The following is the short article I wrote for my parish newsletter on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, the day after the 2024 federal election.
As I sit here on Wednesday morning, I have to admit that I’m struggling to find the right words for this moment. I cannot pretend to have any magic formulas to resolve our anxiety. In many ways, last night’s election feels like an epoch event that will irrevocably change what it looks like to be faithful disciples in America. The weeks, months, and likely years ahead are going to be full of consequential decisions and divisive conflicts which our nation has no clear template for navigating. And as the landscape of our society shifts, we are going to be challenged to find new ways of fulfilling our mission to “restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 855).
Yet at the same time, the core of the work before us and the foundation of our hope have not changed in the last 48 hours. As I wrote last week, no earthly ruler can fix the world’s brokenness, nor can any despot snatch us from the hand of God. And whatever the societal landscape, we continue to proclaim the reign of that God—the same God who casts down the mighty from their thrones and lifts up the lowly; who fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty (Luke 1:52-53). We continue to pledge our allegiance to the God whose promise is neither to advance some fictional progress, nor to restore us to some mythical greatness, but to make all things new through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We continue to follow as disciples of this Christ, who teaches us that true power and true safety lie in a love that is willing to die for the other.
Even if last night had gone differently, we would still be walking this path of costly grace that we have returned to again and again in the Sunday lectionary texts and sermons. I don’t know what troubles that path will lead us through, and quite frankly that scares me, as I know it does many of you. But I take heart in the fact that we are walking this path together with one another, and with a God who promises never to abandon us. So for now, I will leave you with a section of one of the psalms we prayed last night at Evening Prayer (Psalm 138):
All the kings of the earth will praise you, O LORD, *
when they have heard the words of your mouth.
They will sing of the ways of the LORD, *
that great is the glory of the LORD.
Though the LORD be high, he cares for the lowly; *
he perceives the haughty from afar.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe; *
you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies;
your right hand shall save me.
The LORD will make good his purpose for me; *
O LORD, your love endures for ever;
do not abandon the works of your hands.