The following sermon was given on October 26, 2008, as our community prepared to begin the voting process the following Monday. It is also available in .doc format if you would like to download it.

Scripture Text: Isaiah 58:2-10 (TNIV, NRSV)

 

When I gave my trial sermon here almost 5 months ago, it was titled “This is not a campaign speech.”

Now, with election day right around the corner, I want to assure you that neither is this a campaign speech.

Instead, it is a call to reflection and action. A call for us to approach the voting booth with prayerful consideration.

The words of the prophet Isaiah seem incredibly relevant to our current situation.

A nation that believes itself to be doing what is right in the eyes of God, but quickly devolves into quarreling and strife, malicious talk and finger-waving.

Sounds like a lot like some of the election politics I've witnessed recently.

In this scripture the prophet criticizes the Israelites because their hope has become self-centered. Their fasting is no longer done for the glory of God, but in hope that God's blessing will come upon them because of their actions.

There's been a lot of talk about hope during this election cycle, from the very beginning. According to numerous polls and surveys, it seems that the majority of Americans aren't happy with the way things are currently headed in this country.

Continuing economic turmoil, seemingly endless wars and conflicts, rampant greed and political influence in big business and special interests.

Seizing on our dissatisfaction, numerous visions of a different tomorrow have been cast. We have been urged to hope that the next four years won't be like the last eight, no matter which candidate we vote for. To hope for change.

Yet we run the risk of falling into the same patterns as the Israelites. Their hope for for blessing depended solely on God's responses to their actions. They cry out to God “we've done what you told us, didn't you see? We've performed all the right actions, haven't you noticed?”

But the prophet scolds them for acting only in their own self-interest. They may have followed the letter of the law when it came to fasting, but their other actions revealed their true concern.

They continued to exploit and oppress those who work for them. As soon as their fasts were broken they returned to viciously attacking one another in both words and actions.

They thought that by their own efforts they could experience God's blessing, even while ignoring the injustices they perpetuated.

It's tempting for us to place our hope in smooth-talking, personable politicians. But we cannot address what ails this nation and this world by putting all of our hope in politicians and then continuing with business as usual.

Sure, we might be able to make ourselves feel good, voted for the people we hope will change things for the better. But there's more to following Christ than just feeling good.

We can't simply cast our votes, place our hope in those who have campaigned so hard for our allegiance, then sit back and wait idly by, waiting for things to change.

I'm reminded of the popular song by John Mayer, titled “waiting on the world to change.” He sings:
Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
He goes on to sing:
It's not that we don't care,
We just know that the fight ain't fair
So we keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change
As catchy as the song is, I think this speaks to the apathy our culture often has when it comes to making a difference in the world we live in. Our feeling of powerlessness when it comes to realizing real change.

Maybe that's why it's so easy to buy into the hope that these political campaigns are selling. We feel like the most we can do, the best we can hope to do, is to vote for someone who we feel will be able to make some of the changes we hope for in society.

But there is an underlying problem with such a mentality. If we are truthful with ourselves, we must realize that political solutions alone cannot overcome the disparity and injustice that are present in our community, our country, our nation, and the world.

The vision of true fasting from today's text is profound: loosing the chains of injustice, removing and breaking the yoke of oppression, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, meeting the needs of the impoverished.

It's a vision of the Kingdom of God that is continued by Jesus. In the 4th chapter of Luke Jesus quotes other words from Isaiah, announcing that he has come to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and to set the oppressed free.

I don't know about you, but I haven't heard a whole lot about fighting injustice, oppression, and poverty coming from any major presidential campaign this year. I haven't heard about how they will better support the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals. I haven't heard about how they will try and help the millions of working poor in our country, many of whose situations are worsening.

What we have heard a lot about is what's best for the middle class, we've heard a lot about how to treat large companies that make millions of dollars, and we've heard countless times why we shouldn't trust either candidate for nearly innumerable reasons.

“Are you better off than you were 4 years ago?” This question was asked by Ronald Reagan in 1980. It's a quote that's gotten some air-time again this election cycle.

Yet I think that if we are to take the words of the prophet Isaiah seriously, if we are to take the message of Jesus concerning life in God's Kingdom seriously, then we must ask a different question.

Instead of asking if we are better off, we should be asking if our neighbors are better off. Are the poor, the hungry, the homeless who live here in one of the richest nations in the world better off? Are our brothers and sisters around the globe, many of whom suffer from our nation's actions and ways of life, are they better off?

