This is My Song

Happy Fourth of July

Dr. Frank Pollard, longtime pastor of First Baptist Church, Jackson, MS, said something that’s stuck with me for decades. I attended (and joined) there when I was in college, primarily because Dr. Pollard is, to this day, the best preacher I’ve ever heard. In my few years there, he said several things that I have stuck with me. One of those things was “We get our theology from three places: the scriptures we read, the prayers we pray, and the hymns we sing.”

I love the music of the church. I tell young parents that sometimes the most important thing they can do is worship with their children and let their kids see them bow their heads in prayer or open a hymnal. So, on days like this, our nation’s 250th birthday, I often turn to the hymns.

There are a lot of great hymns that inspire both faith in God and love of the nation. I think of America the Beautiful. You really want to click on that link, because it’s Ray Charles’ version, the best ever. I love, though, especially the second verse:

O beautiful for heroes proved
in liberating strife,
who more than self their country loved,
and mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
till all success be nobleness,
and every gain divine.

Of course, I love The Battle Hymn of the Republic. I love verse four so much:

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
while God is marching on.

But in the last few years, another hymn has become my favorite of this type. It’s one I had never heard, but now I find myself singing it quite often. It’s entitled “This is My Song.” I love it for a lot of reasons, one of which is that it shares the same tune (Finlandia) as another of my favorite hymns, Be Still My Soul.

The lyrics to this song. Man, they say capture something I deeply believe, but I struggled to verbalize until I heard this song. I’d like for you to read them:

This is my song, Oh God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my sacred shrine.
But other hearts in other lands are beating,
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
Oh hear my song, oh God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.

This is my prayer, O Lord of all earth’s kingdoms:
Thy kingdom come; on earth thy will be done.
Let Christ be lifted up till all shall serve him,
And hearts united learn to live as one.
O hear my prayer, thou God of all the nations;
Myself I give thee, let thy will be done.

I love my country so very much. In my ministry, I have had the honor of serving as pastor to many folks who have served. Several of my closest friends are military chaplains. One of the most powerful things I’ve ever witnessed is seeing a new officer receive their first salute. I tear up when I hear Taps at a funeral. Every Sunday in worship, I pray for our leaders and our military. I often think of the saying I heard attributed to Jefferson: “Citizen is the greatest title any person can have.”

THIS is my home, the country where my heart is; here are my hopes, my dreams, my sacred shrine. My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean, and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.

BUT other hearts in other lands are beating, with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine. But other lands have sunlight too and clover, and skies are everywhere as blue as mine.

I love my nation. I am a proud patriot. I think patriotism is a good thing; we should all aspire to be faithful citizens of our nation and work to make it the best possible place it can be. That is our call, our command as Christians. Paul tells us in Romans 13 of our duty to be good citizens. God loves America.

But God loves the world as well (John 3:16). As an American citizen, I am united with every other citizen of our nation in working for its good. As a Christian, I am united with every other follower of Jesus, here in America, but across the world, and across all space and time. I want good for our nation. But I want good for all nations. I want peace in our nation. I want peace in all nations. I want everyone in America to know the goodness of God. I want everyone in the world to know the goodness of God.

That’s why I love this song so much. It says what I believe. I love our nation. Remember what Dr. Pollard said: we get that theology from the hymns we sing. But I also love my brothers and sisters in Christ that I have met in Honduras. In Bethlehem. In Lithuania. In Nicaragua. In Canada. In Mexico. In Russia. All over the world.

Tonight, I’m going to go with some new friends and church members from FUMC Starkville to celebrate our nation and give thanks to God for His great blessings. I encourage you to do the same. And let us resolve not just to celebrate our nation, but work to make our nation what God wants it to be. And let’s work to that Good News of Jesus to all the world, so the final verse of this hymn can be true:

This is my prayer, O Lord of all earth’s kingdoms:
Thy kingdom come; on earth thy will be done.
Let Christ be lifted up till all shall serve him,
And hearts united learn to live as one.

God bless America. God save the world. Love you guys. Happy Fourth!