(My sermon for this special service.)
Isaiah 55:1-13
Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labour for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.
Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Several years ago I watched the excellent documentary Summer of Soul. The film tells the story of “Black Woodstock,” during the summer of 1969, when for six consecutive Sundays at a park in Harlem, Black musicians from Stevie Wonder to Gladys Knight to Mahalia Jackson performed. It was the first time I heard Nina Simone perform- I immediately sought out other documentaries about her! The music was terrific, the fashion on display was on point, but what I am remembering most specifically today were interviews with folks in the crowds. One Sunday, July 20, a white reporter walked among the crowds, asking the overwhelmingly Black attendees what they thought about the lunar landing that happened that day. After all, the whole world was buzzing about it. “What do you think?” the guy asked several people. “We don’t care about that.” “You’re spending all that time and money up there, while people in our own neighborhoods are going hungry, in need of work, suffering from violence. We have our own issues to think about.” The reporter was flabbergasted, so surprised to hear such a response. We had accomplished such a terrific thing! But when members of the community are suffering, what’s there to celebrate?
This weekend is the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, signed 250 years and one day ago: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” When asked how they are participating, Americans had various responses: from last Sunday’s Dallas Morning News:
Why is this change in attitude happening? One thought I had in the weeks I have spent writing this message is this: too often our rhetoric about the USA doesn’t match the reality for many Americans. “This is the greatest country in the world.” “Anyone can achieve anything here.” George Washington wrote a letter written to the members of the nation’s oldest synagogue, Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island. “The Government of the United States … gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance,” he wrote. “May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants, while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.”
But many people do feel afraid. Immigrants, people of color, gay, lesbian and transgender neighbors are seeing their rights threatened. Christian Nationalism would impose a certain worldview on others- claiming their understanding of God is correct. In a free society, persons of faith shouldn’t need the government to protect their faith versus the faith of others. There has never been a time in our history- going back even further than 250 years- where everyone worshiped the same, believed the same, had the same understanding of patriotism or love of country. If we have freedom of religion, it has to be for everyone, and must also include freedom from religion.
This week the Supreme Court handed down decisions that will have an immediate impact on large numbers of immigrants who came here seeking asylum or protection. The United Methodist Social Principles affirm that every migrant, refugee and asylum seeker bears the image of God and possesses inherent dignity and worth, regardless of country of origin or legal status. The Rev. Kendal L. McBroom, Director of Civil and Human Rights at the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Church and Society, said “…these decisions weaken our nation’s moral witness and undermine the longstanding commitment to offer refuge to those seeking safety. We call upon our elected leaders to pursue policies that reflect justice, mercy and the sacred worth of every human being, ensuring that our immigration system embodies both the rule of law and the moral courage to protect those in need.”
Ironically, the Constitution did not guarantee those rights the Declaration of Independence aspired to- it has been amended over and over, and many of those amendments, especially ones related to civil rights, have come under threat in recent years- including just this week. We are also seeing limits on democracy- voting rights are being severely limited; congressional redistricting adversely impacts communities of color- so fewer communities find themselves represented where decisions are made. When people feel disenfranchised, when people believe the country only works for the most powerful, and the disparity increases each year, you can see why people have different feelings about the 4th of July. For many Black Americans, freedom is celebrated on Juneteenth, when enslaved people in Texas in 1865 first learned of the Emancipation Proclamation issued two years earlier, not July 4, 1776- because not all Americans were free then.
So all of this is to say: there are legitimate questions about whether we are living up to our ideals- and who we are leaving out or behind. Which brings me to a sign I saw recently driving through Celina, Texas: “Prevent patriotic panic.” I had to double take when I drove past it: “Prevent patriotic panic.” It was a veterinary clinic- selling medication to keep animals calm during fireworks. But to prevent patriotic panic here, let’s go back to the Isaiah text and hear its wisdom.
Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labour for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
These words were written to an exiled community, who had lost the Promised Land and were displaced from their homes. They struggled to maintain their unique identity in a culture vastly different from their own. But God invites them to something better. They do not have to buy in to the economy to find fulfillment- everyone who is hungry or thirsty is invited to the Lord’s table. Nothing offered there can be bought; God’s grace guides the people and provides for them.
Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
There is room at the table for our brokenness. There is room there for our imperfections. We are invited to confess our sins, with humility to recognize God’s sovereignty and majesty, and receive divine forgiveness. Return to God, for [God] will abundantly pardon.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
God’s word comes to us as rain to the barren desert. The moisture does not return to the heavens until it has served its natural purpose- allowing the land to produce abundantly. God’s love, forgiveness, mercy and compassion are offered to us, and they do not return until they have accomplished their purpose.
