INTRODUCTION

Of all the wars that America has fought, one of the most complicated and confusing conflicts was The War of 1812. It was complicated because the primary struggle was between France and Great Britain as they sought to destroy one another’s trade and commerce systems on a worldwide scale, and we in the United States were caught in the crossfire.

And it was confusing because our nation was not of one mind about entering the fight. New England was more aligned alongside the British against Napoleon, while the western and southern states leaned toward France. In fact, when Congress decided to declare war on Great Britain in June of 1812, the vote was bitterly divided – 79 to 49 in the House of Representatives and 19 to 13 in the Senate.

Moreover, history shows that two days before war was declared, the British government stated that it would repeal the orders which had blockaded our ports. If there had been telegraphic communication with Europe, it is unlikely that the war would have ever been started. And when it was finally over, as the Treaty was signed in Belgium in August of 1814, all the land which had been captured by either side was to be given up and virtually everything was to be restored exactly as it had been prior to the beginning of the war.

Looking back from our vantage point today, there are those who say that it was a senseless conflict which could have been, should have been avoided. And perhaps that is why The War of 1812 – 2 ½ years of land and sea battles surrounded by complications and confusion without much resolution at the end – has mostly been forgotten. Except for this.

In September of 1814, after the British forces had invaded Washington, D.C., burned the Capitol, destroyed the White House and other public buildings, as they were driven back toward Baltimore, an American named William Beanes was captured and taken aboard one of the British warships. His close friend, a well-known Washington lawyer and amateur verse writer named Francis Scott Key, together with another man, John Skinner, asked President Madison for permission to approach the British and try to secure Beanes’ release. Key and Skinner boarded an enemy warship in the Chesapeake Bay, not knowing it was about to bombard Ft. McHenry which protected the city of Baltimore.

The three Americans were put on a U.S. prisoner exchange boat and the British agreed to release Beanes. But all three were kept under guard as the bombardment began on Tuesday, September 13, which lasted on through the night. The prisoners paced the deck, not knowing what the outcome would be, until 7:00 the next morning, when the smoke and haze started to clear. Key looked across the harbor, and there he saw the American flag still flying over the fort. Overwhelmed by that vision and the deep emotions of gratitude and patriotism, Key pulled an unfinished letter from his pocket and started to write the words that he will always be remembered for, words that will never be forgotten by Americans:

“O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight

O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

(This first stanza of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” together with the other three stanzas showing the original spelling and punctuation, is now in the Maryland Historical Society collection.)

(Excerpts above taken from the World Book Encyclopedia, “Francis Scott Key” (1790-1843), “Star Spangled Banner” and “War of 1812.”)

Those familiar and famous words, written by Francis Scott Key, were eventually put to music by John Stafford Smith. In March of 1931, Congress officially approved the song as our National Anthem. And the original flag, 50 feet long in all of its glory, now hangs in the Smithsonian Institution.

II.

So what does all of that have to do with us here today? Well, in case you have been off in some other solar system, there are wars and rumors of wars in the Middle East. And just as we were divided in 1812, American now in 2003, including the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith communities, we are not of one mind about what it all means or what we should do.

And that is also true in the State of Georgia, where the controversy about our flag continues to fester and to drag us into divisive debates between Republicans and Democrats, blacks and whites, city dwellers and country folks – people who would like to see, as did Francis Scott Key, one single flag that can make us all proud. But how can we do that when some of us feel left out of the decision-making process while others of us feel offended and put down?

As you are already well aware, there are no easy answers here. But I do think that history has taught us some lessons to which we need to pay attention. Moreover, I believe that God’s Spirit and the words of scripture provide us with some sense of direction in this troubled, complicated and confusing moment in time.

When King David wrote the 28^th Psalm, he was up against enemies around him and adversaries within his own kingdom. So he called out in prayer to Almighty God: Hear the voice of my supplication…as I lift up my hands toward Thy most holy sanctuary. Take me not off with the wicked, with those who are workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while mischief is in their hearts…requite them according to their work…render them their due reward…because they do not regard the works of the Lord…He will break them down and build them up no more (Psalm 28:2-5).

The Bible commentator and Presbyterian pastor Donald Williams calls the first half of this Psalm “The conflict of fear,” reminding us that David and his people felt threatened by hostile forces and cried out for God’s help to defend them and defeat their enemies. (“The Communicator’s Commentary: Psalms 1-72” by Donald Williams, Word Books, Waco, Texas, 1986, pages 215-218).

