Still Flying High

May 2007

Friday, April 21, 2007.

The American flag flies at half-mast today. All over the country people have lowered these symbols of freedom that normally soar high, waving proudly in the wind. These flags boldly declare the happiness, peace, and prosperity that are the supposed cornerstones of this nation. Yet today, under a cloud of shattering dismay, the flags have been dropped and along with them the American people’s moral and self- reliant dependence on the traditional promises of the American culture.

Four days ago, the most gruesome massacre ever recorded in US history occurred at a quiet unassuming university in Virginia. Its severity sent us reeling at the glaring reality of evil among us. The 33 lives senselessly snuffed out at the hands of a madman will not soon be forgotten. Unlike the lives lost, the tears shed cannot be numbered, the dreams shattered cannot be fathomed, and the hopes dashed can never fully be known. Those of us sitting on the periphery of this disaster shed tears of disbelief and now do the least that we can--honor those caught in the gun fire by lowering the flag in their memory.

That flag. It’s sobering to see it stripped from its normal pinnacle of glory. That flag. It’s odd to view it bowing low to the ground; its head is hung in infuriating shame. That flag. The wind doesn’t catch its seams, hurling it headlong into a billowing glorious dance, when it’s lowered this way. The flag. In this position it seems smaller, weaker, less proud, humbled.

While America bends its knee to the sting of death, there is one mantra that has not been dismantled; one throne that has not been usurped; one power that has not been overthrown. Today, while the flag of our country hangs low, there is another flag that will never fly at half-mast, not today or any day. I would have missed it had someone else not pointed it out. I wouldn’t have taken in the powerful truth in the message it declared had another more sensitive soul not pondered these truths first. But her pointed finger directed my physical eyes and more importantly my soul to the powerful statement made on the flag poll of the church at which I would minister that night. The American flag, perched midway up the long silver post in their manicured front lawn, had been eclipsed under the shadow of another more prominent figure. At the very point of the poll was the Christian flag, adorned with the cross of Jesus Christ. Never submitted to the happenings of this earthly globe, it still flew high. This flag, representing things eternal, symbolizes a declaration of independence that cannot be hampered, altered, or destroyed. At the Name represented by this flag, every knee will bow and every tongue will make a startling confession of loyalty to true Kingship and authority. Every person, from pauper to president, and every nation will make it voluntarily or involuntarily today or someday. On this day, America has been forced to make that confession. The sting of death has brought the American flag to its appointed and necessary place, lowered beneath the cross of Jesus Christ that is still flying high.

I am humbled to see these flags in their appropriate order today, and I long for this ideal to dictate the future for everyday operations in our country. I will pray for this day. Until then, I must not sit idly by waiting for the national tide to turn. Rather I must personalize the symbolic meaning of these flags and ask myself, “Does the flag of Christ authority wave at the pinnacle of my heart and life?”  I can’t long for a country to bend its knee to Christ’s Lordship without first bowing my own. I can’t spend hours praying that others will commit to do what I haven’t already done. This change starts with me . . .and it starts with you.

Has the armed gunman of chaos altered life as you’ve known it? Has the bullet of disease, financial disarray, adultery, or divorce put to death the dreams and hopes that you have held close to your heart these years? As you lower the flag of your expectations of the prosperity, happiness, and peace you expected this world to bring, would you make sure that He reigns higher and more supreme? Reposition your hopes on His Name, His power, and His authority in your life. Lift up the flag of Christ higher than any other flag that you wave.

Let all the declarations of our allegiance fly at half-mast in our hearts today and everyday, overshadowed and obscured under the shadow of the One who will reign in our nation and in our lives for all times

BLESSED IS HE WHOSE HELP IS THE GOD OF JACOB, WHOSE HOPE IS IN THE LORD HIS GOD (Psalm 146:5).