15th Sunday after Pentecost
As I was approaching this week’s sermon, it was one of those weeks where I took stock of what’s going on in the world around me. I read through the lessons for today: Amos 8:4-7, Psalm 113, 1 Timothy 2:1-7, Luke 6:1-13… I did all that, and I finished reading the lesson from Luke and I thought to myself, “Really???” Actually, my first thought was, “What the heck??”, but phrased a bit more colorfully, shall we say…
I’m not even sure, exactly, where to begin, because I feel like it’s such a convergence of so many things all at once. The continually increasingly heated political rhetoric in this country. The growing political violence in this country. The political leaders and tv personalities who apparently take great joy in fanning the flames of malice and discord.
I’m tired of being tired. And everyone else seems to be in the same state. To paraphrase from the sermon I preached last week: Why is it that we all seem to be tired all the time?
I’d like us to cast our minds to five years ago at this time, when we were in the relatively beginning stages of the COVID 19 pandemic. It was a painful and traumatic time for all of us: a years-long collective waking nightmare. It traumatized our nation, causing a collective grief that will be felt for years, if not decades, to come.
One of the reasons we all feel so tired is because of the anger. It was a common observation I heard from many: once we were no longer actively discouraged from driving, that especially on the interstate and the various beltways, people had become much more aggressive in their driving. Those kinds of comments or discussions have lessened, but it’s not because the situation has improved at all. We’ve simply become acclimated to it as the new normal.
The levels of anger and outrage became progressively worse as the pandemic went on, and it has simply become worse over the past several years. And we’ve seen its culmination in things like the assassination of Charlie Kirk just Wednesday, a week ago, or the assassination of Minnesota representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, back in June of this year. Even before that there were the attempts on President Trump’s life. And before that, in 2022, the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of Nancy Pelosi.
I’m tired of feeling angry and outraged over every new political development. And I’d be willing to guess that the folks on the other side of the aisle from me are probably just as tired of being angered and outraged.
So how have we arrived at this point, where anger and outrage permeate so much of our culture? In March of 2020, the world was suddenly confronted by illness and death on a global scale that nobody had experienced in their lifetime. It was a traumatic event that produced high levels of anxiety and grief in all of us. That trauma and grief have remained unacknowledged and unprocessed for most of us. The thing is that grief and trauma that go unrecognized or are actively suppressed don’t stay suppressed. They will express themselves, but not in ways that are healthy or constructive. Instead, they come out sideways, in ways that are unhealthy and often destructive. One of the ways these unprocessed emotions express themselves is as anxiety and/or depression, both of which spiked to unprecedented levels during the pandemic and still have not come down to pre-pandemic levels. And I’ll give you one wild guess as to the other predominant manner by which unprocessed trauma and grief express themselves. That’s right: its anger. And it’s time for it to stop.
“1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2) How many of you remember where Luther talks about good government in the Small Catechism? It’s in his explanation of the Lord’s Prayer. The Fourth Petition: Give us today our daily bread.
What is this?
In fact, God gives daily bread without our prayer, even to all evil people, but we ask in this prayer that God cause us to recognize what our daily bread is and to receive it with thanksgiving.
What then does “daily bread” mean?
Everything included in the necessities and nourishment for our bodies, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, farm, fields, livestock, money, property, an upright spouse, upright children, upright members of the household, upright and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, decency, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.
In other words, for Martin Luther, good governance and upright and faithful rulers were as much a necessity for human existence and were as essential to our existence as food, water, shelter, and clothing. As citizens of this country; as those who voted to place people in positions of power, even if they’re not the candidates we voted for. We all have a right to expect something of them. We have the right to expect them to be upright and faithful, as Luther puts it. And if they choose to wrap themselves in the mantle of faith, we have the right to expect even more of them.
In no way am I saying that we should expect perfection of our leaders who clearly and openly identify as Christian. But by their words and actions, it should at least be apparent that they are trying. So, what do we look for. Well, let’s turn to the Bible, shall we?
In Galatians 5, Paul writes:
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become enslaved to one another. 14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
… 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these…
22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. (Galatians 5:13-15, 19-21a, 22-23)
Which of those sets of descriptors would you say apply to the words and actions of our various leaders? So much for Paul.
Why don’t we now turn to Jesus? What does Jesus have to say? In Chapter 4 of the Gospel of Luke he reads from the scroll of Isaiah: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
And in the Gospel of Matthew he says,
“[The king] will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 25:33-40)
Using both the words of Paul and the words of Jesus as our yardsticks, we look at the words and actions of our leaders to see how closely they hew to those ideals. Or at the very least, that they seem to be making an effort.
Both as citizens of this country and as followers of Jesus, we have right to expect, as Luther puts it, “upright and faithful rulers, [and] good government”. Specifically, as Christians, we make “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings … for everyone, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.” These are not unreasonable expectations. In fact, they remind me of the words of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all [people] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
To touch briefly on our Gospel lesson for today, which is instructive for us today. It seems an odd bit of a story until we realize that this is not a story about how we ought to be in the world. Jesus does not hold up the dishonest manager as a positive example. What does Jesus say at the end of the story, after all: “’ 8 And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly, for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.’” “Shrewd” is not a positive attribute, here.
In other words, the master recognizes that the manager got game. It’s a wink and a nod. It’s a recognition that they both know how to work the system to their advantage, while exploiting others. This is how the world works. It’s not how we’re supposed to be in the world.
So, when we hear our political leaders or commentators using language that demeans or denigrates members of the other party, it’s the same kind of thing. It’s working the way the world works. Out of fresh ideas that might actually make a difference? Then just demonize the other side. Start using phrases like, “they hate this country”. Or, “they want to destroy this country”. Or, “they are the enemy.” And they’ll nod and wink at one another, because to them it’s how the game is played. Even if it means a few people have to lose their lives.
But Jesus’ entire point in telling this story is that it’s not the same for us! “[The] children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” Those are not words of praise for “the children of this age”, but words of judgment.
In other words, this is a glimmer of hope! Because we are not powerless! We are not powerless because we have a choice. We can choose to nod and wink along with everyone else, because that’s how the game is played; or we can choose to be in the world in a way that emulates the way of Jesus. Both as Christians and as citizens of the United States we have the right, indeed the responsibility, to let our leaders know when we think they should be doing better. We have a voice! And we are called to use that voice not only for our own sake, but for the sake of those who have no voice, or those whose voices have been silenced.
One thing is true for every politician: once they are voted into office, whether you voted for them or not, you are their constituent. So, call them up, or write them a letter and let them know, “I am a follower of Jesus, and these are the qualities that I seek in a leader. I’m looking for someone who seeks to feed the hungry, who gives drink to the thirsty, who welcomes the stranger, clothes the naked, cares for the sick, and visits the imprisoned. I’m looking for a leader who is willing to “bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, 19 [and] to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
As those called to faith in Jesus, we expect more of ourselves. And we have the right and the responsibility to expect more of those to whom we have entrusted tremendous power. And thanks be to God for that. May God bless us as we seek to engage with our leaders in a faithful and meaningful manner, “so that [all people] may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.” AMEN