does Democracy mean to any of us?  What do we know of its history?  Are there any religious beliefs which are essential to the Democratic way of life?

Our Democracy in this country had its roots in religious belief, and we had to acknowledge soon after its birth that differences in religious belief are inherent in the spirit of true Democracy…  Later it was accepted that an individual in this land of ours had the right to any religion, or to no religion.  The principle, however, of the responsibility of the individual for the well-being of his neighbors which is akin to: “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” in the New Testament, seems always to have been a part of the development of the Democratic ideal which has differentiated it from all other forms of government…The motivating force of the theory of a Democratic way of life is still a belief that as individuals we live co-operatively, and, to the best of our ability, serve the community in which we live, and that our own success, to be real, must contribute to the success of others…

If human beings can be trained for cruelty and greed and belief in power which comes through hate and fear and force, certainly we can train equally well for gentleness and mercy and the power of love which comes because of the strength of the good qualities to be found in the soul of every individual human being…”

Response #547     “Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound”              Amazing Grace

A reading from Fannie Lou Hamer, 1971

Introduction:  Fannie Lou Hamer, one of twenty children born to a poor Mississippi share-cropping family, began picking cotton at the age of six.  Arrested for attempting to register to vote, she became a tireless civil rights activist.  Undeterred by repeated beatings and arrests, Hamer was a field leader for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and an organizer of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.

“The special plight and the role of black women is not something that just happened three years ago.  We’ve had a special plight for 350 years.  My grandmother had it.  My grandmother was a slave.  She died in 1960.  She was 136 years old…It’s been a special plight for the black woman…And right now, sometimes, you know I work for the liberation of all people, because when I liberate myself, I’m liberating other people…But you see now, baby, whether you have a Ph.D., D.D., or no D, we’re in this bag together.  Not to fight to try to liberate ourselves from the men—this is another trick to get us fighting among ourselves—but to work together with the black man, then we will have a better chance to just act as human beings, and to be treated as human beings…I would like to tell you in closing a story of an old man.  This old man was very wise, and he could answer questions that was almost impossible for people to answer.  So some people went to him one day, two young people, and said, ‘We’re going to trick this guy today.  We’re going to catch a bird and we’re going to carry it to this old man.  And we’re going to ask him, ‘This that we hold in our hands today, is it alive or is it dead?’  If he says ‘Dead,” we’re going to turn it loose and let it fly.  But if he says, ‘Alive,’ we’re going to crush it.’  So they walked up to this old man, and they said, ‘This that we hold in our hands today, is it alive or is it dead?’  He looked at the young people and he smiled.  And he said, ‘It’s in your hands.’”

Let us enter a time of prayer.

Prayers of and for the Community

Silent Prayer

(You are invited to enter the silence with your own prayers for our country and its role in the world community.)

Pastoral Prayer

Communion

Words of Institution and Invitation

Distribution

(Servers will bring trays of bread and juice to you.  After you have taken bread and cup, you are invited to pass the tray along the row, holding it for your neighbor.)

Prayer of Thanksgiving (please pray together)

We give thanks, ever-loving God, that you have refreshed us at your table by granting us the presence of Jesus Christ.  Strengthen our faith, increase our love for one another, and send us forth into the world in courage and peace, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit; with the companionship of Jesus our Brother and your compassionate love to guide us.  Amen.

*Closing Hymn #581                “Lead Us from Death to Life”                 World Peace Prayer

* Community Benediction:        “ America , the Beautiful”                        sung by Ray Charles

(At his direction, you are invited to join Mr. Charles in this prayer.)

Time of Reflection

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