As Jim Wallis has been known to say – the Kingdom of God is not on the ballot. And he's right. I can only hope that we as Christians are able to see this clearly. We can't just cast a vote for the Kingdom of God and go on our way. That which we truly hope for, the change we most desperately need, is never as simple as choosing one candidate or another.

Politicians may promise social safety nets, lower taxes, better education, and more concern for our environment, but there are underlying issues that no amount of political posturing and government sponsored bail-outs can fix. Our healing must come from elsewhere.

There are many who claim that we are a “Christian nation.” I daresay that if we were even a remotely Christian nation we would be more troubled by war, we would cry out loudly at the injustice of poverty, we would demand that the basic needs of all people are attended to. Yet even when such issues do become part of campaign politics, once the elections are over they are rarely addressed.

Regardless of whether we think this is a Christian nation, concerns such as those put forth by today's scripture are all issues that we as followers of Jesus should bring with us to the voting booth. However, the church can't be seen as just another block of people voting along established party lines.

As Christians we are called to be a part of God's mission, to continue the work of Jesus. Our ultimate allegiance lies with Christ, not in particular candidates or parties. While our efforts at following God's call may lead us to political action, they should not lead us to support the rampant partisanship which has become so deeply ingrained in our nation's leadership.

There's been a lot of talk this election about how important it is to be bipartisan, how we must reach across the aisle and work together. But judging from the campaigns of both presidential candidates it would seem that partisan politics is alive and well, and that our country is still squarely split by the false dichotomy of "blue" democrats and "red" republicans.

Rather, we should seek the "purple" middle ground between all the partisanship. As Christians it's important for us not to allow either side to be demonized. At every turn we're pressured to write people off simply based on which party they align with, or how they feel about certain issues. But if we are taught to love our enemies and to seek reconciliation, how then should we relate with those who hold different political views than we do?

Identifying oneself a Republican or Democrat does not make a person inherently unchristian, regardless of what some rhetoric may imply. And it doesn't mean we can't overcome the divisiveness and mistrust that is thrust upon us from either side.

It's sometimes difficult for us to come to terms with the fact that there are well-meaning people, both Christian and not, on opposite sides of many issues. And while we may not always agree, what we can hope for is to not let our differences keep us from holding one another in God's love, and that together we might all work toward the common good.

With all the many special-interest groups that inundate our political system, it can be our place to give voice and support to that which we hope for, the change we believe is truly needed. To give voice to the voiceless and the powerless, the least of these in our society.

No matter which candidate and which party wins this coming election, it is up to each of us to play a part in bringing about Isaiah's vision. Despite what they may promise in their campaigns, presidents, senators, and representatives can only do so much.

Despite their campaign cries for change, the seemingly immovable bureaucracies of our U.S political establishment lie straight ahead in their paths. So while we can't place our hope for change solely in politicians and our government, we can hope and pray that God is at work in the midst of it all and we can try to be a part of the change which we desire.

Instead of waiting on the world to change with John Mayer, maybe we need to heed the words of Ghandi from his famous quote: “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” Yes, we can and should vote for those who we feel can bring about such change, but if we truly hope for change to happen, we must play an active, ongoing role. We must find where God is moving and bringing about the Kingdom, and then we must join in.

Not just for our own piety, not just for the sake of the poor and oppressed, but for God.

Then, in the words of the prophet, our light will rise in the darkness, and our night will become like noonday. In being a blessing for the world, so too will we be blessed. Not by our own self-serving ambition, not by putting our own concerns before those of others, but by participating in the true fast which God has chosen.

Making our voices, our opinions, our beliefs heard is important in the upcoming election, as it is in every election. But our hope for change shouldn't stop at the voting booth. Our response to the vision of God's Kingdom can't be limited by the fear that we alone cannot make a difference.

As we pause in the voting booth to pull the lever or touch the screen, may our votes reflect that which we believe God cares about.

May we prepare ourselves to emerge into the world ready to be the change we seek, to live out the vision put forth by Isaiah and so many other prophets, to work towards the Kingdom which Jesus proclaimed.

May our steadfast hope be placed not in imperfect choices, in politicians who will come and go, but in God who will continue working through and among us: Presidents and politicians. Democrats and republicans. Christians and non-Christians, in each and every one of us. May our hope in God surpass every human hope, both in the upcoming election and beyond.