Cast Your Vote

So, here we are.

The election is over, and the winner has been declared.

Across our nation there are Americans celebrating and there are Americans mourning.

That’s the joy and pain of democracy. You get a say in who leads our country. It’s just that so does everybody else. So, you will experience either joy or pain – depending upon how everybody else used their say.

But, here’s the reality.

Donald Trump was not our Savior – and Joe Biden won’t be either.

Now, don’t hear what I’m not saying.

I’m not saying our President doesn’t matter. I’m not making light of the decision we, as a nation, made.

What I’m saying is that we’ve never had a President that wasn’t broken. We’ve never had a President without flaws. We’ve never had a President able to save our country because we’ve never had a President who didn’t need to be saved himself.

Let’s not place our hope in the election of our next President or despair at the departure of our previous President.

Regardless of who you voted for last Tuesday, you’re not done voting.

You – and I – vote every single day for the kind of nation we’ll have in how we speak and act.

We cast a vote when we tear each other down, rather than extend each other grace.

We cast a vote when we try to have the loudest voice, rather than taking time to listen.

We cast a vote when complain about our President, rather than praying for him.

As a friend of mine wisely said, “Don’t cast your responsibility with your ballot.”

Your vote mattered on Election Day. It still matters the day after Election Day. And the day after that. And the day after that.

Make Us One

Do you ever think about the last words you’ll ever say?

I think about it, every once in a while. I think about who I’d be with if I knew time was short. I think about what I’d say – what I’d want them to know.

If you knew time was short, you’d focus on what mattered most, right?

Well, that’s what Jesus did.

He knew He was going to die. He came to die.

So, He spent His last night with those closest to Him. Wouldn’t you love to know what He said?

Fortunately, John, one of only twelve who were present, recorded it for us. He preserved the last prayer Jesus prayed with and for His followers.

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one…

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:11, 20-23, NIV)

Jesus used His last night to talk about unity.

That may be more significant – and more relevant – than we realize.

See, Israel was under Roman occupation. They weren’t a free people. Matthew – one of Jesus’ followers – was a tax collector for Rome. He was literally employed by their oppressors. Simon – another of Jesus’ followers – was a member of a group that resisted Rome. He literally killed their oppressors.

And Jesus says to them, “I want you to be one. I want you to be united. Yes, you disagree on the best political course but because you follow Me, you’re a part of something much, much bigger than your current government. You are citizens of a different Kingdom. And that is what unites you.”

Friends, I don’t know where you stand politically. Unless you happen to be particularly close to me, you don’t know where I stand.

But if you follow Jesus, you and I are a part of the same Kingdom.

We may vote differently tomorrow.

But let’s be one.

Let’s be united in our love for one another.

Let’s not tear one another down – in person or on social media. Let’s not make snap judgments about anyone’s character based on how they decided to vote. Let’s stop setting up caricatures and start seeing individuals. Let’s have conversations – loving and gracious conversations – about our differences.

But let’s be one.

And, whoever wins, let’s commit to praying for our president.

Let’s commit to praying for wisdom and discernment.

Let’s commit to praying for compassion and grace.

Let’s commit to praying for decisiveness and strength.