God's Election of YOU

Across our country, the upcoming national election is a hot topic of conversation. But is devoting considerable time and attention to a national election or any state, national, or international issue what God has elected—that is, chosen as His child— you for?

              Over the years, my study of the Bible has led me to be more and more convinced that for average citizens of this great land (like us), focusing much attention on issues at a national level might not be the best use of our time because it distracts us from local issues in our families, communities, and churches—places where we have much more direct influence and can actually make tangible contributions beyond casting votes and writing letters. It is quite easy—and often enjoyable—to catapult ourselves into a national debate over some issue, as if we have a real say in how it turns out; but it is difficult and challenging to remain grounded in local issues among family, friends, and local churchgoers that we have far more responsibility for. Put another way, the question is: should Christians to be more involved with the trees around them or with trying to see the whole forest?

Redeeming the Time

 A wise pastor once told me, “Whenever you have free time from finishing up some task early, redeem that time.” He was paraphrasing the King James Version of Ephesians 5:15-16, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” To redeem something means to buy it back and make good use of it, so the same passage is translated in the English Standard Version, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”

 St. Paul would have us carefully examine how we walk; our “walk” is all our conduct before God and men. He offers the helpful reminder that “the days are evil.” The days of this fallen, sinful world will never be made truly good by any amount of human effort. “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18), and by extension, nothing can be truly good unless God makes it so. As Christians, we always “are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13), so our hopes for improvement of this old earth must be modest and realistic. Such a view leads us to realize that there is only one Messiah—Jesus—and the virtues and potential of any political candidate cannot be escalated to messianic proportions, as so often the advertisements would suggest.

 St. Paul would have Christians make “the best use of the time.” In our leisure-focused culture, this biblical ethic of “redeeming the time” has receded into the background of many Christians’ minds as they have embraced the notion that free time is “time to burn” or “time to kill,” so they look for anything that “passes the time” and palliates their boredom. So as we “look carefully how we walk” and examine our own lives, a critical question is: “How do we make the best use of the time?”

 Concentric Circles of Duty

 We Lutherans have a unique way of evaluating how we are to use our time; namely, by understanding the Christian doctrine of vocation, or “calling.” This is a broader concept than, say, what you might gain from going to vocational school. Each Christian has many vocations, or “hats to wear,” so to speak; therefore, our callings are determined by our station in life—where we are right now. Some vocations apply to all Christians, such as the calling to go to church every week and pray regularly. But otherwise, vocations will vary greatly. If you are a young child, your vocation is mostly obeying your parents and teachers. If you are a college student, it is going to class, studying, and working a part time job. For others, determining vocation is a bit more flexible, especially if you are retired. Yet you still have the vocations of spouse, parent, grandparent, friend, neighbor, citizen, church member, etc.

 We also are always to keep in proper perspective which things are properly vocations and which are avocations—hobbies—and not let avocations hinder the fulfillment of our vocations. Weekly days off and vacation time, with down time for relaxation of mind and body, are basic needs for most of us to function properly—but their function is to keep us mentally and physically healthy so that we can return to our vocations.

 In all of our vocations, we are to follow this teaching: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). Based on the greatest commandments, our first vocation is to fear, love, and trust in God, hear His Word regularly and respond with prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and worship; and secondly, to orient all our other energies to serving others. And in our labors before God and for the neighbor, we are to live this way: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). The Scriptures universally condemn laziness, gluttony, drunkenness, and anything that would hinder our ability to serve one another.

 But who is my neighbor? It is true that, according to the stringent demands of God’s Law, we have an absolute obligation to everyone we come in contact with. This reminds us that we cannot fulfill our duties and vocations without sinning but always must rely on the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. The Rite of Individual Confession and Absolution has us confess, “There are those whom I have hurt, and others that I have failed to help.” This is true every day of our lives, and reminds us of why we live under grace, by the Gospel, and our conscience will never be at rest under the Law.

 Yet practically, it is impossible to serve everyone at the same time, so the question, “Who is my neighbor?” has to have an immediate, concrete answer that results in particular duties. This is where a proper understanding of vocation helps narrow down your focus to what I call “concentric circles of duty.” Place yourself in the middle of the inner circle, and from there draw circles outward. Who are those to whom you have the highest duty? Put them in the inner circle around you. Obviously the spouse and children the Lord has given you come to mind first. Also, the Fourth Commandment duty to honor parents never expires. St. Paul reminds us that “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).

 In the inner circle you certainly also will find your family in Christ, the Church, as a special group to whom you owe love and concern. St. Peter wrote, “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood” (1 Peter 2:17); “the brotherhood” is the Christian congregation. St. Paul says that “as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10), namely, the Church. So we have a particular duty to love and honor our brothers and sisters in Christ.

 You also find in your inner circle your vocation as a worker—which includes your job, if you have one, and all the chores of the household. Perhaps we also would include our friends and neighbors in that inner circle of duty as well.

 But then what falls into the circles as you move outward? This is where I think things get more ambiguous, and you have to draw your own circles. I personally have a hard enough time handling the vocations of prayer and worship of God, and daily duties to my family, the church, and my work. So where does involvement with national issues like the midterm elections fall? Even if we grant that basic awareness of national and global issues are important for citizens, we still must ask whether local politics and local economic issues, which we potentially have more direct input into, take precedence. Is democratic involvement at the national level more or less important than at the state and local level? The answers depend on our station in life; where the Lord has placed us and what our abilities are. Obviously if our vocation were to serve in national office, the answer would be easy. But what about the average Christian citizen? I offer no answers, but do think they are questions worth asking ourselves as we seek to make “the best use of the time.”

Prayer, First of All

 One thing I will say with divine authority, however, is that we should pray for our leaders at all levels. “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

 Two things flow clearly out of this passage. One is that God’s top priority is to save people by bringing them to the knowledge of the Truth—Jesus—who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the only way to the Father (John 14:6). So our faith in Jesus, and the witnessing of that faith by our words and deeds, is always a primary duty.

 Furthermore, our Lord urges prayer for our leaders as a top priority—“first of all.” The fulfillment of this duty to pray for our national, state, and local leaders—whether we like the persons in office or not—is a more pressing calling than actually participating in the democratic process. Put another way, the vocation of prayer is more important than the vocation of citizenship. This is because prayer falls under the Second Commandment, by which we honor God’s name, whereas involvement in politics falls under the Fourth Commandment, obedience to parents and civil authorities. And prayer for our leaders and “for all people” certainly takes precedence over following the ups and downs of politics.

Take the Long View

 Regardless of who sits in the Oval Office, how much the stock market goes up or down, or how high your tax bill is, remember that our hope finally is not in things of this world, but in the Lord and His heaven:

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. (Psalm 118:8-9)

Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. (Psalm 146:3-4)

 We can afford to take the long view, peering past elections, economic collapses, pandemics, and healthcare debates into eternity: “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40). The ultimate vocation (calling) for the Christian will come on the Last Day, when Jesus calls us out of the graves: “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25). In the meantime, if you get discouraged, remember: “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). That is above all what God has elected you for!