O God of love, thank you for electing us in grace. Amen.
Look, the last thing I want to think about is the election. It was a stressful and vicious season in which our divisions were amplified and billions of dollars were spent on commercials and flyers when we have too many people without food and shelter. And yet, the election is what is on many of our minds. As a preacher, I have three options. The first is that I could stick my head in the sand and focus only on a Biblical text. Essentially, I could preach a sermon that works today just as well as it would three years from now. Some would agree with that approach because they want a preacher and not a pundit in the pulpit. Others would see that approach as cowardly and would say that if the Church cannot speak to the realities of the world then we’re just wasting our time.
The second approach would be to only talk about the election and use this as a sermon to either celebrate that God’s will is being done through the election of Donald Trump or to lament that this is yet another example of the brokenness of humanity and our proclivity to sinful decisions. Depending on how you voted, you’d probably either really appreciate that sermon or send me an angry email this afternoon and never come to St. Luke’s again.
To be clear – I will not be taking either approach. As people who follow and worship the Incarnate Son of God, ignoring the world around us is not a faithful response. Likewise, to only focus on the results of the election would be to ignore the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that won’t cut it either. If I wanted you to know what I think about politics, I would have gone into journalism, not ministry.
The fact of the matter is that history is full of effective leaders and poor ones. As Psalm 20 proclaims, “Some put their trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will call upon the Name of the LORD our God.” Kamala Harris is a broken sinner. Donald Trump is a broken sinner. I am a broken sinner. You are a broken sinner. Our hope is found in God’s mercy, not our ability. Our salvation comes through God’s perfect love made flesh in Jesus, not our plans or policies. Who our elected officials are has no bearing on the fact that God has chosen us in love and that are commissioned as ambassadors of God’s love to a broken and sinful world. The theological word for this idea is “election.”
This is a sermon about the doctrine of election, not the election held in the United States. There will, of course, be some overlap between the two and it is the direction that matters. The doctrine of election should influence how we understand the world around us. What is happening in the news does not change what we think God is about. This is the third option that a preacher has – to first and foremost, preach the Gospel, but to take seriously the context in which we find ourselves.
In some ways, it’s the most challenging of the options because it risks some thinking the preacher is saying too much while others think the preacher isn’t saying enough. Anytime we dare to speak, we risk being misunderstood. I know several of you have held me in prayer this week and I have earnestly been praying for my colleagues in ministry who are stepping into pulpits this morning with fear and trembling. My aim today is what it is every Sunday – to ground us in the love of God. If that is what you hear and receive, thanks be to God. If you hear or receive something else, may God grant us mercy and peace.
It is the reading from Hebrews this morning that got me thinking about election. We heard, “Christ entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.” For us and for our salvation, Jesus was chosen by God the Father to be the Lamb of God who takes away the Sin of the world and Jesus himself elected to walk the way of love, even when it led to the Cross. Election always starts here – that God has chosen to be for us and with us. God exists in perfect freedom. God is not bound by any sense of duty, obligation, or law. God did not have to create, God did not have to speak to us, God did not have to come among us in Jesus, God did not have to redeem us. But God elected to do all of these things because God is love.
The doctrine of election begins with God’s “yes” to being God for us. Despite the fact that we are broken sinners who inevitably make mistakes, who are limited creatures, who are ignorant about most things, God has chosen us. It’s the message of Grace – there is nothing that we did to earn God’s love. We did nothing to have God elect us. We don’t have to campaign for God’s love. God elected to love us before we were born. God continues to elect us despite our imperfections as evidenced by the fact that we are still here. And God has promised to always hold us in God’s infinite belovedness.
That’s what we heard in Hebrews “But as it is, Christ has appeared one for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.” The book of Hebrews is a fairly technical letter that is focused on the sacrificial system of Judaism. It would take a lot more time to dive into all of this – but in his own words, Jesus spoke about this as well. In a passage we often hear at funerals, Jesus says, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places… And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” It’s the same point as Hebrews, but maybe a bit easier to understand. The point is that Jesus has chosen to endure the Cross, plowing a way through Sin and Death so that we could have no doubts that we are elected and loved by God.
