Sermons

We belong to other people. I know, I know. We’re about to celebrate a big national holiday commemorating our country’s independence from tyranny. And much of our national cultural identity tells us that we are, first and foremost individuals, with individual freedom and individual rights.

But what if belonging was more important than freedom?

Our lives are shared with others. We live in towns with next door neighbors, we buy our food at grocery stores staffed by acquaintances, some we know better than others. One of my favorite parts of going on a long vacation is the day the owner of the local bakery offers my usual with a smile and asks how things are going.

Whether that’s how we see ourselves or not, our lives are shared; whether we want to or not. We are our communities and our communities are us.

I would love for us all to take a minute now and think about a community we belong to. If you have trouble, I can give you a hint that you’re sitting in one right now. But there’s also hobbies or sports, families and marriages, work and volunteer groups, your town or state, and of course, for most of us, being American. Now go ahead and take a minute and think about a community YOU belong to.

Hold that community in your mind. Think about who else belongs to it. Consider why you joined it — if it was a choice — or how you came to belong — if it wasn’t a choice.

Think about the values that you’ve drawn from that community. Do the members hold you accountable to show up for others? Do the members listen to you when you’ve had a bad day? Do the members sing you happy birthday? Do they show up when you’re sick, or teach you a new knitting technique?

One question I have for you now is: How large is the community you’re thinking about? Is it a community of thousands of people, millions of people, spread across the world? I have a suspicion, and I welcome correction (later when I’m not in the pulpit 😀 ) if I’m wrong, but I suspect that the majority of us are thinking of intimate communities – local communities, communities of friends, loved ones, dear ones or our beloved.

How does thinking about your community make you feel? For me, when I meditate on the people I belong to, who share my affinities and passions, I feel energized. And I suspect it’s not just me. As David Chavis and Kien Lee point out in our reading, “that treasured feeling of community comes from shared experiences and a SENSE of shared history. As a result, people know who is and isn’t part of their community. This feeling is fundamental to human existence.”

Given that we are on the eve of this, our 246th anniversary of our Independence Day, I can’t help but wonder what the author of our national anthem, Francis Scott Key, was thinking about, as he watched Fort McHenry near Baltimore battered by British ships during the war of 1812.

Curiously, Key had found himself helplessly watching the bombardment, stuck on a British vessel in the harbor while negotiating the release of a friend, Dr. William Beanes.

Earlier in the conflict, Beanes had gotten into hot water with the British when he was found arresting British soldiers who were pillaging and looting in the community around his farm. On trumped up charges of being a spy, Beanes was hauled off to the H.M.S. Tonnant, a British ship off the Maryland coast for questioning.

Beanes’ friends, his community, appealed for the support of Key, a Georgetown lawyer, to negotiate his release. Key under great risk to himself, successfully negotiated the release of Beanes while aboard the Tonnant but, due to the outbreak of the Battle of Baltimore was left to watch the heavy bombardment, and could only wonder just how bad things were at Fort McHenry.

When the smoke cleared in the morning, Key was able to see Fort McHenry’s standard, the Flag of the United States, still standing, giving him inspiration for a poem, the first verse of which would take on a life of it’s own over the next 200 some years by becoming our National Anthem.

And yet, while Key was imagining the Fort McHenry soldiers’ “perilous fight” through rocket’s red glare, Key’s own fight was not holding off a British bombardment.

Key was on the Tonnant in defense of a member of his local community. The flag still waving gave him hope for the future and world beyond the reach of the British empire, but his daily struggle, and the animating force for WHY he should have hope in the first place was his belonging to the people of Baltimore, and freeing Dr. Beanes himself.

Friends, I ask you, what use is a nation of laws or our personal freedom, without our communities to defend? It may at times seem like silly things, but your Scrabble community, your ham radio club, your library staff, the people who mow your lawn, or your closest family members; THESE give us a reason to look for the flag flying on morning after a merciless bombardment by someone who would take our communities from us.

When I was growing up, I often found myself struggling with the fact that the 4th of July feels like a celebration of combat, and fighting. I was not raised in a community that came together on the common for hot dogs and fire truck rides before a night of fireworks. And yet, in this town, in this State at this point in my life, I will say that I look forward to celebrating the 4th of July every year. And that’s almost entirely due to the people I get to celebrate the day with.

What a special day, the Fourth of July is on the coast of Maine!

We are our communities, and our communities are us. Our sense of belonging gives us something to fight for in this world. The challenge for us, on a peaceful anniversary of a day of national struggle, is to find the joy in our local communities, the people who make our lives worth living, without resorting to jingoistic or nationalistic rhetoric that would make our lives better than others.

If we are our communities, than the same is true for everyone, everywhere. And everyone deserves their own opportunity to build communities that fill their needs and give them purpose. As a nation, as a faith community and as caring loving people, let us celebrate the diversity of communities that make this world such a vibrant place. Amen.