Happy Canada Day everyone! On Sunday I want to talk to you a little bit about how to be a Canadian AND a Christian at the same time – I want to illuminate the real dangers of Christian nationalism (even when that nation is as benign as our home and native land) and instead propose a different way of celebrating our country’s birthday this year – in a way that both glorifies and honours (that’s honours with a u) Christ. Being a Canadian is a great privillege, people from all over the world are desperate to become one. The problem is that most of us who are born here lack the basic understanding of what it is that makes us Canadian in the first place. You see it’s not where you’re born, it’s not what’s on your passport – it’s our shared culture that binds us together as a nation – and whether you’re just getting to know it or you’ve grown up with it your entire life it’s good to know the shared experiences that make us who we are. Here are a few examples of what I mean:
You know you’re Canadian when... (shamelessly stolen and compiled by many different similar lists yo can find on Google)
1. With a straight face, you refer to the Canadian dollar as the loonie and wonder why there isn't a 5 dollar coin yet.
2. You're pretty sure you can see Alex Trebek smirking when Jeopardy contestants get the "Canada questions" wrong. Even if you weren't sure of the answer yourself, you consider yourself a hundred times smarter than the idiots who always guess, "What is .. uh, Toronto?
3. You use a red pen on your non-Canadian textbooks and fill in the missing 'u's from labor, honor, and color.
4. You know what happens in the Evergreen Forest when Bert Raccoon wakes up.
5. You know the French equivalents of "free," "prize" and "no sugar added," thanks to your extensive education from bilingual cereal packaging.
6. You're proud that Captain Kirk came from Montreal.
7. You understand the sentence, "Could you please pass me a serviette, I just spilled my poutine on the chesterfield"
8. You have Canadian Tire money in your kitchen drawers.
9. You know that Mounties "don't always look like that."
10. You know that Casey and Finnegan are not a Celtic musical group.
11. You have an Inuit carving by your bedside with the rationale, "what's good enough protection for the Prime Minister is good enough for me!"
12. You pronounce it “Zed” not “Zee” and you don’t give a rip if it doesn’t rhyme with your ABC’s or anything else.
I of course present that list in jest – but the fact remains that it is what we share that makes us a nation. The land, the culture, the history, the way of life that is unique to everywhere else on this planet – those things are what bind us together as a people. In Canada we talk a lot about rights, about the human rights that every single human being is entitled to in this great country but I think that what binds us together more than rights are our responsibilities – and it saddens me that you don’t hear enough about them anymore these days. It’s not about what we have – but what we have to do. It’s not about what we get, but how we get to serve. It’s not about who we are, but who we’re called to be.
The refrain of our national anthem echoes this reality – whenever we sing along at a hockey game, or tear up during a gold medal presentation during the Olympics – or even stand and acknowledge the national anthem at the beginning of a school day we make the following declaration:
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee
Join us this Sunday as we learn what it means to stand on guard for Canada
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