When I was a senior in high school, the high school I attended received a special award call the Bellamy Flag Award. The Bellamy Award was a national award given by the Bellamy family in honor of Francis Bellamy, the man who wrote the original draft of the Pledge of Allegiance. Schools who were awarded with this honor were those that showed the spirit of the American flag, patriotism, citizenship, service, and other specific qualities. It was a big event with speeches, musical performances, and receptions, with many important officials and dignitaries attending. The school was presented with a huge American flag that had been flown in Washington, D.C.
One of the celebrations that was part of the final day was a Naturalization Ceremony. It was one of the most moving events I have ever witnessed. Watching that group of immigrants become citizens of the United States left a lasting impression on me. There were tears in their eyes as they took their oath, and there were tears in our eyes as we welcomed them to our country.
Another part of this program was the instruction we received before the festivities began. We learned about the proper way to act during the pledge to the flag and the singing of our national anthem. The key words were reverence and respect.
I continue to feel a sense of pride as I say the pledge to the flag. I also feel a sense of dismay when I see men wearing their hats or ball caps, people looking at cell phones, whispering, eating, or doing other things when a group is trying to say the pledge.
Though the naturalization ceremony did create a sense of awe and pride in my teenage mind, it is nothing compared to the participation of one becoming a citizen of the kingdom of God. I tear up when someone responds to the invitation. Watching a baptism into Christ stirs special feelings in me. I feel dismay at the sometimes irreverent behavior of some when such a special event occurs.
On the day of Pentecost when Peter preached the first gospel sermon, the people first made fun of the apostles and accused them of being drunk. When Peter laid their sins before them—“you crucified and killed” the Son of God, their attitude changed. They were “cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” They no longer expressed irreverence and disrespect for the twelve men that preached to them. They were begging for relief from what they now know as the sin of murder. Peter gave them the simple answer to total forgiveness. “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). About three thousand souls obeyed those instructions and were added to the church.
What a glorious event that would have been Seeing three thousand people being immersed in water, putting on the name of Christ, and dedicating their lives to the service of Christ. No naturalization ceremony, no other ceremony can compare with such a reverent experience.
When Ananias baptized Saul of Tarsus, Pharisee, soldier, and persecutor of disciples of Christ, the feelings might have been less dramatic but still impressive. We can feel the emotion in Saul’s voice in later years when he revealed his conversion to King Agrippa. His pride shows in his words, “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance” (Acts 26:19-20).
Paul was a Roman citizen, and he was proud of that. That citizenship in no way compares with the pride he felt in his citizenship in the kingdom of heaven. He refers to it often in his writings. One such passage is found in Colossians 1:13-14. He says, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Those who participate in a naturalization ceremony exhibit pride in the studying, learning about this country, and taking the final oath to become a citizen of the United States. May we, like the Ethiopian Eunuch, go on our way rejoicing after becoming a citizen of the kingdom of God.
Sandra Oliver