Onward, Christian Soldiers
Baptists can be patriots. Now, I know that seems to some of you like a silly statement, considering that some Baptist churches give this no second thought. They will have giant American flags draped across their crosses on the chancel today. But to know Baptist history at all is to realize that of all Christians in early America, Baptists had the most work to do in getting their arms in motion to wave the flag.

Our reticence stems from being a separatist religion in England that had to break away from the state's hold over the church and from being a non-established religious group in Colonial America that still had to pay taxes for the salary of the local parish priests. We have trouble now getting you to pay tithes for my salary, don't you know?! Can you imagine paying taxes for some other preacher's salary?

Well, we Baptists fought for freedom on the battlefields alongside other early Americans, but our main fight has always been for total and complete religious freedom. The First Amendment to the Constitution is our single political prize of that fight. We finally got fledgling America to agree that the best way to protect religion was to make it free from government control, and the best way to protect government was to make it free from religious control.

So Baptists have made our first priority the kingdom of God rather than the kingdoms of this world. We have held the cross higher than the flag because our highest loyalty is to Christ. And yet we celebrate America as the greatest expression of a form of government that allows for a radical commitment to Jesus Christ, even if that means maintaining a critical attitude toward civil government.

Being a free church in a free state allows us to honor America and sing with joy the hymns and songs of our country-which we do today. The first one we sing is not strictly patriotic for the very reasons I have stated. "Onward, Christian Soldiers" reminds us that our greatest warfare is spiritual rather than national. Think of this: if our country fell to invaders and America were no more, we would still be engaged in the spiritual struggle of good and evil, of right and wrong, of love and hate.

You will note the verse from 2 Tim. 2:3 under the title of the song in our hymnal: Endure hardship . like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. This song is not glorifying militarism as a Christian strategy for conquering the world. We do not sing it to motivate our American soldiers in their battles against Muslims or to feel justified in killing for a good cause. We sing it to encourage one another to remain faithful to God when times are toughest, even as soldiers are trained to do their duty right to the death.

A gifted preacher and writer named Sabine Baring-Gould wrote this piece in 1865 as encouragement to English schoolchildren in Yorkshire. He wanted something to inspire them on Whitmonday, which is the day after Pentecost and a big time for school festivals, when the youngsters would march with schoolmates from neighboring villages as a sign of unity. Interestingly, the tune's composer was Arthur S. Sullivan, better known for his comic operas with W.S. Gilbert, like Pirates of Penzance. He knew how to keep his church and state separate in his work, never letting his stage compositions to be used for worship purposes.

Christian denominations have lately debated the merits of this hymn for today's church-what with fear that some would take it too literally and take up arms against enemies in the name of Christ. But rightly sung, it may inspire us to the love of duty and the duty of love in the name of the One who soldiered on for us, even to death on the cross.

Battle Hymn of the Republic
"Onward, Christian Soldiers" was written to be a march, but a suitable tune took awhile to find. "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory," on the other hand, better known as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," was a tune in search of words more suitable. Julia Ward Howe was visiting Washington, D.C., in 1861 from Boston. This Unitarian poet, along with her husband and their pastor, was invited to view a parade of Union troops returning from battle. She heard some soldiers singing this powerful tune to the words John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave. The John Brown the song originally referred to was an obscure private in the Union army, but he was later confused with the notorious antislavery terrorist John Brown, who raided Harper's Ferry in 1859. Anyway, Ms. Howe decided to write a new text for this camp meeting tune that originated in South Carolina-which she did before the sun came up on the next day. Ironically, today as then, with the mix of a Southern tune and Northern text, the "Battle Hymn" is beloved by Southerners and Northerners alike.

The text from Isaiah 6 that appears in the hymnal recalls the eighth-century prophet in the temple seeing a great vision of God high and lifted up. At a time when Israel felt morally defeated and nationally threatened, the prophet reminded the people that God still rules the world with justice and righteousness.

The hymn recalls the events of the Civil War, but it reaches deeper into the providence of God and the salvation of Christ. It celebrates the majesty of God more than the dominion of human beings. The focus is on God's victory, not ours, regardless of what side we fight for in a human conflict.

It does not intend to make sense of war as much as to remind us that all judgments in history answer to the final judgment of God. It asks us whether we are willing to follow the example of Christ and sacrifice ourselves for the sake of freedom for every person.

Oddly enough, over time one line in particular has changed. It's a line that could be sung either way with profit, however. Originally, Ms. Howe wrote: As he died to make men holy, let us DIE to make men free, while God is marching on. We sing now: As he died to make men holy, let us LIVE to make men free, our God is marching on. Feel free to exercise your Baptist liberty of conscience and sing die or live when we come to that point. To paraphrase St. Paul, "Whether we live or whether we die," our God is marching on. Glory, glory, hallelujah.

America the Beautiful
It has become commonplace for presidents to end their speeches with the words "God bless America." Even when we are going to war, we tend to want to enlist God to give special watchcare to our side. This kind of civil religion feels very uncivil if you are on the other side of the debate or battle. Do we ever really know enough to presume upon God's blessing of our position or plans? We would do better to pray that we are doing God's will, that we have the wisdom to understand it, rather than asking for God's sanction of us as if we are special among nations.

"America the Beautiful" can either reinforce this spiritual ambiguity or clarify it, depending upon the spirit we bring to the singing of it. When we sing God shed his grace on thee, we can imagine somehow that America is the last best hope of the world. The sense that America is somehow special to God or chosen by God is nothing new. The Pilgrim minister John Winthrop, aboard the Arabella on his way to the new world, wrote: We shall find that the God of Israel is among us . when he shall make us a praise and glory. for we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us. Today we hear one preacher after another claiming that America has a privileged and important role in the history of redemption and the working out of the end times. Any notion of Israel or the church as the uniquely chosen people of God has been caught up into a national vision. Abraham Lincoln was more modest, thankfully, when he referred to America in 1861 as the "Almighty's almost chosen people."

Psalm 33:10-13 puts it this way: The Lord bring the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage. The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all humankind. God is no respecter of persons and does not favor one people over another just for the sake of their being special to him. Whenever language of chosenness appears in Scripture, it has to do with God's spiritual mission to the world.

When we sing "America the Beautiful" rightly, what will draw our attention is not simply the magnificence of our purple mountain majesties, the amber waves of grain, or the alabaster cities' gleam; it will be the twice-repeated line that is a prayer rather than a declaration: God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. God's blessing depends upon our goodness, and our goodness depends upon God's grace.

Katherine Bates was head of the English department at Wellesley College. She published numerous books of poetry, but she especially loved patriotic verse. The beauty of land and sky moved her on a visit to Pike's Peak in 1892 on the 400^th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of America. A year later at the Chicago World's Fair, she marveled at the spectacular structures made by human hands. Combining nature and pilgrims, patriots and builders, she wrote in praise of America's endowments and achievements. But she always kept in mind one central spiritual truth. We must match the greatness of our country with the goodness of godly personal living, she would say.

And with that we sing to America. It will be praise to God, though, more than praise of ourselves or our country, and it will carry with it a commitment to foster friendship with the world as a tribute to God's grace to us all.