After the Voting is Done

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Tuesday, November 8, 2016

I have no doubt in my mind that after today is over one political camp will be singing along with the Psalmist:

Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has done wonderful deeds.  His right hand has won a mighty victory; his holy arm has shown his saving power!

Psalm 98:1(NLT)       

If the President we elect turns out to be the candidate for whom you voted, I pray your trust was wisely-placed, and the course of our nation will be blessed.  And if it was not mine, I pray my choice will prove to have been foolish, and the course of our nation will be blessed.

And now, no matter which candidate wins or loses, and no matter if we get it wrong or right, on to more important things…after the voting is done, let’s see if we can’t get on with what the beloved Apostle John wrote:

I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning.  Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.  2 John 5-6^(NLT)

Our country has lately been acting quite third worldly in the sense that we are a hot, seed-bed of anger and terrible harshness in every way.  If art supposedly reflects the culture from which it comes, then politics is an even better mirror.  What we have seen in this political election borders on two children slinging insults on the playground. 

It would be laughable if the stakes weren’t so high.  And I’m not particularly singling-out the horrifying image of fingers on the nuclear buttons; I’m talking about the wake of these candidate-bashing sounds and images in media, destroying any vestige of what used to be at least civil discourse or debate.  Who can see the goodness of a heart when all that fills our eyes and ears is anger?

Paul told us that the only few truly lasting things would not be education, budgets, trade deals or healthcare; the truly eternal, indestructible legislations are birthed, nurtured and maintained in the human heart:

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.  1 Corinthians 13:13^(NLT)

That sounds like a landslide.

For You Today

So, if you’re reflecting on this after the voting is over, and you’re wondering what the next step is to do right by whoever was selected for the Oval Office, well, there you go!  The greatest step is to love!  Begin to exercise faith in what God has allowed.  Keep your hope vital and strong in Jesus Christ.  Love everyone God brings across your path.

Everything else is window dressing and weeds.

Everything!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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[i] Title image: By Ceridwen (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

NOT ME!

Friday, June 7, 2013

“Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him.  “Today the Lord is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.’”  So David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul’s robe.  But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe.  “TheLord knows I shouldn’t have done that to my lord the king,” he said to his men.  “The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king and attack the Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.”  So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul.

A friend shared a story on his Facebook page about The Grove United Methodist Church

which severed its relationship with the United Methodist denomination this past week at their annual meeting in the West Florida/Alabama conference.  The pastor surrendered his credentials and the church went its own way.  That’s not unusual; it happens because people have different opinions.  That is the nature of humans – we differ, and diversify!

The comment my friend (also a United Methodist minister) made on the story was Start of a trend?  Well, I think not; this is rather a continuation of a much older trend than the United Methodist Church.  For an analogy, consider Lot as having belonged to the Abraham denomination.  Not being able to stay together, there was separation.  Cain and Abel’s separation was not so amicable.  My comment posted on my friend’s wall was that at least The Grove church left with civility.  After all, not everyone’s able to be content with the connection we United Methodists still hold dear.  Some are meant to “strike-out” to blaze new independent trails.  I pray for “The Grove” that their trail leads to where God is pointing.

What of us who choose to stay with the old UMC ship?  I can only speak for myself.  I’m like young David.  After more than 20 years serving in another denomination, I was tired, emotionally and spiritually from the struggle of that group’s typical church politics, which (in the places where I served) always included open bickering and blaming.  No matter where the storm started, the pastor was usually the lightning rod that drew the volts of criticism.  Now, that’s part of the job description of a shepherd – protect the sheep, fight the wolves, and don’t ever get the two mixed up.

I came to the point of either having to lash-out at the denomination which ordained me and was my home for 27 years….or leave.  After a period of prayer, soul-searching and waiting, God opened the United Methodist door, and I gladly limped through.  What I found was a gracious, soft place to regain my ministry bearings and inner composure.

So, how is that like David?

David hadn’t done anything wrong, other than try to serve his king (Saul).  Saul repaid David’s loyalty with loathing and attack; he chased David, tried to hunt him down like a wild dog.  At one point, however, David found himself in a cave standing over a sleeping King Saul.  He could have erased his tough situation with one thrust of his sword.  Instead, David withstood the impulse.  On a much deeper level than even he understood at that moment, David knew you don’t mess with the Lord’s anointed ^{(see verse 6)}.

So, that’s where I am (was).  I found myself standing over opportunity to lash-out at my former denomination – make a great splashy-loud exit and justify Russell’s righteousness in his own mind.  God saved me from myself and allowed me to leave for a kinder, gentler place.  

Result:  Like David, my hands and heart were preserved from the kind of sin to which I’m prone.

What are you going to do with that?

Been wronged lately?

What are you standing over? 

And where will the road you choose lead you to?

May I offer “The Grove Church” as an example?  If you can’t do good where you’re standing, don’t bludgeon and bash the lightning rod as you see it…you may just be messing with the Lord’s anointed.  Rather, seek the place where God will give you opportunity – and do it with civility and grace.

Click HERE for story on The Grove