Jesus Was Not An American
Jesus Was Not An American
Words & Music By Bryan Sirchio
Let me start with an overdue apology
To some veterans of foreign wars I’ve known
In my attempts to be a man who stands for peace
I regret some of the arrogance I’ve shown
Looking back sometimes I wish I’d kept my mouth shut
And met you in some human place, beyond who’s right or wrong
And listened to you speak of what can still bring you to tears
And honored what you’ve lived with all these years
And maybe then you could also listen
To why I sometimes say the things I say
As a man who’s trying to walk with one we call the Prince of Peace
Sometimes I’m called to cut against the grain
And I know this is hard for some to hear
But Jesus was not an American
And when the nations rage
And the gears of warfare grind
Jesus weeps for the victims on every side
There’s a tale Hasidic rabbis sometimes tell
About that day when Moses parted the Red Sea
The day that thousands of Egyptian soldiers drowned
As the Hebrews all escaped from slavery
And they say that all the angels in the heavens
Broke out in celebration, they danced and laughed and cheered
But then one of the angels stopped and asked Arch Angel Michael
Why is God not celebrating with us here?
Then Michael said, “God is not here with us…
God’s in way too much grief to celebrate
In fact God’s heart is broken, and God’s alone now weeping tears
‘Cause thousands of God’s Egyptian children drowned today
Chorus (…is not American)
Bridge And I’ll gladly pray for God to bless our troops
But the love of Christ crosses all borders and boundary lines
So I’ll pray for troops of every land and I’ll pray most fervently
For the innocent defenseless whose lives are torn apart
When policies are reckless and so-called smart bombs
Are not so smart…and I know…