“Thy will be done. . .” or “My will be done. . .” It can be a struggle to differentiate the two ideas and the implication of them. That struggle is especially true and poignant as tomorrow, November 3rd, America goes to the polls. Certainly many of us have already voted by mail. Concerns over the coronavirus have already led millions (myself included) into voting in though the mail service. We wait for the results to come in as we also wait for the fight that also is probably coming—regardless of who wins and who loses. This is a tough week for some and I understand why this is so.
Now it is time for me as your pastor to weigh into the discussion and offer you my thoughts about tomorrow’s election.
I have already received a few phone calls at the church, and in my home, attempting to sway my vote. I have spoken with companies who wish to come to our church on Sunday, be granted 5-10 minutes in the service, and ‘inform us’ (these are their words) about the true message of the election. They want us to know who we ‘should’ vote for. Partisan voting guides have been offered; they will drop off as many as we want. Inserts and articles have been promised—all I have to do is say the word. . . Which I have not.
This is not because I do not feel strongly about the election or its result. Rather I have strong feeling about what is happening tomorrow. It is also not because I wish to influence anyone’s vote in favor of my preferences. Again, I do not. Instead, I believe the church is a unique place with a mission and calling that is handed down from God to us. As such we are obligated to think and act differently when the world around us does not. I believe that the church is the place where the Word of God, and the Mission of God, intersect with the local community culture. The church is where the gathered community comes, hears the Word of God, and then are sent back into the world to be salt and light.
So today, I ask only one thing of you as the church as the election cycle comes to its end tomorrow. As you live into your mission and calling from God. I wonder, how will you pray?
St. Augustine once said, “True, whole prayer is nothing but love.”
It feels like the love in which Augustine spoke of is in short supply these days. Again you have likely been yelled at either in person, on the phone, over the news, or on social media about this election. You have been told that the “soul of America” is at stake. Then when you did not completely agree with the speaker, you may have been derided for your lack of vision. But what has been left out, is that as the church we need to pray in these times all the more.
I recently saw something on social media depicting two images. The first was an ‘angry cat’ glowering over a table top with its ears back. It looked angry. The second scene was one of the president speaking before a gathering. The message said something like, “when you hope that the president will jump into a wood chipper.” Now I hope that the creator of that post created it only to be funny, or get ‘clicks,’ and ‘likes.' But I doubt it. There is genuine hatred out there in our world. A hatred that is so present that it wishes suffering on people that we do not agree with. It is a hate the screams over the discussion and seeks to ‘re-educate’ us on the topic at hand.
In the midst of that cultural void, or gap, the love of God is missing for the populous. It is gone and so the opportunity for us to be the church, to care for the people, to love God’s children, becomes harder.
“Thy will be done. . .” or “My will be done. . .” Which is it?
And so as your pastor I asked you to pray. . . Pray for our country. Pray for its election and its leaders. Pray for President Trump and Vice President Pence. Pray for Former Vice President Biden and Senator Harris. Do not pray for them because you want one to fail and one to win or you wish one to stop talking and the other to rise. Instead, pray because it is the act of love that we as the church have been called by God to participate in. It is the mission and ministry Jesus ordained when he came to be with us. Pray because we do want God’s "will to be done on earth as it is in heaven."
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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