NO EXCEPTIONS. exceptionalism, according to which a people believes itself especially blessed with a

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1 NO EXCEPTIONS Is. 66:10-14; Galatians 6:1-16 Let us briefly consider the history of a bad idea. The idea I am talking about is exceptionalism, according to which a people believes itself especially blessed with a unique calling that other peoples have not received. The oldest living example of exceptionalism is to be found in the Jewish notion that Israel was set apart by God as a holy nation to do the work of repairing the world. Thus the Jews were God s chosen people, and in their chosenness were exceptional among the peoples of the world. This is a belief that is enshrined in the Jewish scriptures, and those who accept the Jewish scriptures as from God are inclined to believe this. It is surely a good thing that Jews should feel compelled to take up the mission of repairing the world. But problems arise when this mission comes to be thought of as something that only Jews can accomplish and that they are especially gifted and favored rather than merely responsible as witnesses to a vision of God s will for the world. Insofar as this way of thinking has been embraced as a mark of Jewish identity, it has been a source of much resentment which has often resulted in bitter persecution of the Jews. This is not to say that the persecution of Jews is the fault of the Jews, but simply that the idea of exceptionalism can and mostly does have bad consequences. As a case in point, Christianity, too, has understood itself as having an exclusive relationship to God, except in Christianity s case, this is not because it has the special gift of God s law but rather because it has the special gift of God s son. According to our 1

2 faith, the Jews squandered their chance to be God s chosen, rejecting Jesus whom his followers adored, and the Christians became as a result the apple of God s eye. By receiving Jesus as the Christ, Christians came to see themselves as exceptional and felt free to persecute Jews who had now been superceded and were just a bunch of stubborn refuseniks and condemned for this. It was Jesus who would save the world, and his followers, the Christians, were now God s elect people, whose destiny was not to heal the world but to be saved from the sins of the world by virtue of their faith. The idea of exceptionalism takes on a new form when it arrives on these American shores with the Puritans who envision America as the historical expression of God s favor with an exceptional mission to be the city upon a hill that would be a light to the nations. Accordingly, the United States was thought not to be driven by interests and ambitions like other nations, scrambling for land and treasure, but rather as having been summoned to ensure, in Lincoln s words, that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth. At the heart of American exceptionalism is the belief that this nation has a global calling to lift others up. Writing about American exceptionalism, the author Godfrey Hodgeson has argued that from its outset America was less exceptional than it imagined itself and is but one great imperfect country among others. What is exceptional, Hodgeson says, is the high number of inmates in American prisons and the quality of American health care which is exceptionally bad and its public education which has gone into exceptional decline and America s uncritical support of Israel after being broadly indifferent to Hitler s genocide of the Jews in W.W. II. Add to this the treatment of Native Americans, the institution of slavery, and the low percentage of foreign aid that is not military given by the American 2

3 government, and it s difficult to see what American exceptionalism amounts to other than a consoling bit of national arrogance. Many years ago, before I came to Emanuel, I presided over worship in the Hamilton College Chapel, a beautiful example of colonial architecture in the center of the original campus, which was set on top of a hillside in Central New York State. The chapel was visible from surrounding hillsides in the Mohawk Valley, and it was placed where it was specifically to serve as a beacon of enlightenment for the region. Toward this end, the tall white steeple of the chapel was brilliantly illuminated by floodlights at night. Story had it that during the fuel crisis of the 1970 s, the college decided to turn off the lights on the steeple as an expression of the college s concern about the waste of precious energy. In so doing, Hamilton would be carrying forward its mission to be an unlighted but enlightening example to others. Was it not, after all, the responsibility of so exceptional an institution to be a model to its little part of the world? Yes, of course, but as it turned out, some rich alumnus believed the steeple should be lit up as he had fondly remembered it and gave a special gift to the college to pay for the lighting up of the steeple, regardless of the energy crisis. And the college accepted the gift and turned back on the lights. It seems that Hamilton was exceptional and did not need to conserve. We have a biblical example of Jewish exceptionalism in our Lesson from Isaiah. It is a beautiful and comforting piece up to the point when the restoration of Jerusalem turns into fiery punishment for Jerusalem s enemies. If we were to read further, Isaiah says, For by fire will God execute judgment, and by God s sword, on all flesh; and those slain by God will be many. Christians and Jews who think the Koran is such a violent 3

4 book might pause to consider the self-righteous exceptionalism that lies behind a passage like this one from our own scriptures. There is another sentiment to be found in the Bible, and I call your attention to an example of this in St. Paul s Letter to the Galatians, where he writes, Bear one another s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. What is this law of Christ? It is to bear one another s burdens. Not for me to bear your burdens or for you to bear my burdens, as if one of us is the exceptional bearer of burdens, but for us to bear one another s burdens. We need one another! That is the basis of the law of Christ. The Christian s only boast, says St. Paul, is the cross of Christ, not Christ, but the cross of Christ. The Christian is thus the one who identifies with the crucified of the world as represented in Christ Jesus on the cross, identifies with all those who suffer injustice and are held in low esteem, those who are least. There is nothing exceptional about us except perhaps our identification with those who are not exceptional and are undistinguished. The one we call savior was a hunble and lowly individual, exceptional in his goodness which he apparently did not think made him exceptional. If this is our savior, then our salvation must be in keeping with his example, and if that is the case, we have no grounds for assuming the kind of exceptionalism that would make some greater in God s sight than others. This is not to say that Christians have no example to offer or witness to make, but the example and witness we have is to the law of Christ, which is based on the bearing of each other s burdens with humility. On this Fourth of July, it is only appropriate to be grateful for the beauty of this land and its people and the hope of liberty and justice for all that has been enshrined in 4

5 the ideals of this republic. To do this does not require any particular presumption of exceptionalism. We can do this at least in part this morning by singing the American hymn, How Beautiful, Our Spacious Skies in the rendering the hymn is given by Miriam Therese Winter (New Century Hymnal, #594). But before we sing, allow me to read the text of this hymn as an example of a Christian writer expressing gratitude for this land without resorting to trimphalist notions of American exceptionalism. How beautiful, our spacious skies, our amber waves of grain; our purple mountains as they rise above the fruitful plain. America! America! God s gracious gifts abound, and more and more we re grateful for life s bounty all around. Indigenous and immigrant, our daughters and our sons: O may we never rest content till all are truly one. America! America! God grant that we may be a sisterhood and brotherhood from sea to shining sea. How beautiful sincere lament, the wisdom born of tears, the courage called for to repent the bloodshed through the years. America! America! God grant that we may be a nation blessed with none oppressed, true land of liberty. How beautiful, two continents, and islands in the sea that dream of peace, non-violence, all people living free, Americas! Americas! God grant that we may be a hemisphere where people here all live in harmony. Amen. May we now sing these words together on our Independence Day. Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, July 4, 2010 Emanuel Lutheran Church 5