Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said, Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription to an unknown God. Now, what you worship as something unknown, I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything. Because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth. and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, we are his offspring. Therefore, since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image made by man's design and skill. In the past, God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead. May God bless to us his holy and infallible word as we have read it and as we shall hear it later. Summer months we have been departing from our normal practice of taking a particular verse or passage of scripture and have been considering rather topics in the light of the teaching of the whole of the scripture. And this evening we come to the 10th in our series of studies on 20th century idols, some of the isms which are worshipped as gods throughout our world. And we have various purposes in studying these idols. We study them in order to understand our fellow men, to see the false gods to whom they are selling themselves, and to know how best we can witness to them about the Saviour. We're studying them also for our own sake, so that we may not be infected by idolatry. Often in the Old Testament, Israel was led astray to the god Baal and the gods around him. The infection crept into the people, and without realizing it, they departed from the true God. And this evening I want to come to the idol of nationalism. This idol has received recently a new lease of life. Five years or so ago it was pronounced dead. We were told that the day of the nation state was over. The world was dividing into great power blocks, massive economic and political communities. You had the USA, the USSR, the European community, and so on. It was the age of the great international organization, the United Nations. NATO. We were told that the world was too dangerous a place to allow the luxury of nations. The problems facing the world needed to be dealt with by a world authority. The pollution of the environment, the spread of famine and sickness, the spectre of terrorism the plague of drugs, the rise of AIDS. These things have no respect for natural frontiers or national borders. It's quite true that some years ago there were conflicts, nationalist conflicts, in some countries such as Lebanon or Ireland. But these were regarded as primitive. hangovers from medieval times by unsophisticated people, and we were told that sophisticated modern man had no longer any interest in nationality or in nations. We don't hear many people saying that today. What a change there has been. That apparent monolithic of the Russian Empire has splintered into a multitude of deeply divided and warring nationalities. We hear daily of nationalist and tribal conflict in what was once Yugoslavia. In the last British general election, the question was seriously raised as to whether the United Kingdom was going to break up. Nationalism is again on the world scene. It poses a great danger to world peace. It is causing immense suffering. It is the god of the nineties for many. And it's one which we as Christians must come to terms with. I want this evening to look with you at it under five headings or five questions. First of all, what is nationalism? What is nationalism? Well, it's quite close to patriotism, although it's not quite the same thing. Nationalism is love for one's nation. And it's more. It is the desire to preserve the identity of a people, to preserve their language and their culture, their freedoms and their rights. Nationalism is that feeling that we do not want to be absorbed by a culture and a people who are alien to us, whom we feel to be foreign to ourselves. The feeling that we do not want to be lost in some huge anonymous grouping. We want to preserve our own national identity. Now is there anything wrong with this? The answer is, of course, no. There's nothing wrong with it as such. Nations have been made by God. The Bible tells us so. After the flood, he commanded the sons of Noah to go out and to fill the earth. And in Genesis 10, you can read the table of all the nations or of most of the nations of the world. And these people developed into different nations with different cultures. Part of the wonderful richness and variety of God's creation. There's variety in the plant world. There's variety in the animal world. There's variety in the mineral world. There's variety in the human world. People of different colors, different culture, different traditions. At the Tower of Babel, God confused the common language of mankind by dividing their speech into different languages. God has not only established nations, but God overrules in where nations should live and what boundaries they should have, how much territory they should rule, And how long those boundaries should last, good for us to remember that. In Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 8, we read when the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the people. God established those boundaries. And when the Apostle Paul was preaching in Athens, in Acts 17 verse 26, we're told that from one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth and he determined the times set for them and the exact place where they should live. God determined for every nation the times set for them, how long they should last, and the exact place where they should live. Whether it's six counties or nine counties or thirty-two counties, God determined the exact place where they should live. And so it is right for us to recognize God's working in His will and in His providence. He has made the nation He governs the destiny of the nations. It is proper for the Christian to love his or her nation, to feel appreciation for our nation, to feel loyalty for the particular nation in which God has chosen to place us. That is right and proper and fitting. There's nothing unbiblical in it. It is natural to love those who are close to us. It is natural to want to be with people with whom we feel most at home. In this sense, there is nothing wrong with nationalism. It is harmless. In fact, it is good. It only becomes wrong when it is made into a god. And that brings us to our second question. When does nationalism become an idol? When does nationalism become an idol? Well it becomes an idol in the same way as anything else becomes an idol. It becomes an idol when it takes the place of God. You can make an idol out of anything, a piece of wood, a member of your family, your bank account, a philosophy, anything can be an idol if you give to it the place that should be given to God alone. When the nation becomes the chief end of life, it is an idol. When national identity becomes more important than justice, it's an idol. When it becomes more important than love, it's an idol. When people are willing to cheat or to steal or to lie for the benefit of their nation, that nation has become an idol. When people are willing to oppress others for the sake of their nation, that nation has become an idol. When people are willing to murder for the sake of a nation, those nationalists have become heathen idolaters. Because then the nation has taken the place of God and the nation is worshipped and the nation is served and the nation has become a monster, a false god before whom men bow down, an idol to whom they bring bloody evil sacrifices to satisfy and please the idol. The soil in which nationalism grows is threat or perceived injustice. People who are secure and strong are not nationalistic, they are patriotic. Nationalism only really arises when people fear for their future as a people. When they think they're going to be taken over. or conquered, or oppressed, or when people believe that they have been unfairly treated, they have been robbed, they have been discriminated against, it is then that they turn to nationalism and make nationalism their god. Threat, danger, perceived injustice, this is the soil of nationalism. History provides us with many examples. The Nazi party in Germany was the National Socialist Party. And it began in Germany in the 1920s, after the First World War, when the German people rightly or wrongly felt that they had been unjustly treated. They felt crushed They felt poor. They were poor. They felt robbed. They were burning from a sense of resentment and injustice. They feared for their future. They thought the Allies were determined to crush them and wipe them out. And in that soil, nationalism grew. The Afrikaners of South Africa, were a nationalist people. And that's partly because throughout history they have been abominably treated, especially by the British. It was only when I visited South Africa last year that I realised how much South African history we had not been taught in school. Those people felt a great sense of injustice and they today feel under threat from the blacks in the country and from the outside world. That's why they're nationalistic. The countries of Africa and South America feel that they have suffered injustice. The people of Iran felt oppressed by the Shah. They were afraid of westernization. They were a people who were insecure and frightened. And in Ireland, the Irish people believed that they had been robbed of their land. and that they were being kept in poverty by an alien power. And they believed, and they had good reason to believe, that their culture, their beautiful rich culture, and their language were under severe threat and were going to be taken away from them. And in their fear and resentment and insecurity, feeling that they had a historic grievance, nationalism sprang up. I'm not saying whether these grievances in all these countries are real or imaginary. It doesn't matter whether they're real or imaginary. It doesn't matter whether they're true or false. What matters is that people believe them. And in such circumstances, when people feel threatened or frightened or resentful, then nationalism becomes an idol. And they worship it and they give to it their hearts and their lives. The third question, what happens when nationalism becomes an idol? What happens when nationalism becomes an idol? Let me just mention three results, there are many more. Firstly, there is a frequent link with religion. If the religion of the nation, whether it's Christian or non-Christian, taps into this mood of resentment and fear and becomes an ally of nationalism, then the God becomes very, very powerful. That's what happened in Iran. Once the Ayatollahs and the Mullahs and the holy men started allying themselves with those people who were against the Shah and started bringing in all the emotional impact of Islam and the holy religion became allied with a feeling of resentment, then you had a tremendously powerful revolution. You had the same thing in Japan in between the wars with the religion of Shintoism where the emperor was made a god and you had this strongly nationalist religion. In Ireland and in Croatia today, you've got the force of Roman Catholicism, which has allied itself strongly with nationalist feeling. And in Serbia, you've got Greek Orthodoxy, which in turn is allying itself with the Serbian nationalists. Religion can even be an evangelical, biblical religion. The Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa, one of the most consistently biblical churches in the world, has lent its tremendous weight and support to nationalism and nationalist feeling. The faith and the nation become fused together. The faith and the nation are joined, they are linked. People cannot separate the one from the other. The faith and the nation seem to stand together or fall together. Tremendously powerful. Then the second