For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
All creation celebrates with joy as the people once displaced are returned to the God who renews the divine covenant- a new birth of freedom, to use President Lincoln’s words from the Gettysburg Address. The hymns we sang this morning are aspirational. They sing to a promise of a nation, where true freedom is offered to all: God mend thine every flaw, confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law. Long may our land be bright with freedom’s holy light. And The Battle Hymn of the Republic, written in 1861- not 1865- puts the Civil War in a theological light: as [Christ] died to make men holy, let us die to make men free- our God is marching on.
Bishop David Wilson serves in the Great Plains Conference. He is the first Native American to be elected to episcopal office in The United Methodist Church. He is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation who also has Cherokee lineage. He recently shared his reflections on the contributions of native peoples in the creation of the United States:
The Library of Congress reports that the Senate recognized the influence of the (Iroquois) Confederacy on the construction of the Constitution, noting: ‘The original framers of the Constitution, including most notably George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, are known to have greatly admired the concepts, principles and governmental practices of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy… the confederation of the original Thirteen Colonies into one republic was explicitly modeled upon the Iroquois Confederacy as were many of the democratic principles which were incorporated into the Constitution itself.’
Interestingly, it was not until June 2, 1924, that Indigenous persons in this country were recognized as citizens of the United States. President Calvin Coolidge singed the Indian Citizenship Act, also known as the Snyder Act, into law. He observed the way that many tribal members enlisted in the military in World War I, before they were even U.S. citizens. The perspective of Indigenous persons is often overlooked. Despite the history and colonization of Indigenous persons, this is still our country. Even today, tribal people in this country serve in the military, per capita, at the highest rate of any group in this country. Soldiers come home to celebrations and recognition throughout. Indigenous veterans are highly respected.
Onondaga Faith keeper Oren Lyons said: ‘What Indians are about, I think, first of all is community. They’re about mutual support, they’re about sharing. They’re about understanding what’s common land, common air, common water, common and for all. They’re about freedom.’
I found this litany, written in 2026 by Rev. Tony Serbousek, Lakota, pastor of Concordia (Kansas.) First and Trinity UMCs.
A Litany for the 250th Anniversary of American Independence Remembering the First Peoples of this nation.
Leader: Creator of all nations and peoples, before there was a United
States, this land was home to Indigenous people who had their own
languages, traditions, and communities. However, the atrocities of
genocide through colonization erased these traditions, language and
communities.
People: We give thanks for the First Peoples of this land and for their
courage, bravery and enduring presence among us that made sure their
history did not get erased.
Leader: For the wisdom of elders, the stewardship of all that Creator
entrusted to their care, for the courage of leaders, the faithfulness of
communities, and the gifts of Native cultures,
People: We give thanks, O Creator.
Leader: For the beauty of the prairies, forests, rivers, mountains, and
deserts entrusted to our care,
People: We give thanks, O God.
Leader: On this 250th anniversary of American independence, we
remember that freedom has not been experienced equally by all.
People: Teach us to not avoid the disturbing truth and to remember and tell
these stories with humility and grace.
Leader: We remember broken treaties, lands taken, families separated,
languages silenced, and sacred traditions suppressed. For the hundreds of
children who were abused sexually and physically and for those children
who never returned home.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Leader: We remember Native communities that endured hardship and
forced from their homelands yet preserved their identity, dignity, and hope.
People: Strengthen us to honor their resilience.
Leader: For Native veterans who have served this nation, for tribal leaders
who guide their people, and for all who work for justice and reconciliation.
People: We pray that you will lead them with wisdom and peace.
Leader: As we celebrate the freedoms we enjoy,
People: May we also seek freedom from prejudice, ignorance, and
indifference.
Leader: As we honor the past, help us to not forget it.
People: May we learn from it and not repeat its wounds.
Leader: As we look to the future, walk with us Great Mystery,
People: May our Indigenous nations be brought out of the poverty that
pervades so many Native communities today.
Leader: May the diverse peoples of this nation walk together in mutual respect.
People: Teach us to see each of us as all of our relation that respects each
other and the land we live on.
Leader: Creator God, whose image is reflected in every people and nation,
People: Unite us in equality, justice, truth, and peace.
Leader: May this 250th anniversary renew our commitment to liberty and
dignity for all.
People: And may the next seven generations inherit a nation marked by
reconciliation, compassion, and hope.
Leader: We pray in gratitude for this land, its Indigenous people, and all
who call it home.
People: Aho and Amen!