Second Sunday in Lent, March 16th, 2025

Texts: Luke 13:31-35, Philippians 3:17—4:1

Grace, Peace, and Mercy from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

I would like to focus on an idea put forward by Paul on his letter to the Philippians, which led me to the question: are Christians called to be patriots? Patriotism is a highly propagated cultural value among many nations, not just the United States. Nobody wants to be considered un-patriotic, or lacking in love for one’s country. To love one’s country and desire it’s wellbeing is of course, not a sin. As a Puerto Rican, I’ve often felt very patriotic, especially when we beat the United States or the Dominican Republic in any sport. Patriotism in one country is defined differently in another, however. It is not the same to be a patriot of an oppressed country rather than a powerful one. And it is not the same to be a patriot in regards to political values of justice than it is to define patriotism on the lines of might makes right. This makes patriotism morally ambiguous, meaning that just because one defines oneself as a patriot it does not mean that you are actually acting ethically or humanely. It only means you have sworn allegiance to the nation-state. Unfortunately, many people called patriots have committed atrocities in the name of their nation, just as much as many who have acted selflessly for their compatriots.

So why talk about this? Two reasons: first, I want to highlight Paul’s argument in his letter about the citizenship of heaven. And second, because now more than ever, the idea around being a citizen or not of a particular nation has taken quite the

prominence on people’s lives, especially here in the United States. To be or not to be a citizen, to be legal or illegal, has become a measuring stick of one’s dignity. And this is something the Apostle Paul can be interpreted as warning against in his letter. The political implications of Paul’s language in this text are not lost on the original hearers. Paul was preaching to citizens of a Roman colony, living under Roman values. In that time, there was no other citizenship more powerful than the Roman Empire’s. Paul, however, is taking this language of citizenry and all its implications, and changing its focus. Paul is exhorting this community in Philippi to not put so much stock on being Romans, or belonging to the system of the Empire. To not render so much of one’s life on living the values of Rome, which often ran contrary to what Jesus taught. Instead, these early Christians were to imitate those who followed the way of the cross of Christ. Our Lord and Salvation, the way of life we are trying to incarnate here is not a product of any earthly identity. The identity that matters is the one from God’s Kingdom. Paul is calling these people to grasp their new and true citizenship, the heavenly one brought by Jesus Christ. He is the Lord, He is the One we should be rendering honor to, not Caesar, and not anyone else, for none of them granted you the graces that God desires to give out. No earthly ruler can give you salvation, none of them can forgive you your sins or give your life meaning. That only comes from Jesus Christ, who brings the Kingdom of God to us, who shows us a way of living rooted in love and mercy. Often, the other citizenships that we hold divide us, they want to divide and make us self-centered, seeking only our own desires and wellbeing

while diminishing or seeking to be above the rest. Paul names the outcome of such an identity: “Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.” Because they cling selfishly on their own desires, Paul says that their god is not the God revealed in Christ, rather it is the god of their own distorted desires. Such a hunger for power and greed cannot be satiated, it will seek to consume until there is nothing left. If your god is the belly, it is impossible for you to love your neighbor, because you can’t see their needs, you would not be able to listen to another voice that is not the grumble of your god. It is the opposite of the Kingdom, where the least of these shall have their fill, where God provides for all and we exist in communion, tending to each other’s needs even through differences in culture, gender, and any other earthly quality. We just need to notice how Paul, a Jewish man, sought to teach the way of Christ and to live in unity with a people who shared a completely different cultural identity. The Kingdom of God seeks to bring together to one table, to work together in unity in such a way that brings honor to the Gospel of Christ. That people might perceive this world-changing Jesus through us, something life-giving in the midst of so much competition and oppression among the powers of the world.

Now, we do not rescind our earthly identities when we adopt the citizenship of Heaven. We still participate in worldly life, we are not separate from the concerns of the surrounding society. But we certainly are called to have a different relationship to it. It was said of the early Christians that wherever they settled: “They live in their

own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country.” Such a way of life insures us that we hold God’s love to have primacy in all our affairs. How would the church look like today if this radical identity was lived out? If Christians of any nation, but especially the US church, lived from the perspective of what the theologian Stanley Hauerwas termed “resident aliens”? That would mean that the sufferings of migrants would be our own, because Christians are migrants upon the earth. Documentation is not even a consideration, because we live under the auspices of God’s promises upon all of humanity. What great news, that as Christians we have been made free from all earthly powers, so that we might serve all freely irrespective of nationality, language, or creed. We serve Jesus, and we serve Him by allying ourselves with the suffering. That freedom, beloved, has allowed Christians for 2,000 years to stand up for the marginalized, even against those who profess Christian faith but act only in interest to themselves and their desire to dominate others.

This heavenly citizenship has given us the freedom to speak truth wherever we are. That we can have the clarity of lamenting and prophesying like Jesus did over His beloved Jerusalem, the center of Jewish life: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” How often we must cry out and pray for our communities so that they may

not be led astray by hatred. How often we must call out the unjust, just as Jesus did when He said “go tell that fox”. This gospel that breathes new life into us does not intend to leave us passive. Jesus embraces us first, so that we might expand that embrace towards others. It moves us to be part of Christ’s motherly embrace.

Thus, God doesn’t desire mere patriotism, for nations come and go. He desires mercy, justice and truth, the values of the Kingdom of Heaven wherever you are. By all means serve your community, but God asks that we open up our arms and to lift up our voices in favor of all human beings that have the image of God residing within them. How beautiful when the diverse human family can sit at one table and break bread together. This is the vision of that heavenly citizenship we have been gifted on our baptism. I will end like Paul wrote: “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way”. Let us pray: