Dear Incarnation,
By this time next week, we will have elected the next president of our nation. In Sunday's sermon, I mentioned how easily politics can draw us away from Jesus' road to the cross. I am praying that each of us keep following Jesus over the next week as we cast our ballots and engage with those whose political opinions differ from (or align with) our own — in our families, friendships, workplaces, social media, and church.
We heard on Sunday how this election has the potential to shape the work of our outreach partner, Restoration Immigration Legal Aid, and the asylum-seekers whom they serve. I have had conversations with many of you — particularly those who work in schools, healthcare, government, and social work — about how this election might impact your work, and the understandable stress that is causing. Elections matter; candidates matter; platforms and policies and legislation all matter. Politics is yet another arena of life in which Jesus calls us to ordinary faithfulness, and it all matters. But it does not matter most. Our ultimate allegiance is not to any party, candidate, ideology, or outcome; but to the kingdom of God and the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.
At its best, our political engagement can be spiritually formative work. It can call us to deeper trust in God in all circumstances; to greater depths of enemy-love; to courageous steps of peacemaking; to growth in humility and patience; to lamenting injustice and defending the vulnerable. This is the road of discipleship.
But our political engagement can also malform us. We can forget our ultimate allegiance to Jesus. We can conform to the norms of our broken politics, rather than resisting and transforming them. We can attempt to bypass the cross in pursuit of glory. We can see our political opponents as enemies to scorn and dehumanize, rather than as people, made in God's image, whom we are called to love. We can prioritize the powerful and influential who control our politics above "the least of these" whom Jesus called us to serve.
So as you prepare to vote, I encourage you to spend some time in honest self-examination. How is your political engagement forming or malforming you as Jesus' disciple? Are your politics helping you to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself?
You may also want to consider these descriptions of how our politics work, written by Michael Wear and adapted from his book The Spirit of Our Politics (which I highly recommend). These descriptions have a way of keeping politics in its proper perspective as we weigh important matters and discern our vote:
Politics is prudential [meaning, a matter of prudence: wise decision-making in a given context]. It is what Tim Keller called an area of "practical wisdom." It rarely, if ever, allows for the direct implementation of indisputable principles, but rather has to do with an imperfect choosing between competing values and goals.
Politics is contingent [meaning, dependent upon the unique variables of a given moment/context]. The propriety of a political decision relies in part on the particular circumstances of the moment in which it is made. A wise political decision in one time and set of circumstances will likely be foolish in another.
Politics is important, but not ultimate. Politics is penultimate, which means that politics can be informed by the ultimate but is never the ultimate itself.
Politics is for advancing justice and affirming human dignity as it relates to (self-) government.
Politics is an essential forum for loving your neighbor, for willing (or intending) their good.
Much political action, especially voting, is mediated by structures and community, not simply a pure expression of one's personal desires or preferences.
If you feel uncertain how to weigh a particular political matter, I encourage you to reach out — to me, Katie, Russell, Josie, Emily, your small group, or really anyone who will join you in prayer. The work of Christian political discernment is complex, and we aren't meant to go it alone. From the dawn of the church, Christians have wrestled with how to interpret and apply the teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus to the complicated ethical/relational/cultural/economic/political matters they face. Much of the New Testament bears witness to this work of interpretation and application, always anchored in scripture, guided by the Spirit, and informed by the broader Christian community. (I've preached occasionally on the hard work of Christian ethical discernment; you can hear one such sermon here, in case it's helpful.)
So please, reach out. We won't tell you how to vote, but we will listen, consider, perhaps occasionally challenge, and always pray with you. You may also appreciate praying these election day collects from Anglican priest David O. Taylor:
A Collect for Peacemakers
O God, you who are the lover of concord, we pray that we might not become needlessly anxious over the political tempests that rage across the landscape of our country but rather trust in your sovereign care, so that we might remain a peacemaker to friend and stranger alike. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
A Collect for Poll Workers (please pray for the Incarnation folks who will be working the polls!)
O Lord, you who come to us as a servant, we pray today for all who serve as poll workers. Bless them with joy, protect them from harm, and shield them from all technological failures, so that they may fulfill the good work that you have called them to do. In your name. Amen.
A Collect for Disagreements with Family and Friends
O Lord, you who tell us to turn the other cheek, we pray that our disagreements with family, arguments with friends, and troubling encounters with strangers will bring out the best, not the worst, in us so that we might be living emblems of your gracious kingdom in a chronically and regrettably graceless time. In your name. Amen.
A Collect for the Pledge of Allegiance
O Lord, to you whom all our loyalties are due, we pledge allegiance this day to the Lamb of God and to the upside-down Kingdom for which he stands, one holy nation, under God, the Servant King and the Prince of Peace, with liberty and justice for all without remainder. In the Triune Name we pray. Amen.
Finally, we will gather on Zoom on election night (Tuesday, Nov 5) at 7pm for a time of prayer, guided by the Great Litany in our Book of Common Prayer. We held this same prayer liturgy during the last election, and it offered a peaceful and calming break from watching election returns. I'm delighted to offer it again, and I hope you'll join us. Here's the Zoom link.
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Allhallowtide
This week, we enter a three-day season called Allhallowtide: All Hallows Eve (aka Halloween, Oct 31), All Saints Day (Nov 1), and All Souls Day (Nov 2). You can read more about each of these days in this brilliant blog series by Katie Hamlin and Becky Keller (spoiler alert: Halloween is not Satan's birthday!).
This short season is an opportunity to remember and reflect on the reality of our mortality. So join us on Saturday, November 2, at 10am at Rock Creek Cemetery for a walk through the cemetery and a time to learn what Christians believe about death and resurrection. This event is open to everyone, and we've taken special care to make it kid-friendly — a wonderful counterpart to the spookiness of Halloween just a few days earlier! I'm really excited to offer this event, and so grateful to Elena Benning (a hospice nurse and new vestry member) who pitched the idea, and to Katie for translating it into a beautiful, approachable liturgy. Bring a picnic, join us at the cemetery, learn about death, and help us #keepincarnationweird. :)
And then Sunday is All Saints and baptisms! One of my favorite days of the church year. See you then.
With love,
Amy
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