I was just finishing up another post this morning, all ready for today's Fortnightly, when a note from my brother popped up: "I'm preaching on Sunday. Most of these words come from Christianity Today, Frederick Buechner, David Kuo, and Max Lucado, all of whom I will cite. Tell me what you think."
Within the first couple of paragraphs, I knew that this was one of the most insightful sermons I'd read or heard in awhile and that my brother had conveniently and coincidentally created a timely guest blog for me -- and made an excellent connection to a soul - searching article that we had been discussing only an hour earlier. Hopefully I can return the favor by widening Bruce's audience to include my readers in addition to his congregation.
and his sources, Frederick Buechner, David Kuo,
Max Lucado, and Christianity Today:
We are really ready for this presidential election to be over. We’re ready for an end to the rancor and tackiness. Voters on both sides feel frustrated, even embarrassed by it all. There is great angst about the result, by supporters of both major candidates. What if the other one wins? There is a visceral fear, encouraged by the media on both sides, that if the wrong candidate wins, it means the end of the United States as we know it. And, it's that fear I want to address. Hear the words of Frederick Buechner:
“The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you.”Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Don't be afraid. I am with you.
Christians on both sides seem to have trouble hearing that message right now. Our country is bitterly divided, and more than simply reflecting that division, the Church EXEMPLIFIES that division. What we are doing is nothing less than putting the gospel at stake. The gospel is of infinitely greater importance than any political campaign, and one good summary of the gospel is, “Jesus is Lord.” And the lordship of Jesus Christ places constraints on how we involve ourselves, or entangle ourselves, with earthly rulers.
The Democratic nominee has pursued unaccountable power through secrecy. She exemplifies the path to power rooted in a rigorous control of one’s image and a calculated disregard for norms that restrain less powerful actors. Such efforts to avoid accountability put both the leader and the community in greater danger.
Because several of the Democratic candidate’s policy positions are so incompatible with certain Christian values, and because some in her party are so openly hostile to the expressions of the traditional Christian faith, there is plenty of critique, criticism, and concern over her possible election.
But, the Republican nominee raises equally valid concerns. In many ways he personifies the “earthly nature” Paul wrote of in Colossians: “sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry”. That he has been, his whole adult life, an idolater of this sort, and a singularly unrepentant one, should be clear to everyone.
Supporters of either major candidate have valid reasons for concern about the other candidate. But, we ought to be equally concerned about our own preferred candidate as well. These are two extremely flawed candidates. No Christian should claim to be supporting either one based on an appeal to Christian values. Measured against Christian values, neither of them deserves our support.
That is not to say “Don't vote.” By all means, vote. It's your duty as a responsible citizen. And you can support or oppose either candidate, based on very real policy differences – differences that get lost when the candidates and their campaign representatives engage in the vile, disgusting horror show that this election has become. Say you support Hillary Clinton because you believe she's more experienced and more qualified. Say you support Donald Trump because you think he'll do better protecting us from terrorist attacks. But, don't say you support either one of them because of your Christian faith.
When we, as Christians, ally ourselves with politicians, in an attempt to manipulate the levers of power in favor of our cause we support and engage in a form of idolatry . . . placing our faith in earthly kings and princes, at the expense of our dependence on God. When we engage in the same bitterness and vitriol that pervades political discussion today, in support of a human leader; we give our neighbors cause to doubt that we really believe Jesus is Lord. They see us as self-interested, self-protective hypocrites who will ally ourselves with anyone – even those who violate things we consider sacred – if we believe they may help us advance our agenda.
For too long we've held this hope that the right person doing the right things would make America better; eliminate poverty, wipe out crime, and expand opportunity to all our citizens. But, it hasn't happened. Our hopes have been misplaced and unreasonable; the bar set too high; and we've squandered our energy and our treasure in the deal.
Our political leaders, regardless of party, are just that – political. No matter their faith or lack thereof, they are just plain old people doing a plain old job. They can't save America. Maybe they can change things at the margin, here and there. But, ultimately, the job of fixing America is our job..and by “our” I mean both the American people and the church in America. And our faith must be placed where it belongs...not in politicians, but in God.
This year’s presidential election presents Christian voters with an especially difficult choice...AND IT'S NOT THE CHOICE OF VOTING FOR ONE CANDIDATE OR ANOTHER. It's a choice about how we are going to behave when this election is over.
