You may have already heard, but in roughly five weeks our country will hold an election that will put men and women into offices ranging from the President of the United States to township commissioners. While I do not talk a lot about politics per se from the pulpit or in other public forums, I do have thoughts on the political process and on how particular policies impact our life together. But what I am more concerned about as your pastor is the place that our American politics has come to occupy, either intentionally or by default, in the hearts of Jesus' people.
Our current cultural moment would have us believe that everything that happens in our world is downstream of politics. That whoever gets elected in November will determine the course of the future. That if you do not vote this way, or if you do not vote that way you will be letting down yourself, your children, and your nation. Now, we all should participate, as much as we feel called, in our nations' politics. It is a gift for us to be part of this republic and I would encourage you to engage the processess around you. Vote. Support specific candidates. Trumpet causes that you believe in and reflect Christian commitments. Run for office if you feel so called. These are good endeavors for believers to throw themselves into, as Christians, operating out of the mind of Christ (cf. Phil 2:5), bearing the fruit of the Spirit (cf. Gal 5:22ff). But....
But what we can never forget, is that our ultimate politics are not of this world (cf. Jn. 18:36). While in America we may belong to a Republic, as Christians we serve a King. We serve a King whose Kingdom is the cosmos. Our geographic and historical presence in this Kingdom is tiny against its immensity. The power and absolute sway of our King puts all other rulers to flight. He does reign and his purposes will come to be. Nothing that popes, peasants, princes or politicians conjure can thwart the coming of his Kingdom in his time and in his way. If we believe the above is an accurate transmission of the truths of scripture, then I would posit to you that the most important political thing we do each week is go to public worship on the Lord's Day, submit to our King, and proclaim his Kingdom as he leads us in worship. As we participate in the liturgy, pray for our enemies, confess our sins, join with Christians throughout the ages in confessing the creeds, pray the Lord's Prayer ("Thy kingdom come"), sit under the authority of the Word, partake of the Lord's Supper, and remember our baptisms; we are engaging in the politics of THE one Kingdom that truly matters. As we plant ourselves in the Gospel, things that might otherwise take hold in our lives - fearful anger, anxiety, depression, pride, disdain for others who think differently than us - begin to lose their power.
So read your Bibles. Pray. Examine your hearts. Examine the candidates. Vote. But remember, there are some ways in which the election in five weeks matters. But in most of the things that are most important, its outcome doesn’t really matter at all.
And one final thing, regardless of who you might vote for, regardless of what happens on November 5; my call to you as as your pastor on November 6, my care for you all as this particular flock of Jesus, will still be the same: let’s keep following Jesus together.
