Reaction to the Election

In the Hebrew scriptures, the prophets often talked about the “Day of the Lord”.  “The Day of Judgement” was coming – Prepare yourselves! – they would say.   We think – “Day of the Lord… Cool!”  Yeah… no.  Not cool!    So not cool!

The prophets would often predict doom as part of the Day of the Lord – the day of judgement!   But it wasn’t the Nostradamus style of “predictions”, like  “There will come a great and terrible leader from the East, and an army of strength and destruction will follow him.  He will tear down the West and the walls shall fall.  And this shall happen when people travel in the skies and move exceedingly fast in metal carriages.”     I know Nostradamus wrote in quatrains, in French, with much mystery – I guess that’s part of the whole “prophet predicting the future” thing.  But still, you get the idea.

Old Testament prophets did not work that way.  Their issue was more looking at cause-and-effect, and related to very particular instances.  For example, this is the general O. T. prophetic message – “IF you do not return to God’s ways, and follow his commandments, THEN you will see God’s judgement on you!”    There’s an If – Then thing going usually.  For them, turning from God’s ways, from God’s laws, from God’s commandments brought nothing but calamity.   And these calamities either came from nature or from other people; an earthquake could indeed be a punishment from God.    Pestilence?  Yep, God’s angry at you.   Getting conquered by another kingdom?   Oh yeah…  you TOTALLY pissed God off! 

So, either way, bad things happening to you meant (usually) you’d either done something AGAINST God or not done some other things enough FOR God.   That understanding existed –at least among some– into the Gospel times.   There’s an example of this in one of the Gospels where one of the disciple asks Jesus why “that man over there” was born blind – did he sin or did his parents?   But don’t think that’s just quaint pedestrian thinking from poor ignorant Ancient Near Eastern peoples… folks, this idea exists –in part– among us moderns too!  Don’t think too many negative thoughts because all that negativity will attract bad things to your life!   If bad things happen, it could very well be your fault for not “doing it right”. 

Is there an element of truth to the notion that how we think can affect how we react to things in our lives?  Absolutely.   But to say people had famines or got conquered by the Babylonians because they didn’t have enough humility before the Lord or didn’t strictly observe God’s commandments back then is just as logically fallacious an argument as it is to say people today get cancer or get in car wrecks because they had too many negative thoughts.    There is an element of superstition in this in both cases.  

Now I do have to admit I am painting with a pretty broad brush with regard to the ancient Prophets of old.   Their ideas were more nuanced for sure.   But still, it’s hard for us “moderns” to see doom befalling a community or nation as a direct result of their unfaithfulness to the Lord…  maybe it’s because we’re a pretty secular society.   Well, based on what I just said, according to the prophets, we are in deep doo-doo.  

But here are the problems with this kind of thinking…

It makes God look like a giant Santa Claus.   He’s making a list and checking it twice, gonna find out who’s been naughty or nice.  And you better be on the nice list!   So get to being loyal – no matter what!   Actually this makes God look pretty bad if you think about it.   To reward loyalty and punish disloyalty could be characteristics of a sociopathic leader.   

Usually it’s hard for us (except some televised religious leaders) to see this as true of God.  For the most part – again, except for some television Christians – we see a hurricane as “bad luck” more than God’s judgement.    We see “war” as a terrible breakdown of diplomacy and human decency more than as God’s condemnation of the people in the affected area.  Cancer, accidents, natural disasters, we’ve all seen in our lives these things affect the faithful and the faithless just as often.  

Las Vegas hasn’t been hit by a hurricane in years I think, but I can’t imagine it’s because of the striking holiness of the inhabitants of the city.   Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying everyone in Vegas is an unrepentant sinner… just saying it isn’t a city recognized for its observance of the Lord’s commandments.       

To say today that God’s judgement falls mightily on people who do not observe God’s laws, on people who are disloyal to God, is pretty theologically simplistic and un-nuanced at best, and destructive at worst. 

And yet… and yet… Jesus says a time of trial is coming.   A time of trial for individuals as well as society as a whole.  Whether we see this as prophecy in the “Nostradamus” style or in the more traditional Old Testament prophet style, times of trial have always come… and they always will.  Whether they come as the “Small” variety (the more common kind, that seem to impact pretty much just one person), the “Medium”-sized variety (that could easily impact a group of people – like a family), and the “Large”-sized kind (that are less common, but when they come, they impact pretty much a huge swath of society).  Either way, the question for us is the question that has always been there – How do we face them?

