Nebraska Synod ELCA

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an

opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become enslaved to one another.

For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment; You shall love your neighbor as yourself;

If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

—Galatians 5.13-15—

In 1796, President George Washington decided that he would not run for a third term as President, electing
instead to step aside and retire from public life. With the help of Alexander Hamilton, he wrote a letter to
serve as a valedictory address to the country, a final word regarding his hopes and fears for the nation in its
infancy. As we approach the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, I have
been pondering Washington’s words to his “Friends and Fellow Citizens.”

In particular, I have been troubled by much of what Washington wrote that seems prophetic. For example:

One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims
of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart burnings which spring from
these misrepresentations. They tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal
affection…To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliances,
however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute.

Washington clearly believed the development of political factions was a threat to the integrity and health of
the nation. In recent years we have seen a catastrophic rise in division across our beloved nation, a
factionalism which even extends to the media we consume. Many of our political leaders no longer adopt
even the pretense of serving their entire district or state, claiming instead that their charge is to promote
their own beliefs as universal and painting anyone who disagrees as an “enemy” or “un-American.”

This factionalism can also be the means by which our own interests can be exploited by others to serve their
own ends. Washington saw this clearly as well:

However combinations or associations of [party factionalism] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely,
in the course of time and things, to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be
enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.

The nation our founding parents envisioned was one in which the power of each office and institution was
balanced and checked by the power of others. They saw that tyranny could exist within any system and did
their best to ensure that they were not simply exchanging the subjugation of King George III for a new
tyranny clothed in the officers of an elected government. Again, recent years have shown us that
Washington knew there were threats to good government against which the nation would always need to be
vigilant.

As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it is not hyperbole to say that
Americans are not united in our assessment of the nation. Perhaps the only unity we currently share is a
deep concern for the future of our country. Can we turn back toward Washington’s dream of “partaking, in
the midst of my fellow citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government…”? I certainly
hope so. But it will not be easy. We will be years repairing the damage we have already done, to say nothing
of what may yet happen in the weeks and months ahead of us. We can carry out that work all the better if
we remember that we walk together, accompanying one another across our different circumstances.

It is my hope that in these days, we take heed of the apostle Paul’s admonition to loving service to each
other, guarding against letting our anxiety and outrage drive us to attack one another unfairly. We do not
know the full story of how one person’s discipleship is practiced; lashing out in frustration and fear will only serve to further divide us when we most need to be allied with one another, united in Christ even as we
embody that unity in diverse ways.

Siblings in Christ, I am grateful for the many ways you are walking together as the Nebraska Synod, taking
action and responding in faith as God calls you. Please continue to act, and please contact the Nebraska
Synod office for help with resources and information that we continue to monitor and update as necessary.
There may come a time when we will work together in more uniform fashion, but until that time, stay
informed, be vigilant, and hold each other in prayer.

Yours in God’s steadfast love,
Bishop Scott Alan Johnson

Questions to Ponder

Do you remember the 200th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1976? How did you
celebrate? How did you feel about the state of the nation in those days?
What is your hope for the state of affairs on July 4, 2076? What can you do to help the nation get there?

Prayer

Gracious God, you have poured into our hearts the precious oil of your Spirit. Make of us one heart and
one will, that as members of the body of Christ, we may be united in the bonds of love; through Jesus
Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.