11/2/08                                                                             MATTHEW 23:1-12

“HOW SHOULD WE VOTE?”

Rev. James Singleton

            “My name is Jim Singleton and I approve this message.” The good news is that in two days we will be free from political advertisements, at least for a couple of months, before the campaigns for 2012 begin gearing up. But first we must get through this election. The question that is on everyone’s mind is, of course, how should we vote? The Christian may even wonder, how would Jesus have us vote?

            Jesus never had the opportunity to vote for a leader. But nonetheless, he had strong opinions about leaders. When we take a look at what Jesus said about the leaders of his own time, we get some insights into how we should feel about our own leaders and the attitude that we need to take with us into this Tuesday’s election.

            The leaders that Jesus is dealing with in our passage of Scripture this morning are primarily the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a powerful religious and, at times, political group in Israel’s history. 

            Jesus says first of all in verse 3: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it…” Jesus begins with respect for these leaders and for the positions that they hold.

Pharisees occupied positions of authority that had a great history and so they should be shown honor and held in high esteem. It is Jesus’ belief that leaders are instruments of God and can be used by God for the good.  

            When someone asked Jesus once if it was alright to pay taxes to Caesar, he asked the person whose image was on the coin. The person replied that it was Caesar’s image. Jesus answered—give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. The point is that Jesus honored positions of leadership and respected those who sought positions of leadership.

            Contrast the attitude of Jesus with that of our own time. We live in a time when people have become very cynical of leadership. We are tired of the lies, the half-truths, and the accusations. Throw into the mix the poor leadership of both the private and public sectors that have resulted in the economic crisis we are in and you have a formula for distrust, disrespect, and skepticism toward everyone in or seeking a position of leadership.

            There’s even apathy among some who have a “what’s the use I don’t like any of them” attitude regarding the upcoming election.

            And among some of those who do care, there’s a total lack of respect for the opposing candidate. Websites are the places to make scurrilous accusations that paint the opposing candidate as un-American, un-Christian, un-ethical or un-worthy. There’s a hatred that has developed among supporters of both parties for the opposition that is vehement.

            Jesus condemns the disrespect, lies, slander and cynicism that pervade our politics. The Presidency of the United States is a position that Christians are to hold in high honor and esteem. If God used Caesar as an instrument of good and Pharaoh as an instrument of good, how much more does God use the President of the United States as an instrument of good!

There is no place for cynicism, disrespect, hatred, apathy or scorn toward our leaders or those seeking positions of leadership.

            So, you may be thinking, tell us, preacher, which one of these fine, upstanding candidates we should vote for? Who would Jesus vote for? In fact, an organization called the Alliance Defense Fund sponsored 33 pastors to do just that in defiance of the separation of church and state. These pastors took to their pulpits and told their congregations which candidate God wanted as president because that was the candidate that would bring this nation back to its Christian roots.

            What’s the problem with this? The problem can be found in what Jesus said next in that same verse 3. After he tells his followers to respect their leaders and their positions, he warns his followers against adoring and worshipping them: “but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.”

            So this is where my mother got it: “Do as I say, and not as I do.” Did anyone else get this quoted to them as children? When parents tell their children to “Do as I say and not as I do” they are acknowledging a fundamental fact of life—parents are sinful, fallible human beings.

            Fast-forward to adulthood, and the same disjunctions apply. Religious leaders don’t always practice what they preach. Teachers don’t always follow what they teach. Politicians are not always who they project themselves to be. The Christian must never confuse respect for a position with total uncritical respect for the person who holds that position. The Christian is never cynical but always critical.

It is a fundamental principle of Christianity that no human being can fully and completely do the will of God. All human beings fall short. Jesus never gives leaders blind loyalty. He never forgets that they are not God; they are not perfect role models to be emulated; they are not infallible human beings above questioning. He does not look to leaders as his spiritual guides or to parties to usher in the Kingdom of God.

            Go to the websites of John McCain and Barack Obama and you will see pictures of crowds whose faces are filled with nothing short of adulation, awe, hero worship, and reverence. You will see the candidate holding a baby as the mother cries and looking like he is giving the child his blessing. You will see slogans like, “I’m asking you to believe” and “Hope again.”  

            Promises are made that under their leadership we will have economic prosperity now and in the future, we will have health care for everyone, we will have peace for all future generations, we will have confidence again in ourselves, we will have victory and honor for Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever! Amen! One man is going to bring that about!

