A City Upon a Hill: A Sermon for Proper 9
While our nation celebrates Independence Day today, I am going to go out on a limb and say that I believe that as Christians, our identities are defined by our baptisms, not our nationality. When the first apostles carried the gospel message to the Gentiles, the definition of who and where “God’s people” were was radically changed forever. The first evangelists proclaimed that God’s favor – God’s love, mercy, and grace – isn’t limited by or directed towards any particular set of borders, boundary lines, or people. For those who want to claim God as theirs and only theirs, this may not seem like good news; but God can’t be contained, and that is the Good News we find in Jesus Christ.
But wait a minute. Our Psalm for today, as well as much of the Hebrew scriptures, might lead us to believe otherwise:
“Beautiful and lofty, the joy of all the earth, is the hill of Zion,
the very center of the world and the city of the great King.”
The great King the psalmist is referring to is King David, and the city being referred to is Jerusalem, oftentimes called Zion – the City of David. But does God favor Jerusalem over all other places?
“Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised; in the city of our God is his holy hill…God is in her citadels; he is known to be her sure refuge.”
I first heard about the “the City Upon a Hill” not in Sunday School or Confirmation Class, but in my 11th grade American History class. It was there that I first learned about American Exceptionalism, Manifest Destiny, and the like. I read about the Puritan preacher John Winthrop, who in 1630 preached to the English Puritans aboard the ship Arbella, employing the image of the city perched upon a hill, where Christian charity, affection, and principles would be on display for the whole world to see. We must remember that the Puritans were fleeing England because they were seeking religious freedom. In England, the belief was that God’s favor was limited to the National Church. The Puritans disagreed. Well, Winthrop was brilliant, resourceful, and inspiring, but not altogether original. After all, not only did the image of the City on a Hill emerge with the rise of Jerusalem under the reign of King David, it resurfaced in the 5th Chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, in what is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount. As Jesus stood upon a hill, he told the parable of the Salt and the Light, saying, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." John Winthrop used these images from Holy Scripture as a model for how he understood the Puritan mission in the new world to be. Much like the gospel message being carried to the Gentiles, the English Puritans were leaving their homeland to establish a New Jerusalem.
So as our nation celebrates our 245th year of independence, are we still, as John Winthrop and the New England Puritans saw us, a city perched upon the hill? Are we exceptional? Are we uniquely favored by God, over and against other nations, in the same way that the Israelites believed themselves to be? As the unrivaled military and economic superpower of the world, is the United States the new Zion; the New Jerusalem?
One thing that can be helpful as we try to unpack all of this is that Psalm 48 was likely written when the Israelites were living in Babylonian exile. In other words, it was written not from a place of power, but rather, from a place of powerlessness. Their glory days were behind them. The texts that come out of the exilic period express everything from deep lament, which spoke to their current situation, to triumphalism, which spoke to their nostalgia for the past as well as their hopes for the future. More times than not, the triumphalist, nationalist texts in the Bible come from a place of oppression, not a place of power. This is very similar to the themes we find in the Negro Spirituals of the 19th century. Like the texts that arose from the Jewish exile, these spirituals expressed nostalgia and hope, because their current situation felt so hopeless.
So where do we find ourselves now in the United States? As a nation, we are clearly no longer operating out of the mindset of an oppressed people like those first English Puritans were. We are no longer the underdogs, resisting the power of empire, and boldly setting out to establish a New Jerusalem. We are the establishment. We are the empire. Yet, in spite of the fact that we as a nation have much to be proud of, many of us are still unhappy. Although we are the wealthiest and most powerful nation on the planet, we are also deeply divided. In light of the most recent Presidential election, some of us are rejoicing, while some of us are lamenting. The idea of what that “City Upon a Hill” should look like is very different for many Americans. The perfect city for one may not be a perfect city for another.
So on Independence Day, many of us - like the Israelites in Babylonian exile and the African slaves in 19th century America – celebrate our nation’s birthday from the dual perspective of deep nostalgia and abundant hope. Many of us will reflect on the way things used to be – the good ole days so to speak. Others of us focus our attention forwards, believing that our best days have yet to arrive. Very few of us, if we are honest with ourselves, are completely satisfied with how things are going right now in our country.
But our Psalm for today reminds us that in the midst of oppression, exile, and deep dissatisfaction, a voice of hope (along with, perhaps a dose of prideful bravado) can emerge. The psalmist hearkens back to a time when the attacking Assyrian army, upon seeing the city of Jerusalem perched safely upon the hill, fled in terror, without the Israelites ever even having to fire a single arrow from their bows. But in the midst of remembering their astonishing military victory over the Assyrians, perhaps it also occurred to the psalmist that when one lives by the sword, one also dies by the sword. Their military power and might under the reign of King David was unrivaled, and they enjoyed a great run so to speak. But their dependence on military power for their sense of identity and security proved to be their fatal flaw, and Babylon finally beat them at their own game. So the psalmist turns from the rally cry of military might to the true source of Israel’s hope for the liberation from Babylonian bondage:
We have waited in silence on your loving-kindness, O God,
in the midst of your temple.
Your praise, like your Name, O God, reaches to the world's end;
your right hand is full of justice.
As we celebrate our nation’s independence from the powers and principalities of the empire, let us be careful not to embody the very empire that we defeated. Yes, our independence was won by an unprecedented, courageous military victory. And yes, history tells us that in World War II, we were undoubtedly the good guys; and thanks be to God the good guys won. And yes, our judicial and legislative branches of government have won countless important victories for the common good throughout our nation’s history. And one could argue that God’s hand was in all of these military, legislative, and judicial victories.
But we must be careful when we either take all the credit for our accomplishments, or when we claim God’s favor for only ourselves. If Israel - God’s chosen nation – could fall, so can we. One look at our national budget and you will see that in spite of all of our material, intellectual, and natural resources, we are a nation that is living in great fear. We are placing the majority of our hope in the power of empire, the very thing we fought against when our country was founded.
As Christians who are citizens of this great nation, let us practice our patriotism by proclaiming that our primary hope is not in empire. Rather, our primary hope is in the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. When we place our primary hope in Jesus, our empire won’t disappear or become irrelevant. That is not realistic, or even prudent. But they will be transformed in the same way that the Apostle Paul was transformed when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. We must remember that on that day, Jesus redefined power for Paul, saying, “power is made perfect in weakness.” For Jesus, it was in giving up power that he was able to defeat the powers of sin, death, and evil. It absolutely makes no sense. But it is the gospel message.
If we as a country want to be that city on a hill that is a beacon of light for all the nations to see and follow, we must turn our hearts, minds, souls, and bodies towards God. Writing from exile, the writer of Psalm 48 concluded that God is truly the right hand of justice. And in the very last verse, the writer gives all of the glory to God, not to Jerusalem.
This God is our God forever and ever;
he shall be our guide for evermore.
The hymn – My Country ‘Tis of Thee – does precisely the same thing that Psalm 48 does. In the last stanza, the accolades shift from our country to our God. It is God who makes us great, not we ourselves. In ancient Israel, and still today, no matter who we are or where we live, all glory be to God. Amen.