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February 14th Sermon

"Love America Day"

Take Ownership!

Today’s reading comes from the Fifth Chapter of the Second Book of James Madison.

It is an Essay he wrote in the National Gazette in 1792. Turn with me to 2 Madison 5:4-15.

Father Madison says:

4In the former sense, a man’s land, or merchandize, or money is called his property. 5In the latter sense, a man has a property in his opinions 6and the free communication of them. 7He has a property of peculiar value in his religious opinions, 8and in the profession and practice dictated by them. 9He has a property very dear to him in the safety and liberty of his person. 10He has an equal property in the free use of his faculties 11and free choice of the objects on which to employ them. 12In a word, as a man is said to have a right to his property, 13he may be equally said to have a property in his rights. 14Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. 15No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions.

These are the Words of Father Madison.

BCG:

Thank you Citizen Krueger

May the Constitution Bless you

Welcome Citizens

*To the United Church of America’s first service of 2006

And what an appropriate day

Valentine’s Day

A day when we proclaim our love

How many of you citizens love America?

How many of you citizens want to love America?

I know I do

And I know sometimes it’s hard

Maybe things haven’t been going well

between you and America

Maybe your relationship is on the rocks

Maybe you’ve lost that loving feeling

Today I want to get America back into our hearts

Because that is where America exists

In our Hearts and in our lives

We are America

We the People

Without us there is no America

That’s why I am proclaiming today to be

Love America Day

Today we are going to look at the heart of America

Our Freedom or more specifically Our Rights

Or as Father Madison refers to them, Our Property

How many of you remember when you were younger

Or maybe you have children

Or maybe you have nieces or nephews

*Here’s my niece

Madeline Belle

She turns 4 in April

Wow they grow up fast don’t they?

This Christmas for the first time she got really excited

She got really excited because Santa Clause was coming

And he was going to bring her presents

My Niece Madeline and my sister, Olivia

Spent all Christmas Eve making cookies for Santa

All kinds, Sugar, Chocolate Chip, and papa’s favorite Oatmeal raisin

She placed the “cookies and milk” by the tree

But she couldn’t go to sleep

It was way past her bed time before she finally passed out

And no we didn’t slip her any eggnog

She was genuinely excited

Santa was going to bring her presents

*One thing I learned watching Madeline grow up, was that

There was a certain progression to her language abilities

It started off with grand excitement with video cameras and telephone calls as she learn to say mama and papa

Then of course she figured out the word “No”

Which led to a few tears when she found out she wasn’t able to use this as readily as mama or papa

Then she learned her all time favorite “Mine”

Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine!

I don’t think she was even 2 years old yet

And she had figured out the basic premise behind property “Mine”

Father Madison starts out today lessons with a definition of property

*2 Madison 5:4

4In the former sense, a man’s land, or merchandize, or money is called his property.

It’s Mine, It’s his, it’s hers, it’s yours

That why my niece was so excited

Santa was bringing her presents

Something that was genuinely hers

And trust me she knows it

If you have something that’s her’s

She’ll let ya know

Uncle Brandon, That’s Mine

Oh, here’s a good one

Try taking one of her toys from her

And giving it her Cousin Kayle

So that Kayle can play too

Madeline doesn’t always understand

That she going to get her toy back

You’ve taken something that hers

And she wants it back, Now!

I’m just the Uncle

I leave the dirty work to Mama and Papa

Like Madeline we all got our feelings hurt, last year

*When the supreme court in Kelo vs. The City of New London

Upheld that Government could take Private Property from one Citizen

And sell it to a Private Developer another Citizen

You can’t take that

That’s Mine

It got us all upset didn’t it?

Didn’t it?

