Civic Engagement is More Than One Day

When it comes to doing chores at home, there are few things that annoy me quite like dirty dishes. On good mornings, the kitchen is clean by the time I leave for work so that I can easily come home and cook dinner. On truly bad days, every dish is in the sink, the dishwasher is full, but nothing is cleaned.  I feel most accomplished when I can cook dinner and, whilst cooking dinner, clean the dishes that I used for cooking so that I have a finished dinner and a clean kitchen at the same time.  I feel most discouraged when I have to clean the entire kitchen just to cook dinner and then by the end of dinner, the kitchen is a mess again.  It amazes me just how much time I spend every week cleaning and putting away dishes just for them to reappear in a matter of minutes the next day.  I dream about being able to do the dishes, put them away, and never have to do the dishes again!  Alas, unless I either hire someone to do them for me or eat takeout on entirely on disposable dishware, I will be doing the dishes for the foreseeable future.

Today is Election Day.  If you haven’t voted already, go to your polling location and vote!  They are open until 8 p.m.  There is still time!  While today is no doubt an important day that will decide what direction our country takes for the foreseeable future, I wonder if we put too much importance on this one day, and not enough on the other 1,460-ish days until the next Presidential Election.  I wonder if civic engagement in politics should be more like doing the dishes: a frequent task if we want to live in a clean, organized world (even if it is annoying to do).

Therefore, if we want to make the Kingdom of God a reality in our midst as our faith instructs us to do, we must work toward that goal more than one day every four years - and so, we mustn’t put all of our hopes and fears into the outcome of this election.  Never mind if our preferred candidate wins or loses, we must continue working towards a greater goal.  Like doing our dishes, I wish we could do it once and then sit back and enjoy the results.  However, if we do that, we are signing away all of our collective power and voices to those we elect rather than choosing them to represent our voices at a higher level.

So, know that our calling as the People of God is to be active and engaged with this world. No matter the outcome of the election, we will still have work to do.  What kind of work we are called to do might change, but the need for us to stay active and engaged with our community will not.

I hope you all have gone out and voted.  I also hope that you all are not overcome by worry and fear.  God will remain with us and God’s call to engage with our community will remain.

Blessings,
Pastor Chris