A year ago this week I was privileged to be involved in praying for a young man called Marius who was on a life support machine in a Belfast hospital. I spent a week in the hospital chapel along with others from church pleading and imploring and warring and worshipping and believing for a resurrection miracle. Marius was 23. His parents are both nurses so they were very well aware that the prognosis being proclaimed over their son had every reason to be believed in medical and worldly terms. It was all very grim. But they also believed in the God of miracles, the God of resurrection power, the God of life who holds the keys of life and death. They believed fiercely for a miracle and we joined them to believe too. During that week many astonishing things happened. Really amazing things. But not the resurrection we had all prayed and believed so hard for. Ive prayed for lots of dying people over the years and I can honestly say Ive never had the faith for a miracle that I had that week. I absolutely knew that God could do it if he wanted to and every day felt like the day we were going to see the answer.
As part of our prayer vigil we did quite alot of worshipping. And at some point I decided I needed to have a flag or two with me. Those of you who have known me over the years will understand that I like my flags. They bring out the warrior in me. I love the sound of them as they swish through the air. I love the feel of them in my hand as I swing them. I love the colours which represent the different expressions of prayer and worship and warfare. The Bible is full of people lifting their banners in the name of the Lord. Its not just a dramatic, visual, arty thing to do. Its an act of faith, a statement of victory and warfare and praise. There is huge power in waving a flag. If you have never done it I urge you to have a go. ( You might have to leave your self consciousness at the door - even if you are just at home in your kitchen. It can feel a bit odd at first.)
Saturday night was the anniversary memorial for Marius. As he died during the pandemic his family had been unable to have the funeral they really wanted for him. So Saturday was a chance to have people together in one place, celebrating his life and rehearsing the goodness of God in the midst of unimaginable pain for the family. Marius's mother, Simona, had asked me if she could have the flag that had been in the prayer room as her son lay in intensive care. So I took it with me to the memorial and set it beside a table of photographs and candles and memories of Marius
At the end of the night Marius's parents were taking the photographs and flowers and candles home and one of the staff in the venue came up to them and asked what the flag was there for. Simona tried to explain to this young Christian man that the flag had been an important part of the prayer that had gone up for her son whilst he was in hospital. The young man looked blank.. She was tired and very emotional and realised that there wasnt much point in trying to explain why someone had waved a flag in a hospital chapel and what that had meant to her. So she just smiled at the young man and told him that she would explain it to him some day. And she took her flag home.
One of the names of God in the Old testament is Jehova Nissi - The Lord is my banner. It carries the sense of God being a refuge lifted high over His people. In this sense the banner, or flag represents the overarching protective nature of the covering of God - we dwell in the shadow of His wing. In Psalm 20;5 the Psalmist talks about raising his banner as a celebration of salvation and victory. Isaiah 59:19 says that when the enemy comes in like a flood God lifts up His standard ( flag) against him - so here the flag is a weapon. Songs 2:4 tells us His banner over us is Love. The Word is peppered with the symbolism of flags and banners and standards. So I suppose its not surprising that over the centuries flags have been used ( and also of course abused) in Christian settings.
I live in Northern Ireland. People have been killed here for professing an allegiance to the flag of one nation or another. Every 12th of July the streets of every town and village are bedecked with union flags as a political statement of religious affiliation and people march in the streets behind orange flags and 'protestant' banners. In certain cities/towns/areas the flags on the lamp posts are gold white and green. It both saddens and angers me that flags are such a contentious issue here. But then we human beings are always spectacularly good at missing the point and jumping on bandwagons.
I havent waved a flag since this time last year when I was interceding for Marius in the hospital. I think perhaps I need to get out in my back yard with my big gold flag and wave it in the direction of the East. Maybe we all need to be reminded just now that the Lord is our banner, that we dwell in the shadow of His protection and love and that He is the victor before whom every knee in heaven and on earth will bow. When the enemy comes in like a flood God has promised to lift up His standard against that flood and push it back. Lets rally behind Jehova Nissi , our refuge and our strength.
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