Law-abiding citizen is a term that is used to reflect one’s commitment to the law in any and all circumstances.  It says that one is committed to being faithful to the standard of equity and justice imposed by the authorities over the citizenry of any given community.  To that end, any patriot should account themselves as being a law-abiding citizen — someone who follows the restrictions and freedoms afforded by the community in which he or she is a citizen.  And yet it’s difficult in the human world.  There are so many laws to keep up with.  They change based on culture, based on privilege, based on wealth.  The laws of humanity quite frequently favor those who have power — or who desire to have it — and can affect the writing of the laws of any land.  However, the Kingdom of God is driven by one law that never changes.  It is the law of love.  It is the one law that is prescriptive for every action we take and sets both the boundaries and the scope of our interactions with each other.  And yes, it is a risky venture to love.

         To love anyone is to hope in the always.  Love never ends.  From the moment we begin to judge anyone, to limit our confidence in them — from the moment at which we identify them and so reduce them to that — we cease to love them and they cease to be able to become better.  That doesn’t mean that we can’t name their need for growth.  That doesn’t mean that we can’t speak the truth in love.  That is a requirement of our faith.  We all fall short of the glory of God.  But it does mean that the door of love must be as open to our neighbors as God’s love is open to us.

         To be a law-abiding citizen in the Kingdom of God is the only law of God that demands that we love our neighbors as we love ourselves — to be as forgiving to our neighbors as we are to ourselves.  Loving others is the type of Christian patriotism that develops into an art as we practice it and fulfills every law necessary as a citizen of the Kingdom of God.

• In what ways has your judgement of someone else hindered your ability to fulfill the law of God’s Kingdom to love your neighbor?
• What is necessary for you to grow spiritually enough to get past your judgment in order to love unconditionally?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Merciful God, as You have loved me, empower me to become a more patriotic Christian by being faithful to love my neighbors, even after I have broken your law of love by having judged them.

         The Welsh national anthem is a hymn of rare beauty.  It was sung in both Princess Diana's wedding and her funeral.  Here are the lyrics that are all but unknown in our country, but which provide a rich vocabulary for contemplating what it means to give our lives to God and his Kingdom:

       I vow to thee my country, all earthly things above.

       Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love.

       The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test.

       That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best.

       The love that never falters, the love that pays the price.

       The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

       And there's another country, I've heard of long ago,

       most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know.

       We may not count her armies, we may not see her King,

       her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering.

       And soul by soul and silently, her shining bounds increase,

       and her ways are ways of gentleness and all her paths are peace

And while the words and the sentiments are beautifully expressed, they speak of a patriotism to a land to which a person has vowed the undying loyalty.

         John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church also wrote words of Christian patriotism.  They, too, are all but unknown accept to those who are familiar with Wesley’s commitment  and loyalty to God and God’s Kingdom.  Wesley wrote:

I am no longer my own, but yours.

Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you,

Praised for you or criticized for you.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service.

And now, O wonderful and holy God,

Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,

you are mine, and I am yours.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

let it also be made in heaven

Wesley’s covenant speaks to a personal and spiritual commitment to God and to the Kingdom of God.  It loses “self” in the act o humble submission and offers self in the act of selfless sacrifice.  This is what the art and act of true Christian patriotism of made of.

• What thoughts come to mind when you think of Christian patriotism and selfless sacrifice for the Kingdom of God?
• How would you go about making such a commitment to serve God and God’s Kingdom?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Merciful God, please accept my acts of Christian patriotism however meek they are practiced. Grant mercy to me for those times my patriotism falls short of Your expectations.

         Patriotism — and more specifically Christian patriotism —begins and ends with our acknowledgement of our relationship to God through Jesus Christ.  It is within that relationship that our actions and character as children of God through Jesus Christ are to be lived out.  And no, it is not easy living this life as a child of God.  We’re often caught between the rock of our humanity and the hard place of transformation into what it means to be loyal and faithful to God.  And if being loyal and faithful — patriotic Christians — brings suffering upon us because of our commitment to do good despite the unacceptance of those who don’t believe as we do, then it is our acts of patriotism — our faithful commitment to God and the Kingdom of God that gives evidence of our faithful patriotism and connects us to the suffering of Christ for righteousness sake.  To that end we should continue to do good, living as patriotic Christians abiding by Christ’s requirement that we love one another, despite the principles of those who believe that only certain people are to be loved and included in God’s Kingdom.  Christian Nationalism has become the stain upon our faith and upon the Kingdom of God, that is inclusive of all.  We should be reminded from time to time that because of Christ, “28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28}

• How does suffering as a citizen of God’s Kingdom strengthen or challenge your commitment to remain faithful to Christ and continue doing good in his name?
• What growth do you see as necessary in your spiritual life that will enable you to willingly suffer for the sake of Christ and God’s Kingdom?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving Christ, strengthen my resolve to endure suffering as an art of patriotic Christianity that God may bee honored and glorified.