Under His Flag

This is Flag Day, and we can recognize the message that the flag carries - not only the 50 "United" states symbolized by the stars, but the 13 original colonies that the stripes represent.  As believers in Christ, while we can celebrate our great country, we recognize that we are citizens of another Kingdom, a heavenly one, and we represent our Lord. Jeremiah 50 offers some thought-provoking words:

2 "Declare among the nations, Proclaim, and set up a standard; Proclaim--do not conceal it-- Say, 'Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed. Merodach is broken in pieces; Her idols are humiliated, Her images are broken in pieces.'
3 For out of the north a nation comes up against her, Which shall make her land desolate, And no one shall dwell therein. They shall move, they shall depart, Both man and beast.
4 "In those days and in that time," says the Lord, "The children of Israel shall come, They and the children of Judah together; With continual weeping they shall come, And seek the Lord their God.

The standard - the banner - the flag, if you will, according to the prophet Jeremiah, communicated a message of God's faithfulness. When you look at the American flag, I believe that you can also reflect on how God has established a nation that is based on freedom and the principles that all are created equal, with rights granted by our Creator.  Ultimate victory, though, is in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are called to display His character in the way we allow His life to flow through us...we wave His banner through the way we live.

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On this Flag Day, 2021, we're going to trace some American history, but the landing spot for me today is to recognize the ultimate banner under which we serve - our Lord Most High. Exodus 17 says:
13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven."
15 And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner..."

This is the day that is set aside to celebrate the history of the United States flag, and the origins of this commemoration actually go back to 1777, less than a year after the 13 original colonies declared their independence from Great Britain.  

The History Channel website reports that:

On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress took a break from writing the Articles of Confederation and passed a resolution stating that “the flag of the United States be 13 stripes, alternate red and white,” and that “the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

Over 100 years later, in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson marked the anniversary of that decree by officially establishing June 14 as Flag Day.

While Wilson implemented the celebration, it is reported that the original idea came from a teacher from Wisconsin named Bernard Cigrand, who proposed the idea back in 1885; the website says, "That year, he led his school in the first formal observance of the holiday."

Flag Day was also the day that two very important words were added to the Pledge of Allegiance. According to an article at the Business Insider website, a minister named Francis Bellamy originated it in 1892, and in 1948, the addition of the words "under God" occurred.  The website reports:

Then, an attorney from Illinois, Louis Bowman, shook the wording up a bit. At a meeting of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1948, he added "under God," claiming Abraham Lincoln used the same phrase in his Gettysburg Address. Almost all reported transcripts from the speech do include "that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom."

Fast forward to 1953 - a resolution introduced into Congress failed. But, President Eisenhower, according to the website, had been "Recently baptized as a Presbyterian." He had "...heard a sermon, arguing the words 'under God' from Lincoln's speech set the United States apart from others as a nation. At the time, the Cold War was gaining steam, and Eisenhower was fighting communism across the globe." He encouraged Charles Oakman to re-introduce the bill concerning the Pledge and it was passed and signed into law on, you guessed it, Flag Day 1954. The article says, "A story announcing the news in the Washington Post quoted him as saying the new version would add 'spiritual weapons which will forever be our country's most powerful resource.'"

Throughout the years, people have stated that connection between our nation and the hand of God, and we need to continue to honor Him. Unfortunately, there is a battle of ideas that is occurring, ideas that are not compatible with a Christian worldview, that are being commemorated by...flags.  Family Research Council commented recently, on Thursday, June 3:

The Pentagon, which is so busy grand marshalling the president's Pride parades that it barely has time for real work, announced Tuesday that it might consider allowing rainbow flags to be flown on installations along with the stars and stripes. It would be a dramatic departure from the Trump administration, which banned bases from flying anything but Old Glory and the POW/MIA colors. Apparently, the White House wants to add to the controversies it started in the State Department by unfurling the rainbow at embassies around the world where the symbol is seen as offensive.

Fortunately, the day after that was written, the website Stars and Stripes said that the military would not expand its policy on flags to be flown at its installations, which would include the so-called "pride" flag. 

Based on this information, we see that there has been a spiritual connection to this day - the Pledge of Allegiance having been written by a minister, as well as a teacher and President championing the addition of the words "under God" to the Pledge. 

In thinking on Eisenhower's words, we can certainly look around and ascertain that we need spiritual weapons, in reality, in our land today.  He was using those words relative to the Cold War and the fight against Communism, but we are fighting against a variety of ideologies today that do not square with the Word of God.  We have to push back and stand strong against "every high thing," as I talked about last week that is exalted over the Word of God.  

We are placed on this earth - with a mission: to share and live out the gospel.  Jesus has called us to go into all the world and share our faith and make disciples.  That is key.  Changed hearts mean changed conditions in which we live. A by-product of our faithful service to God will be a change in the moral climate.  We have to make sure that we get that progression right, though - we are first and foremost servants of God, and we carry the banner of the cross.  As we advance, and as God brings people into a relationship with Himself through Christ, change occurs - inside the human heart and throughout our country.