thing which happens when nationalism becomes an idol is that all means become legitimate. All means become legitimate. You can do whatever is necessary to protect your nation. It's permissible to discriminate, if that helps your nation. It's permissible to bring in unjust laws, if that helps your nation. It's permissible to remove freedom, to develop a secret police, to arrest and imprison people without trial. It's permissible to kill. It's permissible to invade other countries and seize parts of their territory. Anything, anything is legitimate as long as the great God is served. The one question is, will this serve the God or not? Will this serve the nation or not? Is this good for our people? If it is, do it. If it's bad for our people, don't do it. All sacrifices become worthwhile. It doesn't matter how many women and children you kill. It doesn't matter how many young men are killed. You read the writings of some of the Irish nationalists in the period of the First World War and they talked about the blood of the people fertilising the nation. Being that which would give life to the nation, for them death, murder became a redemptive act. The nation was going to have to be washed in the blood of its children. in order to be free. Anything is legitimate. A nationalist, a convinced nationalist, cannot really be persuaded of right or wrong. He will look at you quite calmly after an atrocity. And how will he justify it? Oh, he will say, it's the occupying forces, it's the injustice, that's the problem. justice and love and compassion and goodness are all reinterpreted in the light of the ideology of nationalism. Then the third thing that often happens is that everyone who stands in the way is an enemy. Everyone who stands in the way is an enemy. And an enemy is only due hatred and crushing. and no criticism of the God is permitted. And especially it is not permitted from within that particular community. If anybody starts to question or to express reservations, they are immediately branded as traitors. If anybody tries to hand over the terrorists to the police, Even though those terrorists are blood-stained murderers, they would be despised and cast out from the nationalist community. Traitors to the people. This is a terribly cruel and destructive God. Look at Sarajevo today, or any of those ruined cities. Go into the bereaved homes of Ulster, see the damage which Irish nationalism as a God has done. Think of the ruin which faces rich South Africa. Perhaps a good sign is that many people are seeing what this God can do and are terrified. Is it possible that we are idolatrous nationalists? Is it possible that we are idolatrous nationalists? No, no, we're not nationalists, we're unionists. That could just be a name for a different sort of nationalist. As I've been speaking, have you felt uncomfortable at all I haven't said a word yet about Ulster people, about Ulster Protestants or Unionists. But friends, much of this comes uncomfortably close to home. We are a people who feel under threat. We feel under threat from Catholic Ireland, from takeover and from oppression. We feel under threat from British indifference and neglect. We're afraid that someday in Westminster they're just going to wash their hands of us. We are a people who believe that we have been unjustly treated, unjustly treated in the world media and by public opinion. And our religion is deeply intertwined with our national identity. Have you ever seen the slogan, For God and Ulster? The great almighty God of heaven and earth, before whom the nations of the earth are as dust in a balance, the eternal God. People make a little slogan for God and Ulster. Nearly the same thing. If you're for God, you're for Ulster. If you're for Ulster, you're for God. If you're against Ulster, you're against God, and God's against you. There is a reluctance among our people to admit wrongdoing on our part. even contemplate that there could ever have been any discrimination or any injustice of any kind against the minority community in these provinces. People will say that's lying propaganda. There's a reluctance to accept even friendly criticism from among our own people. It's all very well to look round the world and say, well, these people are national. And these people are nationalists, and these people are nationalists. But are we not in danger of becoming nationalist idolaters? Do all these marks that I've been setting out before you, do they not apply to us? Just as much as to, oh but we say our religion is the true religion. Well yes it is. All those other people think their religion is the true religion too. But even the true religion can be this debased and corrupted and ally itself. It's easy to point the finger elsewhere, but we need to begin with ourselves and say, search me, O God. Have I anything in my heart to which I give the loyalty? and love and to which I give the importance that should be given to you alone. And then lastly, we ask the question, what is the biblical response to nationalism? What is the biblical response to nationalism? Let me make four brief points. The first is this, we should enjoy our nationality. We should be thankful for it. We should be proud of the countries from which we come. We should see it as under God's providence and God's sovereign control. It is no accident that you and I are the particular nationalities that we are made to be. We should remember that God is in control of national borders and national identity. I haven't time to develop it now, but it seems to me that in biblical prophecy, there is the strong suggestion that in the kingdom of heaven there will be the richness of different national cultures and characteristics. The prophets talk about all the nations bringing their riches into the kingdom. From all the ends of the earth they come with their own contributions, their own distinctive contributions. And in the book