The Court said the Government could take your toys

Give them to this guy over here to play with

And you’re not getting them back

Of course the Court also Ruled

That the Government had to pay fair market value

But we weren’t going to stand for it

We had our State legislatures pass laws

Our Senators and Representatives

Both Republican and Democrat

Gave speeches about how terrible this law was

And for once the Fox News and CNN polls agreed

80% of Americans disapproved of this stealing of property

We cherish our property don’t we

Property, It’s the American Dream

Or as President Bush puts it

An ownership Society

Or as my niece, Madeline Belle says

Uncle Brandon, that’s mine

*Papa, I mean, Father Madison continues with his definition of property in verses 5-8

5In the latter sense, a man has a property in his opinions 6and the free communication of them. 7He has a property of peculiar value in his religious opinions, 8and in the profession and practice dictated by them.

This definition sounds vaguely familiar

I’ve heard it somewhere before

Do any of you citizens recognize it?

Turn with me if you will to the First Book of James Madison

Let’s look at the Bill of Rights

Or more specifically the First Amendment

Read with me

*1 Madison 2:1&2

Repeat after me

1Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; 2or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;

Oh now if you wanna start a fight

Try taking one of these rights away from someone

I’m not even going to try and touch religion right now

This is Love America Day

And I want everyone to leave happy

Let’s just enjoy our candy hearts together

And remember our song

Unless you got it off of Napster

*Father Madison reminds us:

a man has a property in his opinions 6and the free communication of them

We call this intellectual property

And who would have thought that it would have been

Illegal to download music off the internet for free

*But apparently Britney Spears cares

And more importantly the RIAA cares

The Recording Industry Association of America

And they made their point

Crystal clear in September of 2003

When they sued 261 people for illegal downloads

*Including Brianna LaHara

Who was only 12 years old at the time

And a honor student at that

But stealing is stealing

Britney Spears isn’t into file sharing

I have my rights

That’s my property

That’s Mine

“Hit me Baby one more Time”

And America relearned Father Madison lesson

*Along with 12 year old Brianna

The hard way

“I’m sorry for what I’ve done.” She said, “I love music and don’t want to hurt the artists that I love.”

Luckily for Brianna the RIAA settled out of court

*For $2000

We learned that Free Speech can be pretty expensive

Where was Father Madison in Brianna’s life?

I mean she was an honor student

I sure she did well in Social Studies

I hope she had heard of the Bill Rights

But this is our duty as Citizens of the United States

*As members of The United Church of America

It is up to us

To deliver the words of our Founding Fathers

To deliver the words of our Constitution

To deliver the little Brianna’s of America from ignorance

From ignorance of the law

The law of our land

Our God

The Constitution of the United States of America

Pray with me

Father Madison give us the strength

To share your words with others

Help us as we seek your Truth

On this Valentine’s Day

Put America back into our Hearts

That our lives might shine

As examples for others to see

In the Constitution we pray

Amen

Praise the Constitution

Let us return to Father Madison

The Father of our Constitution

The originator of the Bill of Rights

2 Madison 5:9-11

9He has a property very dear to him in the safety and liberty of his person. 10He has an equal property in the free use of his faculties 11and free choice of the objects on which to employ them.

*Father Madison says:

9He has a property very dear to him in the safety and liberty of his person.

Life, Liberty, and Property

*This right is so important that it’s mentioned not once

But twice in the Constitution

The Fifth and the fourteenth Amendments both state that

No person shall be deprive of Life, Liberty or Property

And you thought the Fifth Amendment was reserved

For when you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar

Or maybe your parents got home two days early

From what was supposed to be a week long trip

And maybe they told your sister they were getting back early

And maybe she forgot to tell you

So possibly the house is still trashed

From what could be mistakenly construed as

I don’t know

Let’s say for the sake of argument

“A Party”

And your parents just happen to walk in on said situation

You might have been compelled to plead the fifth

And again two minutes later

After you killed your sister

I plead the Fifth

*Now let’s do some Madisonian Math

I know I know

I said the M word

It’s not like we’re at a table of ten and we’re trying to figure out the bill

I promise I’ll tip well

Father Madison says we have a property

In the safety of our person

So property equals life

We own ourselves

Our lives are our property

If we could have figured this out a few years sooner

We might have been able to avoid that whole civil war thing

Let’s move on

Father Madison also says that we have a property

In our liberty

So property also equals liberty

This is a tricky one

What is Liberty?

