Read Psalm 146
In
two days, the nation goes to the polls. The country has been badgered and
battered by attack ads, polls and policy-mongering for almost two years.
Tuesday, it comes to an end, until the next go round. Today, as politicians make their final blitz
of promises to us, I would like to offer five promises from God.
And
Psalm 146, is remarkably apropos.
Promise 1.God
will still be our God.
Presidential campaigns have become a slug-fest, and most of us are not feeling particularly pleased with either candidate as we prepare soon to enter the voting booth. But regardless of what happens on Election Day, the earth will keep turning, the seasons will change, babies will be born, and God will still be in control of his complex and often contentious creation.
Psalm
146 begins with the command, “Praise
the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long”
In
our society today, we often praise people for taking political stands we agree
with, or making speeches that move us. But do such leaders really deserve our
praise? Certainly, we should support our candidates and work with them to
advance the causes that are important to us. But praise them? No. Praise is a
word that should be reserved for the one God who holds thing together when the
politicians make a mess.
Consider
the roots of the word “politics,” If you break it
down, “poly” means “many,” while “ticks” are “blood-sucking
parasites.” :-)
After
a long and brutal race for the White House, we need a few laughs.
For
the most part, politics is not worthy of praise.
Psalm
146 is a celebration of the One God who promises to still be God no matter what
kind of mess we make with His creation.
When
we offer praise we are saying God is God, and we are not.
Neither
is Mitt Romney nor Barack Obama.
Promise 2.
God’s
constituency is eternal.
We take a chance when we rely too heavily on
political leaders to claim us as their constituency. We buy into a lie when we believe that an
elected official will do whatever they can to help us, because they are as
flawed, weak, biased, disloyal, and limited as any other human being on earth. The Psalm warns us, “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish”.
The
humorist Dave Barry joked, “Democrats are the kind of people who would stop to help you change a
flat, but would somehow manage to set your car on fire. I would be reluctant to
entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the
economy,” “The
Republicans, on the other hand, would know how to fix your tire, but they
wouldn‘t bother to stop because they’d
want to be on time for Ugly Pants Night at the country club.”
Funny….but
sharp words about our two major political parties. The point, is that everyone
has weaknesses and limitations, from the left to the right of the
political spectrum. The Psalm warns us against putting our trust in mortals,
because every one of us is made of dust, and to dust we shall return. Our
complete faith should be directed toward the One eternal God, maker of heaven
and earth.
God has claimed us in our
baptisms, and joined us to the eternal constituency of the kingdom of
heaven. Put your trust in Him.
God's promise number 3.
God
will continue to bless us.
With
all the energy that goes into a presidential campaign, we can certainly forgive
voters for wanting their favorite candidate to bring them joy and satisfaction.
But such an expectation is truly unrealistic. Whether the victor is a Republican or a Democrat.
But
rather than be afraid of what may happen if the “other” party wins, there is a
more faithful perspective for us to keep: Unreserved confidence that no matter what,
God will continue to bless us, just as He has until now.
“Happy are those whose
help is the God of Jacob,” says Psalm 146, “whose hope is in the
LORD their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever”.
Better for us to look for happiness in a
relationship with God, the one who made
heaven and earth, and who is eternally faithful. God is the source of every good and perfect
gift, and He is a God who keeps His promises. With God, we have a leader who
can be trusted to provide for us, and to know what we need even before we ask.
Even
more importantly, when we focus our perspective on God’s blessings we find that true happiness and peace is a gift from God, and we
ground ourselves in the great commandment of Jesus to “love the Lord your
God with all your heart … and your neighbor as yourself”. With our faith and perspective oriented toward God's blessings, we are not looking for a politician to bring us joy and
satisfaction, but instead find joy and satisfaction in our relationship with
God and with the people around us.
This past week we weathered the storm of Sandy. In the aftermath, we got one more opportunity like that of many other others, where we hear story after story from people who have lost everything...but when asked about the devastation, they reply something to the effect of, "We've lost our house and everything in it, but we still have each other." God's blessings are most powerfully realized when everything else gets taken away, leaving behind God's blessings.
Promise 4.
God’s
will will be
done.
Psalm
146 says that God is the one “who
executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets
the prisoners free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind”.
This
is God’s will, according to
the Psalm. And while good Christians
will certainly debate the ways that our society can address these concerns,
there should be no disagreement about their priority to God.
When
our Lord, Jesus, taught us to pray, one of the petitions he gave us was
“Thy
will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
To
be clear, this is not a petition that asks if God’s will will be done. It is a prayer that asks that God’s will be
done on earth…here among us, and even further, by us. When we pray that line in The Lord’s Prayer,
we are asking God to let us be active participants in God’s will being done on
earth.
So
then, when you enter the voting booth, vote for the candidate who you believe is best
aligned with God’s will.
Justice
for the oppressed — candidate who stands for equity and opportunity for those
who have been mistreated, shoved aside, or ignored.
Food
to the hungry — candidate who stands for access to necessary resources, in
developing countries, and for Americans who are poor.
Freedom
for prisoners — candidate who stands for both spiritual liberation while
incarcerated and work opportunities once released.
Opening
the eyes of the blind — candidate who stands for not only physical healing, but
is willing to open his own eyes and the eyes of Americans to new visions of a
better future for America.
These
are part of God’s will,
and they under-gird what the Psalm tells us about God: “The Lord lifts up
those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over
the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked
he brings to ruin”.
We like to think that God is fair...that God has the same concern and priority for all people equally. But, this just doesn't hold up to Scripture. The truth is, God
has a special concern or priority for the strangers, the poor, the oppressed...those who have no way to provide
for themselves. Once again, there will
always be honest disagreements about how best to fulfill God’s will, but God’s
will itself on these matters is indisputable.
Justice,
generosity, concern for others, righteousness — this is God’s will and with or
without us, it will be done. Our prayer is that we might be a part of God's will being done through us. One way that is possible is for us to vote for the candidate who is best aligned with God's will.
Number 5.
God
will reign forever
If
you are joyful on Election night, don’t
get overly elated. And if you are disappointed when the election is over, don’t get too depressed.
The next presidential campaign will begin before you know it, and the political
pendulum will begin to swing in the other direction.
As
Christians, the most important leader in our lives is God, and Psalm 146
reminds us that “the Lord will reign
forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!” With God's grace, we are joined to a community of faithful people who are
linked together across the generations. The church has seen countless political
victories and defeats, as well as numerous times of national celebration and
heartache. Election days may be divisive and difficult, but they do not prevent
us from looking up to God together, and taking the long view of human history.
There
is nothing that can happen on Election Day that should shift our focus away
from giving thanks and praise to the God who has created us, redeemed us, and sustained us
throughout the course of life.
When
we live by faith in the God who will reign forever, we can rejoice in all
circumstances, because no matter what, God will make it right in time. When
we live by faith, we take the long view of history, and we give thanks to God
in good times and in bad.
So,
remember these five promises both this election day and every day.
No matter what...
God will still be our God!
God's kingdom is eternal!
God will continue to bless us.
God's will will be done.
God will reign forever.
Amen.