As Christians, we are instructed to pray for our rulers, even those who directly oppose our welfare. If the Apostle Paul prayed for a Roman emperor who used Christians as human torches, can we not pray for our next president, whoever that may be?
I have a prediction. I know exactly what November 9 is going to bring. No matter who wins, God will still be God; and Christians will have a choice: We can wring our hands in despair at the result. We can continue the character assassination and politics of personal destruction. Or, we can behave like Christians.
When you get home today, circle November 9 on your calendar and, in very large letters, write these words: “God is still God and I will pray for our new President.”
“Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Do not be afraid. I am with you.”
AMEN
[Click for further thoughts & Election Aftermath]
Or, as Dame Julian of Norwich expressed it
so many centuries ago (1342 - 1462):
"All shall be well
And all shall be well
And all manner of things shall be well."
But, as I always say: we have to do our share to make it so.
SEE YOU IN TWO WEEKS ON MY
Next Fortnightly Post
Friday October 28th
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Very insightful and so true.
ReplyDeletehttp://lvnwrth.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/again-really/
ReplyDeleteOkay, so I took a little break. I really question the value of this. It’ s not theraputic for me. It makes little or no difference. I am resigned to the fact that nothing of substance is going to change in the two to three decades I have left on this earth. So why bother?
I really don’t know the answer to my own question. Yet, somehow I am driven back here and compelled to type stuff that virtually no one will ever read. Maybe, in the back of my mind, there’s some hope that a century from now someone will discover what I’ve written and say, “They should have listened to him.” Maybe that’s it – the desire in all of us to achieve some sort of immortality. In any event, I’m back to bore and harass anyone who’s williing to read. Bear in mind, if you feel bored or harassed, no one is requiring you to read this.
Social contract theory emerged from The Enlightenment. It begins with the idea that the individual is ultimately sovereign, bounded only by our own abilities and our own conscience. In an effort to improve our living conditions, individuals come together and agree to surrender our sovereignty to a central government, so that we might live peaceably under a rule of law. That surrender of sovereignty, however, is not permanent. The individuals who are party to the social contract are free to withdraw from the contract, or to alter the government, when it serves their purposes to do so. From this theory came Jefferson’s words in the Declaration of Independence, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”
cont.
ReplyDeleteThis idea of government, which views the individual as having absolute value, over and above the community; and it’s attendant view, that the right to maximize personal benefit is the cornerstone of the natural order, presents a problem for me as a Christian. Communities don’t function that way, or at least they are not supposed to. We ought not be about the business of sacrificing others for the benefit of self.
Now, I admit, that if one has no concern for Biblical perspectives, then what I have to say may have little or no value. So be it. But for those who either consider themselves Christian, or at least recognize the Bible as a source of wisdom and right ideas in general, our present economic system – based as it is on the social contract – ought to be a source of great concern.
God did not establish his covenant with individuals; He established his covenant with Israel, a community of faith. Everything the Bible teaches us, in both the Old and New Testaments, bears witness to the primacy of the community over the individual. Individuals are frequently depicted as sacrificing themselves for the good of the community. When the reverse is true – when others are sacrificed for the good of the individual – the condemnation of such selfishness is consistent.
As a Christian, I must question an economic system founded on the right of individuals to acquire and possess as much as possible, without regard for others. And I must likewise question any economic system which fails to list as its fundamental tenet, provision for the community as a whole.
Those of us born and/or reared in the United States – where the Gospel of Adam Smith (the prophet of free market capitalism) stands alongside the New Testament gospels as sacred writ - struggle to come to terms with the possiblity that our economic system may not only be non-Christian, but un-Christian. It is difficult to reject a system under which we have personally flourished. But, unlike Esau, we must take care not to trade our birthright for the temporary comfort of affluence.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said that Christians must remember that we are, “…not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state…the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool.” If that is true, then I have no choice but to challenge an economic system which promotes, nay glorifies, the acquisition and accumulation of individual wealth, at the expense of the community as a whole. And if governments derive their just authority only by the consent of the governed, then I must stand against any form of government or political party whose goal is the furtherance of such a system, and cry out as best I can, “I do not consent!”
~ The Rev. Bruce L. Carriker