Remembering September 11, 2001, I think we Americans can identify with this Psalm. Our own conflict of fear still pervades this nation today. So we have created a Department of Homeland Security to protect us here in this land, we have gone after terrorists who conspired to attack New York City and Washington, D.C. and were hiding in Afghanistan, and now we must decide whether we will try to contain or take out Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

If that dictator is in any way similar to those whom King David accused of speaking peace while mischief (evil) was in their hearts, then can we realistically expect that Iraq will ever disarm and dismantle its weapons of mass destruction?

History has taught us the painful lesson that when Great Britain’s Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, came back from a 1938 conference in Munich, Germany with a paper in his hand signed by Hitler and Mussolini which Chamberlain believed was a promise of appeasement, he said in a press conference broadcast around the world, “This Munich Agreement will bring peace in our time.”

Well he was wrong. Dead wrong. Within less than a year, German troops marched into Prague, then invaded Poland and World War II was ignited.

Now there are those who don’t like that analogy from history. They say that Saddam Hussein doesn’t have the kind of firepower which Nazi Germany had, and that’s probably true. But need I remind you that chemical and biological weapons, which have been unleashed before by Iraq against Iran – if those weapons ever found their way into the hands of terrorists, they could shake the foundation of any free nation in this world. What then? As Edmund Burke once said, “All that is necessary for the victory of evil is for good men (people) to do nothing.” (From “Quotes & Anecdotes” by Anthony Castle, page 403)

III.

We in America are indeed caught up in a conflict of fear, similar to the situation which King David and his people faced long ago. But they trusted in God to see them through, and those people looked to their leader to do the right thing. I believe that we need to do the same thing here in the United States of America.

Did you realize as we read the beginning of the 28^th Psalm that it moves from “the conflict of fear” at the beginning on to what the commentator Donald Williams calls “the joy of resolution.” Listen to these words again. They are hopeful and there’s a sense of confidence now: Blessed be the Lord, for He has heard the voice of my supplications…In Him my heart trusts…The Lord is the strength of His people and He is the saving refuge of His anointed. Save Thy people and bless their heritage (O Lord); be thou their shepherd and carry them forever (Psalm 28:6-9).

We know that promise is possible, the promise of peace, and we are still waiting for that promise to be fulfilled in the Middle East. We need to continue to pray for peace in that war torn region – peace between America and Iraq, between the Israelis and the Palestinians, peace between Christians and Muslims and Jews, so that someday, some way, our children and their children will grow up in a world where the promise of peace can come true.

That’s what Fred Rogers, a friend of this congregation and a peacemaker during his remarkable life, that’s what Mr. Rogers said across the television screen to children throughout America when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990: “If anybody’s scared, I’d just like you to know that you’ll always have somebody to love you, no matter where you are.” (Quoted from the Editorial Page of USA Today, February 28, 2003).

CONCLUSION

And that leads us back home, right here to the State of Georgia, where our own conflict over the flag needs to come to some kind of resolution. This battle isn’t the same magnitude of the War of 1812 or World War II or the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 or the trouble and turmoil in the Middle East.

But this much is true: the conflict of fear, described in Psalm 28 which sees others who are different than we are and deems them as enemies and adversaries, that kind of fearful attitude cannot and must not be allowed to divide this great state. Sonny Perdue and Shirley Franklin, together with our legislators, business, academic and religious leaders – they need to show us, as Andy Young once envisioned it, “A Way Through.” And I was glad to read in yesterday’s paper that Jimmy Carter, with his Nobel Peace Prize in hand, has agreed to get involved too.

The conflict of fear is divisive and destructive. But the power of love can heal our hearts and bind us together in unity. That’s what Martin Luther King, Jr. pointed us toward and gave his life for…”The Beloved Community.” And that’s what Fred Rogers was trying to tell the children and all the rest of us if we’re willing to listen. But they didn’t make that up by themselves. It comes from the Bible, I John, chapter 4, verses 18-21:

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…We love because God first loves us…If anyone says “I love God” but hates their brother or sister, that person is a liar…So this is the commandment we have from Him: That those who love God will love their brother and sister also.

Do you know what that means? For us as Christians, it means that any symbol that reminds us of hatred and oppression toward brothers and sisters cannot and must not represent the State of Georgia. The words of our motto proclaim “Justice, Wisdom and Moderation” and we need a flag which reflects those same principles for this entire state, just as the stars and stripes project freedom and unity for a whole nation.

“O say can you see by the dawn’s early light?

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

My friends: that is the vision we seek and that is the vision which God continues to help us find.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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