of Revelation We read that the nations will walk by its light the heavenly city and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. So for example, all that makes us Ulster people, all that is best in our national culture will be part of the redemption of Christ and part of our contribution to the kingdom, there'll be people in heaven, as it were, talking with Balamena accents. Now everybody in heaven won't talk with a Balamena accent. Perhaps some people might think that would be heaven. But that's what it is. The contribution of our nationality isn't something that we need to forget or cast aside. We should accept it. We should thank God for it. We should seek to understand it and experience it more and more. In no way am I saying that we should be ashamed of our nationality. It's no accident that we're born where we are. It is God's appointing and God's providence. And it's my calling to understand the nation where I live, and the people among whom I live, and their history and their culture, and to be one of them. That's the first thing. Enjoy our nationality. Secondly, recognize our internationality. Recognize our internationality because Jesus has set up a kingdom composed of people from every nation. And these are our brothers and sisters. These are the human beings to whom we are closest, closer than our fellow nationals. Our basic identity is a Christian identity. It's not a national identity. And a black Christian from Africa and a yellow Christian from China are closer to me than a man born and brought up on the next street who doesn't know my Savior. Because they are members of the one family. My friends, this is an enormous enriching We shouldn't shrink from it. We should welcome it. We should rejoice in it. We should be glad that all the nations are coming into the church and we should love them. We should welcome them. One of the great enrichments of heaven will be that fellowship in Christ with so many Christians from all the richness of the earth and what they will have to teach us. and give to us, and what we will have to give to them, how amazing it will be. I was reading this week about one writer who is worried about American influence in the world, and he calls the world of the 21st century Macworld. That's his view of the world, a world of McDonald's. from one end to the other, mack world. Well that's not the world. That's not the world that God has made. And that's not the world that Christ is redeeming. It is a diverse world. It is a varied world, and a rich world. All nations, and all peoples, and all kindreds, and all languages, won't all be speaking English, all languages before the throne rejoice, recognize our internationality. Thirdly, I would say do what is good. Do what is good and leave the results to God. Nothing excuses breaking God's law. Nothing excuses slandering a fellow human being. Nothing excuses hating. Nothing excuses discrimination. Nothing excuses injustice or misrepresentation. It is a terrible temptation to a people under threat to be unjust and cruel. My friends, it is wrong. It is wrong. There is no cause. There is no God. There is no reason. which will release us from the task of doing justly and loving mercy and walking humbly with our God. Our task is not to guess what will happen to the nations. Our task is not to guess what will happen to our own nation. We don't know what will happen to our own nation. Our task is to keep God's commandments, to love our fellow men, to love our neighbor as ourselves, no matter what happens. No matter what happens. You can't go wrong. You can never, never go wrong by doing good, by doing what is right. The Christian people of Ulster need to come to a fresh commitment to that. Whatever may happen, we will not injure. We will not misrepresent. We will not alter it. Do good. Set thou thy trust upon the Lord, and be thou doing good, and so thou in the land shalt dwell, and verily of food. Thy way to God commit. Him trust it bring to pass, shall he. Lastly, I would say we are to embrace the cross Jesus Christ saved us because he did not save himself. And we too are to walk in his footsteps. Self-preservation is an unchristian goal. For an individual or for a people. Self-preservation is an unchristian goal. The Word of God says, Matthew 16, 25, whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. And I believe with all my heart that a people who will do this, who will embrace the cross of self-sacrifice consistently and trustingly will be used by God to bring redemption to the earth. Like Israel. Israel in the Old Testament was chosen. But Israel was not chosen at the expense of the other nations. Israel was chosen for the sake of the other nations. In you shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. To me, that is true biblical nationalism. Amen. Let us bow our heads in prayer. Heavenly Father, we have sought to cover much territory in our thinking this evening. And I do pray, O God, that anything which has been said amiss or unwisely or not in conformity with the teaching of your word may be pardoned and soon forgotten. What there has been of your truth, O God, we pray that by your Spirit you will write it upon our hearts. And not to think of this subject abstractly, but to seek, O God, both to love that nation in which you have placed us, that nation of this United Kingdom, which has been the recipient of so much blessing, to enjoy our citizenship, to rejoice in it, but then, Lord, to trust you and to give you the chief place, to seek your kingdom above all, to devote ourselves to doing your will on the earth, not thinking of self, but thinking of Christ. trusting you to preserve us and to keep us as individuals and as a people, to keep us in your will, to keep us in that place which you have for us. Help us, O God, above all, to have Jerusalem as our chief joy. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.