Election 2024 Sermon
I rarely post the script that I work from to deliver me sermon, but this is what I worked from this morning, 10th November, 2024.
I don’t know if you noticed this week, but there was an election on Tuesday.
On Wednesday I was hugging and weeping with people who couldn’t make sense of what had transpired over the course of the previous evening, even as many people in this country were rejoicing.
There’s moment in the Lord of the Rings when Frodo says to Gandalf, “I wish it need not have happened in my time,"
To which Gandalf responds, "So do I,and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
This morning I’m largely speaking to those who are hurting, but I’m also speaking to the whole church.
I’ve been trying to understand what lies behind the angst, the fear, and the anxiety that so many are feeling at this time.
I have spoken with the parent of a transgender child. The fear is real, palpable, and warranted based on the rhetoric we have heard.
I’ve read the news reports about the racist texts that went out to black people last Thursday telling them to report to the plantations. I can’t imagine what that must have felt like. It’s racist to the core.
I understand the fear among immigrant populations as the threat of mass deportation and possible internment camps loom on a future horizon.
I pray this never comes to pass.
These are not my concerns as a wealthy white man living in this country.
I am quite sure I will be able to continue to live my comfortable, suburban life, without much if any disruption.
These are the fears of others - the poor, the oppressed, the foreigner.
They are the fears of the people Scripture reminds us over and over again that we must take care of and look out for.
They are the very people Jesus identifies with.
“‘I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’
… ‘I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.’”
——-
As you entered the voting booth and looked at your ballot you weren't presented with a list of policies to vote for, but rather you looked down a list of names, people to vote for.
When you cast a vote, it’s not actually for policies, it’s for people.
We vote for the people we feel align best with who we are.
We vote for the people we believe to be closest to being good, truthful, and right.
We vote for the people we most closely identify with.
Because at the end of the day we aren’t governed by policies, laws, or even the constitution. Yes, they inform us and guide us, but we are governed by the people who interpret and implement the laws and the constitution.
If you’re pulled over by a police officer, maybe you get a ticket, maybe you get a warning. It depends on the person, not the law.
We have institutions like the Supreme Court that depending on who fills the spots in them can, on the one hand, pass both Roe vs Wade and then later give us the Dobbs decision.
We have courts, bound by the same laws for all people, and yet they allow black men are incarcerated at almost five times the rate of white men and on average are handed down sentences 10% longer than those for white men.
Same law, it’s the people who interpret the law and pass judgement on others.
It’s all about the people.
I believe James Dobson was right when after Bill Clinton’s dishonesty over the Monica Lewinsky affair he said, “Character does matter. You can’t run a family let alone a country without it.”
I believe Ralph Reed, head of the Christian Coalition was also right at the time when he said, “We care about the conduct of our leaders, and we will not rest until we have leaders of good moral character.”
But both of these folks and many others changed their tune when Trump promised them earthly power and supreme court justices.
It is now, always has been, and always will be about the people.
———
As I’ve been talking with people over the last few days it appears their greatest concern is not that Harris lost, but rather sadness and at times anger as they question how Trump could win.
It’s clearly understandable that people would be concerned about how some 74 million people decided that the person they best align with and who best represents what they believe to be true is someone who has been found liable by a jury of his peers for sexual assault and defamation of character, is a convicted felon for falsifying business records, has several federal indictments against him (which will now go away), has a long track record of racist, xenophobic, and misogynistic comments, has stated he’s never asked for forgiveness, and stated that his biggest mistake was not hiring people loyal to him.
How is it that so many, especially those who consider themselves Christian, align themselves with him and all he represents? I can’t answer that.
It’s not that I haven’t tried to understand it, I have, but I’ve not seen a convincing argument.
——-
Ok, I want to pause for a moment and take a breath. I do want to make sure I’m clear on this. The outcome of any national election does not impact the church’s ongoing commitment to the kingdom of God.
——-
Having said that we also have to acknowledge as theologians NT Wright and Michael Bird explain, “The compartmentalisation of the spiritual and the secular is foreign to Scripture and to most of church history. Secular government is still a divine servant and is therefore theological; the church’s existence cannot be divorced from life within the public sphere and is therefore political.”
This is why when we read the Bible we find Elijah challenging King Ahab.
Nathan rebuking King David for adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah.
Jeremiah confronting King Zedekiah with the command, “Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.”
It’s not just the religious folks that the prophets address, but it’s the secular authorities that also need to be checked by the voice of the prophets.
The church at its best has always spoken truth to power.
I know some people will say, “Don’t let politics get in the way of relationships.”
Folks, that is the position of the privileged. It’s only for those of us who are not hurt by the policies being implemented by people.
We must not forget that politics is about people and some people will have their families torn apart by some of what is being proposed.
Politics does get in the way of relationships.
So often self interest gets in the way of doing what is right.
At times like this the church must maintain its prophetic voice as we seek to remind people that in Christ, “there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”
The church must continue to stand with the poor, the oppressed, the immigrant and not give in to hate and fear.
The church must continue to be the global community of faith, loving and welcoming all people regardless of where they come from or what language they speak.
The church does take sides and that’s not alway easy to hear.
We still love all people, we still recognise the humanity of even the worst tyrant, but when we turn to help the poor, the oppressed, and the foreigner, we naturally and unvavoidably turn our backs on those who oppose them or create the circumstances of their poverty, oppression, and emigration.
The church must heed the words of Paul to, “value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of others.”
Not everyone will want to be part of that welcoming, loving, grace filled community.
We saw that in the life of Ruth.
After she went to Boaz at night to let him know that she was willing to marry him and for him to be her kinsman-redeemer. Boaz said there was a closer relative who had the first right to take on that role.
Now, the kinsmen-redeemer was an important provision in the law as a way to preserve the name, legacy, and inheritance of the dead man by marrying the widow and providing a surrogate heir. Other responsibilities that came with the role included buying back the family land, looking after needy members of the family.
In the story of Ruth the closer relative agrees until he learns that Ruth, the Moabite, the foreigner, is part of the redemption. That’s too much for him and he shirks his responsibility and walks away wanting nothing to do with her, because he fears the impact it will have on his estate.
Self-interest prevails.
Ruth, the foreigner, the widow, the immigrant, the one who was vulnerable, marries Boaz. They have a child, they name him Obed and he is the grandfather of King David.
Don’t be like the relative who rejected Ruth, the Moabite, the foreigner, out of fear it might hurt him in some way.
Be like Boaz, who showed courage, stood strong, showed compassion, took a risk and gave his best to this foreign woman, Ruth. He welcomed her into his family, providing hope for the future through an heir.
An heir whose distant descendant would bring hope for the world.
For Ruth is mentioned as a direct descendant of Jesus the Christ.
I’m with Frodo, “I wish it need not have happened in my time,"
And I’m with Gandalf, "So do I and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
What will we do with that time that is ours?
Let NT Wright and Michael Bird remind you that “your faith is your defence against the idols of this world. Your love is your rebellion against the powers of this evil age.”
Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
You are the light of Christ.
May the light of Christ emanate from you and illuminate the world with all that is good, beautiful, and true.
