Flags

Hilary Wenzel - June 30, 2024

First reading: Numbers 1:1-4, 52-53, & 2: 1-2

Second reading: Luke 6: 27-28, 37-38

I’ve been thinking about flags recently. May through summer is peak season for displaying American flags. Traditionally, this shows love and pride and respect for our country and those who have served or sacrificed to defend or perfect it. I’m not a flag flyer myself, but I share and appreciate those sentiments. And I realize that we each have our own history that helps form our opinions about flags.

What is a flag? As a verb, ‘to flag’ means the act of signaling with, or as if with, a flag. It can also mean to lose energy or interest. Picture dropping a flag or a drooping flag. As a noun, there are simple definitions like a wild iris or a paving stone or part of a musical note. But mostly as a noun, ‘flag’ is a distinctively designed fabric rectangle used as a symbol (as of a nation) or a signaling device, or something used similarly to signal or attract attention.

Today I’m focusing on flags as symbols and signals.

Recently I finished reading a three book series by Michael & Jeff Sharra about the American Civil War. Ken Burns said that the middle book, titled The Killer Angels, is what inspired him to create his PBS Civil War series. This isn’t my usual type of reading. It was a Christmas gift. Given our country’s current temperament, and all the upcoming elections, I thought it might lend some historical perspective. I learned a great deal about the people and the politics of the time. One online homework site described the thesis of The Killer Angels by saying “that enemies have a great deal in common in terms of their feelings, their emotions, and their actions.”

I also learned a lot about how war was waged and what the battles were like. One thing that stuck with me is that in the intensity of battle, visibility was lost. Troops followed their flag bearers and field officers to carry out the orders of their commanders. Once engaged with the enemy, great banks of smoke enveloped the scene and the chaos. Much effort was made to keep eyes on troop movement by keeping eyes on these flags.

And later at Appomattox, Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had to surrender and stack their weapons and flags. Men held their composure while handing in their rifles, but cried when surrendering their flags.

I am also aware of the significance of flags in the current election season. Their symbolism and messages are examined and amplified in the news cycle. Full disclosure here, my news is primarily from The Day and NPR and sometimes the ABC evening news and the PBS NewsHour. In my flag search, I also found a site called The Fulcrum, which posts news articles and opinion essays that seek to bridge our political divide, using what they call “Solutions Journalism.” For flag day, June 14, the essay was “Reclaiming the American Flag: a symbol of unity in a divided nation.” After reading that, I took a quick look at the history of our national Pledge of Allegiance.

I’m not going to lecture on what I found. I apologize if your eyes are glazing over. It just goes to show where curiosity and the internet can lead.

What I really wanted to know was …what, if anything, did the Bible say about flags? Well, first I learned that ‘flag’ wasn’t a word originally in the Bible. Instead, ‘banner’ or ‘standard’ were apt to be used.

Primarily, what I found was that troops and tribes were organized and mobilized around raised banners in the book of Numbers, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. Some passages were historical and some were prophetic or metaphorical. Some called the people to attack an enemy. Others called for them to flee and seek refuge from a greater force. Most invoked God’s will and faithfulness. And in Exodus 17:15 “Moses built an altar and called it ‘The Lord is my banner.” Many of the Civil War battles I read about seemed biblical in their description.

My humble internet search found no direct flag reference in the New Testament. But there was one connection in John 3:14-15. The New International Version reads, “Just as Moses lifted up a snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” So both God and Jesus are sometimes spoken of as our banner of allegiance.

In my imagination, people carrying palm fronds as Jesus rode into Jerusalem or Jesus carrying and being raised on a cross or the empty cross are all banner symbols.

The risk is the temptation to take a rigid or militant approach to religion and faith. There have always been zealots. There are Warriors for Christ today, as there have been throughout Christianity. For some, this is linked with an agenda for society. For others, it may be what supports them as they soldier on in actual battles or in their own personal struggles.

Without specific New Testament flag references, we are left with what Jesus said and how he lived his life. And really, what else do we need?

Flags generally differentiate among people, those among us and with us, those neutral or against us. Jesus rarely, if ever, made such a distinction. Jesus counseled us to love our enemies and do good to them. He wanted us to love our neighbor as ourself, and he answered the question ‘who is our neighbor?’ in the parable of the Good Samaritan. He assured us that we can surrender our dualistic flags of us/them, good/bad. He let us see and invited us into God’s abundant and all encompassing creation.

If you could design a flag for this world, what would it look like? For me, it could be a great big multi petaled blossom…like a sunflower …with the earth at its center,... surrounded by radiating multicolored joined hands and open arms. That would be my flag to the Kindom of God. Naive, impractical, exuberant. And like Mr. Rodgers, my anthem would be

“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

Amen