By Father Casey
This is why we’ve been talking about salt and light for months. This is why we’ve been considering who we’re called to be, and what is actually ours to do as followers of Christ. This is why we’ve been wrestling with how to be courageous reconcilers in a divided world.
Because we knew that November 6 would one day come, and the election would be behind us, and we would have work to do. Whoever was elected, however we would feel about it, we would have work to do. We would have responsibilities and opportunities as friends and followers of Jesus to shine the God-colors and highlight the God-flavors around us. The merciful and loving Kingdom of God would need servants, and Jesus would be looking at us.
Staying faithful to Christ’s way is not a strategy for success. Being a follower of Jesus isn’t a technique for winning. It’s about manifesting greatness through service. It’s about moving to the bottom, rather than pushing our way to the top. It’s about relinquishing power, rather than grabbing for more. Our Lord took up a cross, not a crown, and defeated his enemies with mercy and forgiveness, not swords and spears. Being a Christian, then, is a descent into love, rather than an ascent into glory.
We can be fooled into thinking that if our preferred candidate wins, everything is now okay, and if our preferred candidate loses, everything is now terrible. But the Kingdom doesn’t come through elections, and the arrival of God’s reign doesn’t depend on who occupies the White House. I can’t help but remember what William Temple once said, who was Archbishop of Canterbury during World War Two: “If we choose wisely, God reigns. If we fail to choose wisely, God reigns.” I’m not saying that elections don’t matter, but rather that God operates on a much larger scale than we do, and our primary purpose as God’s people remains the same no matter what: love one another as Christ loves us.
So, I hope you’ll keep praying every bit as intensely today as when you cast your ballot or watched the results. I hope you’ll not assume that all is lost, nor that all is now okay. I hope you’ll find the strength to keep pouring your energy into the good and true and beautiful reign of God, regardless of how you feel about the election outcome. Because there is lots of work to do, and Jesus is looking at us.
In that spirit, I share this prayer, which I wrote this week:
Lord Jesus,
send your Holy Spirit to rest in our hearts,
touch us with peace
and calm our souls.
You said that following you is about taking up a cross,
that it involves sacrifice,
that it isn’t about having it easy, or comfortable,
and it’s not about winning.
You said that to be great is to be a servant,
and the greatest of all is the one who serves all.
Truth is, we’d really rather win.
We’d rather be the greatest because we are the victor.
So we need your grace to learn your big holy lesson.
We need your help to set down the ways of the world
and accept the ways of the kingdom.
Because the world needs you more than ever.
Not the idea of you.
Not your name slapped on t-shirts and hats and bumper stickers.
Not a slogan of you that people can use however they want.
But the actual you.
The one who wages peace without violence.
The one who feeds the hungry and lifts up the lowly.
The one who sees outcasts and cares for them.
The one who wielded a cross instead of a weapon.
The one whose arms will forever be spread wide in love.
The world needs that.
So help us be more like you.
Help us be brave.
Help us be kind.
Help us be just.
Help us be truthful.
Help us be patient.
Help us be hopeful.
Help us be loving.
Help us be more like you.
So it will become more on earth as it is in heaven,
starting in us.
Amen.