Keeping Our Pledge

The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations. Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: By origin and birth you are of the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. As for your birth, the day you were born your navel cord was not cut; you were neither washed with water nor anointed, nor were you rubbed with salt, nor swathed in swaddling clothes. 

No one looked on you with pity or compassion to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out on the ground as something loathsome, the day you were born. Then I passed by and saw you weltering in your blood. I said to you:  Live in your blood and grow like a plant in the field. You grew and developed, you came to the age of puberty; your breasts were formed, your hair had grown, but you were still stark naked. Again I passed by you and saw that you were now old enough for love. So I spread the corner of my cloak over you to cover your nakedness; 

I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you; you became mine, says the Lord GOD. Then I bathed you with water, washed away your blood, and anointed you with oil. I clothed you with an embroidered gown, put sandals of fine leather on your feet; I gave you a fine linen sash and silk robes to wear. I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms, a necklace about your neck, a ring in your nose, pendants in your ears, and a glorious diadem upon your head. 

Thus you were adorned with gold and silver; your garments were of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. Fine flour, honey, and oil were your food. You were exceedingly beautiful, with the dignity of a queen. You were renowned among the nations for your beauty, perfect as it was, because of my splendor which I had bestowed on you, says the Lord GOD.

But you were captivated by your own beauty, you used your renown to make yourself a harlot, and you lavished your harlotry on every passer-by, whose own you became. Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl, and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you, that you may remember and be covered with confusion, and that you may be utterly silenced for shame when I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63)

It’s a long story about God and the girl symbolically representing Jerusalem and its Jewish people.  The Lord GOD certainly doted on this girl who as a baby was “thrown out on the ground as something loathsome, the day you were born.” There was “no pity or compassion” except that provided by GOD who “bestowed splendor on her.” Unfortunately, despite that splendor and beauty and having God’s favor she became a harlot.  Nevertheless, God never abandoned her, and forgave her.  That’s Jerusalem and its people.

Like Jerusalem the United States has found favor with God having graced our nation with splendor from sea to shining sea.  As our Pledge of Allegiance states we are one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.  However, has our allegiance become more like that of the harlot meaning are we still “renowned among the nations for our beauty, perfect as it is?”  Or, should we be “silenced for our shame and seek pardon for what we have done,” especially as it pertains to racism and how we continue to treat black, brown, and Native Americans?

We must not be captivated by our own beauty and forget that ugliness in America is not in short supply.  Our remedy is for us to look in a mirror at our faces absent make-up and false golden diadems on our heads and then realize we still have much work to do to keep our Pledge.  Fortunately, our God is forgiving and will never abandon us even when we act as harlots.

Deacon David Pierce