In these days after an election, the point is God’s election of us matters far more than who we, in our fickle and limited nature, elect. Because no election, no ballot referendum, no person can ever change the fact that you are God’s beloved who has been elected in love. In the opening of Ephesians, we read that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. No human election changes the mind of God. No matter what anyone says, in the words of St. Paul, “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Never forget that and cling onto God’s love that never fails. That love is true of each of us – those we agree with and those we disagree with.
We know it from the marriage liturgy – “Those whom God has joined together let no one put asunder.” God has elected us in love and we will never be put asunder because the love that God has chosen us with is stronger than anything else. Regardless of how you feel about the results of the political election, hang onto this belovedness. This election cycle was tough on us all and we need to be softened and supported in love.
The other aspect of the theological doctrine of election is that we have been elected for a purpose. God has chosen to say “yes” to us, and God has also chosen us for a purpose and given us a mission. And that purpose, not surprisingly, is love. God has elected us and commissioned us to be witnesses to God’s reconciling love that is making all things well.
Beloved, we have a lot of work to do. And we would have no more or less work if different political candidates had received more votes. The Great Commission has been the purpose for which the Church has been elected for 2,000 years. Jesus elects us to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” In other words, bring people into the gracious and saving story that God has chosen them in love. Remind people that despite their imperfections, despite their flaws, despite their doubts they are the beloved children of God, cherished for who they are not what they do, worthy of dignity and respect regardless of where they come from, what kind of work they do, or what their family looks like.
We have are elected to walk the way of love which is encapsulated in the Great Commandment. As Jesus put it, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and prophets.” We cannot ignore the fact that the winning Presidential campaign was filled with blatant lies, racist scapegoating, violent rhetoric, and hate-filled bullying. Such speech has been elected by us to be acceptable, and so we have much work to do to repair what has been broken.
Regardless of who we voted for, we all have a role to play in responding as people of faith. We have chosen a President, and now we must choose how we will love one another. How we speak about people we disagree with matters, particularly in our homes and around children. I recently heard someone say that if you want to know about someone, you need to learn about what they love; and if you want to love someone, you need to learn about what they’ve lost. If we are going to love one another as Jesus tells us to, we need to know one another more deeply. We must move past our assumptions and generalizations.
And we must be clear about what sort of speech we are willing to tolerate. We know from Genesis that God created the world through speech, by saying “Let there be.” Likewise, our opinions, our minds, our churches, our households, our institutions, and our country is built by speech. As is said, “What we permit, we promote. What we condone, we own.” The campaign is over, but it remains our sacred and elected vocation to love in thought, word, and deed.
The ritual enactment of our election is Baptism – it is a sacramental sign of God choosing us in love. The Baptismal Covenant tells us not only that we are chosen by Grace, but also what God has elected us to be about in this world. The Baptismal Covenant begins with an affirmation that we believe in God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We are then told that God has elected us to continue in fellowship and prayers; that we are to persevere in resisting evil and repenting when we fall into sin; that we are to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ; that we are to seek and serve Christ in all persons; and that we are to strive for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of all. So many people are trying to figure out what their mission statements are; what their purpose in life is. But God has graciously elected us and given us this holy and life-giving mission.
Regardless of the political election, we have a mission to participate in. There are immigrant families who are terrified of what will happen to them – they need our love and support. There are people who are out of work and financially unstable – they also need love and support. There are children who need to be read to; there are people being released from prison who need a fresh start and a second chance; there are elderly people who need to be visited and reminded that they are not forgotten; there remains too much racism, poverty, and consumerism in our society. God has elected that the Church to be the means by which the kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven.
So where does this leave us? Let’s take a collective breath. Last month, I attended a workshop that was about teaching how to better move our bodies. The premise is that just as sometimes a computer needs to be reset to work properly, our bodies sometimes need a reset. The way this begins is by breathing in the way that our bodies are designed to breathe. It’s been a stressful and emotional past few months. So work on breathing – before we respond or make plans, we need to catch our breath. Another word in Scripture for “breath” is “Spirit,” so as we are thinking about breath, we are also praying for the Holy Spirit to fill us, comfort us, heals us, and strengthen us.
We then remember that God has chosen us in love and that can never be taken away from us or lost. Because when we know that, at our core, we have been chosen and loved, we have the confidence and strength to do the work of love that we have been elected to do, trusting that we are never alone and or without hope. We have been elected for the means of grace and the hope of glory. Come, Holy Spirit, and make good your claim on us. Amen.
