There are many beautiful white marble monuments and buildings in our nation’s capitol.  But of all the monuments, the one that moves me the most deeply isn’t a white one but the black one -- the black marble of the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial that cuts like a scar into the green lawn near the Lincoln Memorial.

       It is a holy place.  It feels like a cathedral.  Children come running across the grass and are suddenly silent as they get close.  Families and friends of those who died take rubbings of their loved one’s name.  Often they leave an offering at the base of the wall.  Many of these are now on display at the Smithsonian.

        When I was there the first time, a neatly pressed uniform jacket with a row of medals sat beneath a brightly chromed army helmet.  Flowers and a perfume scented letter rested beneath a panel.  And there was a large, hand carved statue of a lion and a lamb lying down together in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 11.  The words at the base read, “Someday, Bill, Someday.”

        Someday.  That carving is such a poignant reminder for us as Christians that as much as we love our nation and cherish its ideals, we still know that this is not our final home, that God has something better for us than a world concerned with terrorist attacks, economic collapse, and nuclear holocaust; better than a world where war memorials have to be built.  As the Apostle Paul reminds us in Philippians 3:20, as Christians “our true citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

       In this biblical awareness that God has more for us that we now see, even in a nation and land we love, we stand in the tradition of the people of God from generation to generation.  The author of the letter to the Hebrews writes of our earliest forebears in faith:  “As Abraham lived in the land of Canaan he had two things.  He had a temporary dwelling place and he had God’s promise of something greater.  He had the promise of God that he would have millions of descendants who would possess the land in which Abraham then lived as a stranger.  But even more that that, Abraham saw that God had promised “A city not made with hands, a city that has permanent and strong foundation.”

       The letter to the Hebrews uses three very significant words to describe Abraham’s attitude toward himself as he liven in expectation of God keeping all of his promises.

       In verse 13 Abraham is called a Xenoi.  Xenos is the Greek word for a stranger and a foreigner. We find it in our word “Xenophobia” which means fear of outsiders.  Xenos can also mean a refugee, a person without a country to call home.

       In verse 9 Abraham is called a paroikein, a sojourner, or a resident alien.  The word was used for Jews who were captives in Egypt and in Babylon.  And it is interesting that in Psalm 39:12, David the King of Israel, uses this same word for himself.  David’s the King.  If anyone should have felt plugged in and in charge, it is David.  But he doesn’t.  He refers to himself as “a passing guest” in the land and a stranger as all his fathers were.  Because David knows that God has something more.

       The third word used in Hebrews is parepidemos which is a person staying somewhere or a temporary visa, a short timer.

       The Bible says that this is who we are as Christians in the world. We are strangers, sojourners, and short-timers.  Paul writes that our true citizenship is in heaven, and that we eagerly wait for the something better God has for us, the lion and the lamb lying together in peace.  “Someday, Bill, someday.”

       Does this awareness of the temporary mean that we can’t love our nation?  Not at all.  In fact, as we come to this awareness, we do not become less effective as citizens of our nation.  We become more effective.  As C.S. Lewis wrote in Christian Behavior, “If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought of the next.  It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.  Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.  Aim at earth and you will get neither.”

       Rather than becoming “so heavenly minded that we’re no earthly good,” God makes us aware of heaven so that he can use us on earth.  For we no longer look for our narrow class or sectional interest.  We begin to talk and vote according the priorities God gives us as biblically aware and thinking people.

       As biblical people, we become aware that we are playing to a much larger audience than that of human beings.  As the author of Hebrews writes at the end of his roll call of faith in chapter 11, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, God and the people of God who have gone before us, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

       If we really believe that God is in charge and that God has made promises to us, it means that we are set free for authentic and abundant living.  We don’t need to always play it safe.  We are set free to tell the truth about what is going on in our society, even if we find ourselves to be politically incorrect and very unpopular.

        I read about a cabinet meeting where Abraham Lincoln polled his cabinet on a position he was planning to take, a position that might prove to be difficult.  He asked for the yes votes.  He was the only one to raise his hand.  He asked for the no votes.  Eleven hands were raised.  “One aye, eleven nay” Lincoln said.  “The ayes have it.”  He could say that because he was President.

       Now, you aren’t President.  But God is God.  And if you have God’s yes vote, you are in the majority even if every hand in the world is raised against you.

       A healthy awareness of the eternal also means that we are motivated and freed up to tell our loved ones about the Lord.  Our thought is not “What will they think of me in this life if I try to tell them?”  It becomes “What will they think of me in the next life, if I don’t tell them.”

       An awareness of the eternal also helps to set us free from materialism.  We no longer believe that the one who dies with the most toys wins.  We know that one man died without any toys and everybody won.  We are set free from acquiring more stuff to having only what we need and sharing the rest while we live in expectation of God’s reward.

       An awareness of the eternal also gives us hope.  Verse 16 of our text tells us that because we seek for ourselves the better country; that is a heavenly one, that God is not ashamed to be called our God. God honors our desire for the something more he has to give us.  Indeed we are told, that he has prepared a city for us.

       In the Book of Revelation, chapter 21, we are told that in this city God has prepared for us, that there is a tree and that this tree bears twelve different kinds of fruit.  The leaves of the tree, we are told, are for the healing of the nations, including the nation, that we love and whose birthday we celebrate today.

       The Fourth of July is a day for celebration. It is a day for fireworks, picnics, and parades.  I am looking forward to the third of July celebration we have here in Moorpark this evening.  I’ll see you at the park.

       But let’s also meet now at the table.  Because as we come to the Lord’s table it is also a day for remembering that the promise made to Bill and to all his comrades at the memorial “Someday, Someday,” will be fulfilled.  We shall be healed.