I have to talk about the election because it is a huge thing facing all of us.   I have to talk about this because if I didn’t, I’d be doing this calling an injustice.   I have to talk about the election– not from the point of view of who’s good or who’s bad, but from the point of view of faith.  This last week has impacted many people, not just in the sense of fostering a sense of insecurity and fear – which I’ve heard about from many in this area and other areas across the country – but also in terms of a rise in aggression, violence and anger, and of some feeling they have a license to behave and express themselves in certain destructive ways.  

I could say about this election that if you feel fearful, I’d encourage you to look for strength in the Lord, and in the people of God.

I could say that if you feel anger, ask God to help you channel that anger in healthy ways so you can actually benefit society as a whole.

I could say that if you feel empowered by the results, I’d encourage you to recognize this election elicits the exact opposite reaction in others, and then encourage you to recognize that you are especially situated to help create an environment where all can feel like they benefit from the results. 

The truth is, whether we like the results or not, I don’t think anyone can disagree that this election cycle took on a pretty un-professional tone at best and a destructive one at worst.   This may be a reflection of our nation – our society – that seems more polarized than ever.   What we need – but seem incapable of doing right now – is to help create more of that which will help bind us all back together (assuming we all still want to do that…) Community!    

… Community centered around something bigger than ourselves… bigger than our political preferences…  our political goals… our economic and political policies. 

When I look around my church community on a Sunday morning, I wish people could see themselves from my perspective.   What I see is America!  In the same room – our small sanctuary –   I see: 
            people who vote Democrat    

             people who vote Republican    

             people who vote third party   

      White people and Black people and Hispanic people       

                  I see the very young and the very old     

                  I see gun owners and those who are anti-gun   

                  I see “pro-choice” and “pro-life”   

                  I see gays and straights   

   and people whose ancestors have been here a VERY long time 

                                                                  and people who are immigrants    

         people who speak only English 

                                    and people who speak more than English         

      On my father’s side, for the most part English speaking Protestants, my family has been here since the revolutionary war.  

      On my mother’s, Spanish speaking Catholics, I’m second-generation immigrant.  

I’m a Catholic-raised, Lutheran pastor with a Jewish last name, married to a woman of Norwegian descent that looks Irish, with two kids – one of whom came from West Africa, and three “host” kids (but we love them like our own) that come from Zambia, Germany and Chile respectively.   

We do Mixed-up, and Messed-up, BIG! 

This is America!  Mixed-up and messed-up… for all the world to see…   All right there in the same church!      

But here in this church – in this place – in this community – What’s bigger than us?   Why do we all come?   What binds us together?   How is it that we can talk about any of this stuff, a divisive campaign, divisive politics, anything that has potential to – and actually has – divide America?

Because we’re a community…   that’s based on something bigger than us!   We believe in a God that loves – ALL.    We believe in a God that invites us, and calls us ALL   to be better than our worst selves.  We believe in a God that still has something to say to ALL OF US.  We believe there is a better path    that calls ALL of us.

Our job is not to belittle, not to attack, not to react in anger, not to take license.   As people of faith, our job is to BE FAITHFUL!

So listen to your faith… what does it call you to do?   When you feel yourself getting caught up in emotional reactions of any side, take time to remind yourself you are a person of faith!     Faith may indeed call you to act... but it’ll come from a place of God.. and health…  and love, and concern for “the sacred other”.    

Folks, we don’t say grace before meals because our prayers change the food… the food stays the same!          We don’t say prayers because there’s a guarantee that what we pray for will happen…   because sometimes what we pray for doesn’t happen!         We don’t worship because we think God will love us more… because if we’re honest, sometimes we may not feel God in worship.

We do all this because we are faithful…  to a God of grace, and love, and abundance, and hope for a better tomorrow… because we believe in a God of grace, and love, and abundance, and hope for a better tomorrow… and we know what that all looks like – right here!   

We’re called to do this all the time, especially in times of stress and challenge.  Like the prophets said – let’s turn back to God!                                                                                        

              Let’s say grace –anyway!  

                 Let’s keep praying for each other – anyway! 

                     Let’s keep worshiping – anyway!   

                            Let’s keep believing in a God of Life and resurrection – anyway!   

      Let’s keep believing!