What is it to you?

How about you?

And you?

Basically liberty means

*Do whatever you want as long as you’re not hurting someone else

10He has an equal property in the free use of his faculties 11and free choice of the objects on which to employ them.

That’s how Father Madison puts it

So if we look at Father Madison’s Math

Property = Your Liberty

Property = Your Life

Property = Your Opinions

And Property = Your Religion

According to the Constitution, our God, The law of our land

Our Religion, Our Opinions, Our Life, Our Liberty,

Are Our Rights

And our rights are the root of our Freedom

Amen for that

And therefore:

*2 Madison 5:12&13

12In a word, as a man is said to have a right to his property, 13he may be equally said to have a property in his rights.

[Repeat]

Father Madison says we have a property in our rights

Our Rights are our Property

Just as much as our land, merchandise or money

They are ours

They are yours

They are Mine

And the government can’t have them

Nobody can have them

Rise, Rise citizens

Repeat after me

Mine

Let me hear your inner 4yr old

Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine!

*My religion is Mine

My opinions are Mine

My Life is Mine

My Liberty is Mine

My Property is Mine

My Rights are Mine

*My Rights are my Property

And No

The Government can’t have them

Let me hear you again citizens

And No

The Government can’t have them

Do I have a witness?

Amen

Praise the Constitution

* Our rights are the root of our Freedom

Can you feel it?

It’s in the room

I can feel it

I can feel the Holy Spirit

I can feel The Holy Spirit of 1776

It’s in the air

That hour when America first believed

That hour when we first saw the light of Freedom

That hour when we first experienced America

Like a first kiss

America

Be Mine

Please be seated

You might ask

How can I love America again?

How can I get the Holy Spirit of ’76 back into my life?

You start by knowing your Constitution

You start by knowing your rights

You start by knowing what’s your property

What’s yours

What is America giving you?

And once you understand this

Then you can share it with others

Because knowledge is power

Because if you don’t know what you have

How can you fight for it?

How can you share it?

How can you share the true American Experience with others?

It reminds me of something I heard in the news the other day?

Hopefully you have all heard about the controversy surrounding President Bush’s claim

That he has the authority to wiretap American Citizens without a warrant

What has struck me most about this controversy

Is that a majority of Americans believe this is okay

He’s not tapping my phone

Which is in stark contrast to the reaction to Kelo vs The City of New London

Remember where 80% of us were outraged

About an expansion of eminent domain

But they hadn’t taken our land, or our houses

But we were upset

So what’s the difference between these 2 situations?

One involves a Supreme Court Decision

Which is law.

The other involves an Executive Decision

Which is?

There are those that say

Warrantless Wiretaps are okay

Because we are fighting terrorist

And the terrorist hate our Freedom

So it’s okay if we lose a few rights

But if terrorist hate our Freedom

And our Freedom is rooted in our rights

Isn’t it a contradiction to fight terrorism

By taking away our rights, our freedom

Maybe if they knew their constitution better

Maybe they would know

*That the Fourth Amendment reads

1The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, 2against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, 3and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, 4and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

This is a right

We have a right against warrantless wiretaps

And this right is protected

By our Constitution and through Federal Statute

According to Father Madison our rights are our property

Just as much as our land or our houses

This right is ours

And when we lose our Rights

We lose our Freedom

This isn’t a Democrat issue

This isn’t a Republican issue

*It’s an American issue

And if more American’s understood this

Then maybe we could live up to President Bush’s

Ownership Society

I agree with the President

I agree with President George W. Bush

Let’s become an ownership Society

Let’s take ownership of our property

Let’s take ownership of our opinions

Let’s take ownership of our religion

Let’s take ownership of our liberty

Let’s take ownership of our rights

Let’s take ownership of our right against warrantless wiretaps

Let’s tell the President No

This property is mine

This right is mine

And my rights are my property

Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine!

And you can’t have them

Do I have a witness?

