Thought for Today
Genesis 15:6 And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. . . 17:2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous."
1 Kings 19:12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
Luke 19:5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today."
Acts 9:4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
In case you missed the memo, we are presently engulfed in an election year political campaign season. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements for one candidate or another in races for various elected offices. All of us are faced with (at least) 2 questions: whom to believe; and, how can my 1 vote make any difference among the 161+ million registered voters in the U.S.A.? Why should I even bother to vote? And, if I do vote, whom am I to believe, because they cannot all be correct.
When Greta and I were in high school in Texas, all students were required to take a class known as Civics. We studied our system of government, our election process and our court structures. It was firmly inculcated in our minds that we have a civic duty, as citizens of our country, to vote and to vote wisely.
As a Christian, I know that Jesus phrased it a tad differently, "Matthew 22:21 Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." Christians have a duty to actively participate in the civic affairs of the nations in which we live. It is part of who we are called to be. It only becomes an issue when the 2 are in conflict. German Christians in the 1930s and following were faced with just such a conflict. The civic government encroached on the ‘things that are God’s.’ A part of our duty to God is to examine all of the issues which confront us in our civic lives and in our spiritual lives and to make that evaluation of which belong to government and which belong to God. We must also constantly remind ourselves that others who share our faith may well evaluate the same issues and come to conclusions different from our own. When that occurs, we need to remind ourselves of Jesus’ answer to the question of which commandments are greatest, second only to the commandment to love God we are commanded “Mark 12:31 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Jesus did not limit our love only to those with whom we agree!
As to that question of making a difference, it is easy in our crowded, hustle-bustle world today to feel all alone even in a crowd. Feelings of isolation and helplessness are common in our modern societies. Many of us have asked ourselves, “How can I possibly make any difference?” Whether it is a question of our vote being subsumed and lost in the millions of votes cast, or questions of the larger, global crises our world faces today, it is easy to just give up and refuse to even try.
The Bible is replete with stories of individuals who did try and who did make a difference. Abram believed in God, was reckoned as being a righteous person and received the covenantal promise of God. The prophet Elijah lived in a time of apostacy, in a nation ruled by Ahab and Jezebel. The worship of the false god Baal was common. Elijah singly battled against the prophets of Baal and triumphed. Ultimately, Elijah found God in the sheer silence of God’s Creation and lived to continue his faithful worship of God.
Zacchaeus and Saul made a difference. Individuals who had personal epiphanies, encounters with the Son of God. A tax collector and a persecutor of Followers of the Way each became significant figures in the explosive growth of Christianity. Few of us would be part of the Christendom of today without the conversions and efforts of those 2 individuals . . . and countless other individuals for the past 2000+ years. Individual men and women whose lives of faith made a difference in the world around them.
Christians are never alone, never forgotten, always assured by the promise of Jesus, “Matthew 28:20 And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Stay safe, be emboldened in your faith, trust God,
Pastor Ray