The Christian has a different perspective. We take sides. We vote. We respect and honor. But we don’t look for our hope, salvation, prosperity, confidence, security or well-being in any one man, not even the President of the United States. We have only one God, one Father, and one Savior of us all. So we are not surprised when our leaders cannot live up to their promises because they are human. Nor do we treat them with adulation and place undue expectations upon them because they are human.

            Remember that coin Jesus was shown with Caesar’s face on it? He said to give it to Caesar since Caesar placed so much value upon it, but he told his questioner to give to God what belonged to God. What belongs to God is our loyalty, our hope, our belief, our devotion, our trust, our lives.

            We are reminded today to keep our expectations in check and never confuse who our true leader is—Jesus the Messiah. Earthly leaders will do some good things and disappoint us in other things. They are imperfect human beings who often think too highly of themselves and whose promises far and away exceed their ability to deliver.

            Politicians win by getting placed upon a pedestal. They set themselves up as experts over our lives, but there is only One expert over our lives and it’s neither one of them. Our passage today warns us about the dangers of leadership. Whenever we put on a pedestal a fallible and sinful human being and expect that fallible and sinful human being to act infallibly and purely for our personal inspiration and advantage—we will be disappointed.

            Vote for your politician of choice, but do not confuse those who have earthly power with the One who has ultimate power. The world will not come to an end if your candidate loses—remember that God will use whoever wins as an instrument for the good. Nor will we enter into the Kingdom of God and the Promised Land if your candidate wins, because your candidate is not the Savior and will falter in doing the good perfectly.

            There is one final word Jesus gives that is important for all of us to hear. In verse 11 he says, “The greatest among you will be your servant.” There is a place and a need for individual leaders, but what makes for greatness in God’s eyes and the greatest of human power does not lie in the exalted few who promote themselves but in the humble who serve others.

In the Epilogue to Jim Wallis’ book, God’s Politics, he tells about Lisa Sullivan, a young African American woman who grew up in Washington D.C. Wallis writes:

“She was a smart kid who went to Yale and earned a PhD. With early jobs in major national foundations and nonprofit organizations, Lisa felt called back to the streets and the forgotten children of color who had won her heart. With unusual intelligence and entrepreneurial skills, she was in the process of creating a new network and infrastructure of support for the best young organizing projects up and down the East Coast. But at the age of forty, Lisa died suddenly of a rare heart ailment.

“Lisa’s legacy is continuing through countless young people whom she inspired, challenged, and mentored. But there is one thing she often said…When people would complain, as they often do, that we don’t have any leaders today…Lisa would get angry. ‘We are the ones we have been waiting for!’ she would declare.

“Lisa was a person of faith. And hers was a powerful call to leadership and responsibility and a deep affirmation of hope…It’s a call that is quite consistent with the virtue of humility because it is not about taking ourselves too seriously, but rather about taking the commission seriously. It’s a commission that can only be fulfilled by very human beings, but people who, because of faith and hope, believe that the world can be changed. And it is that very belief that changes the world. And if not us, who will believe? After all, we are the ones we have been waiting for.”

My hope for this nation does not lie in the particular leader we will select, but in the humble service of people like you. Political leaders talk about the poor, but your humble service gives $10,000 to Marian’s Closet here in Wadsworth that gives free clothing to the poor.

Politicians talk about hope, but you demonstrate hope by making sacrificial gifts to support this renovation in an economic climate that clamors for people to fear the future rather than hope in the future.

Politicians talk about caring for us and being there for us, but it is those who humbly give their time, their love, their support to those around them that truly make the difference.  

When all is said and done, we are the leaders this nation is looking for. That’s not to say that our political leaders are unimportant, but it is to say that they are not all important.

So, how should we vote? Let’s go to the polls with pride in our nation and a sense of honor that we can participate in selecting a person of integrity to sit on the seat occupied by the President of the United States. Such a position is worthy of our respect and not our cynicism.

But at the same time, we don’t vote uncritically. The person we vote for we know is not worthy of our adoration and worship. We are voting for a human being who alone cannot govern this nation and will do so imperfectly.

So where is our hope? Our hope lies in the fact that God is the true leader of this and every nation and will use our President, whoever he is, as an instrument of the good. And our hope rests also in we, the people, who realize that the greatest power on earth is not political power but humble service to others. It is that combination of God and our humble service that will bring about the real change we are looking for in that voting booth.

                                                                                                AMEN.