Amen

Praise the Constitution

Citizens our Freedom is under Attack

It is under attack by ignorance

By ignorance of the Constitution

Too many good men and women died protecting our rights

Just for us to give them away

We have a duty as Citizens

As Citizens of the United States of America

We have a duty to defend our rights, our Freedom

Because what happens if we don’t defend our Freedom

Just look at what’s happening now

We lose it

* Father Madison closes today’s lesson with a warning

2 Madison 5:14&15

14Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. 15No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions.

Just look at what happened during the State of the Union

Two

Two America Citizens

Were ejected from the halls of Congress

The People’s House

Why?

Because they were wearing t-shirts

T-shirts bearing their opinions

We need to heed Madison’s warning

14Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. 15No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions.

How do we heed his warning?

The answer is simple

* Through our government

But the government never gets anything done, right?

It’s corrupt

We can’t count on the government

But if we can’t count on the government

We can’t count on ourselves

A lot of times we forget what makes our country so special

What makes the United States of America special

Is that We are the government

We the people

I know it doesn’t feel like it most of the time

But, you, me, We

We the People of these United States are the government

And We have three ways of enacting our power

The first and most obvious is through voting

The ultimate check

They’re in or they’re out

But that only happens once every 2 years

The second way is to contact your representatives

How many of you have ever contacted a representative?

I’ll confess to ya’ll

I’m new at this whole political process thing

The first time I voted

In the 12 years of my eligibility was November 2, 2004

But since then I’ve realized

It’s a relationship

It’s a relationship between you and America

And you can’t have a healthy relationship

If you only check in once every 2 years

I know sometimes that might be preferable

See ya in 2 years hun

I don’t mean to get any husbands or wives in trouble tonight

It being Valentines Day and all

But I hope you can agree with me

That that’s what we would consider

An unhealthy relationship

Also I hope you can agree that

What relationships need in order to survive is

C O M M U N I C A T I O N

If we don’t communicate with our representatives

How can we complain that the relationship isn’t working?

That things aren’t working out between you and America

Yes every relationship has its downfalls

But we have to remember

Regardless if you voted for them or not

They are still your representatives

We have to remember that

But it’s a two way street

So like our rights

We need to take ownership

We need to take ownership of our government

We need to take ownership of America

We need to take ownership of this relationship

And it’s easy to take ownership these days

Just pick up a phone or log on to the internet

It’s that easy

And finally the third and most important and powerful way

I’m not sure if you notice it when you entered

But above the Threshold of this

Our Constitutional Hall

It reads: E Pluribus Unum

The United State’s original Motto

Which means: One from many

Look around you

This is where it starts

It starts with

We the people

I hear its taboo these days to talk politics

The country is too divided

You don’t wanna hurt people’s feelings

What would have happened if our Founding Fathers took that attitude?

If we don’t figure things out between ourselves

How can we expect anything to get fixed

As members of the United Church of America

I challenge you to talk politics

If we are the government

Then we need to talk

* Because as Father Madison says

14Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. 15No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions.

Citizens I challenge you today

To Learn what your constitution says

To Learn the lessons of your founding fathers

And Accept America back into your life

Accept America back into your hearts

And trust that you’ll feel it

You’ll feel that revolutionary spirit

You’ll feel the holy spirit of ‘76

And you’ll wanna share it with you fellow citizens

You’ll wanna share that knowledge

You’ll wanna share that feeling

And you’ll fall back in love

*You’ll fall back in love with the United States of America

Amen

Praise the Constitution

Today is

Love America Day

Rise Citizens

Rise and Pray with me

Thank you Father Madison

Thank you for opening our eyes

Thank you for showing us the key

May we not keep these unlocked secrets to ourselves

But share them with our fellow citizens

We as members of the UCA

The United Church of America

We hold a great responsibility

Father Madison

Father Jefferson

Father Paine

Well call upon your strength

Help us on our journey

Help us through these days of trials and tribulations

As we strive to reintroduce your words

Your wisdom

To the whole world

In the Constitution we pray

Amen