Beginning November 9, for three Sundays our worship will focus on exploring the relationship of Christianity to other faith traditions, such as Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, and Sikh, to name a few.
November 9 Why Are There Other Faiths?
November 16 Will They Be Saved?
November 23 How Do We Work Together?
Wondering why you might be early? If you forget to set your clock back an hour Saturday night for the end of Daylight Savings Time!
How Should A Christian Vote
Sunday After Pentecost, Year ~ Off Lectionary, Philippians 2:1-11
October 26, 2008 ~ Kenwood UMC
I can still remember the first presidential election I voted in. It was 1976, I was six years old and in the first grade at Crestwood Elementary School in Chesterfield County. The school had a mock election that fall when Jimmy Carter was running against Gerald Ford. Now, I cast my vote very carefully and thoughtfully. I weighed the options and I made an informed decision to vote for Gerald Ford. What decided my vote? My parents, perhaps? No. My understanding of the issues? Not hardly. My faith? Nope. What made my decision was that my best friend at the time was named Christie Ford, and so I decided that if her character was good enough to be my best friend, his character was good enough to be President of the United States.
We can’t look at this just as humorous—some of the same kind of logic is at work in politics today. And as responsible, thoughtful people we want to make a choice that matters, that is based on something. And as Christians, we also want to make a choice which is in line with our faith. But how? What are the criteria we should use?
Well, we might initially say, we can look at a candidate and if they are a Christian, we should vote for them. A candidate’s faith certainly plays an important role in politics today—we don’t have to look any farther than President Bush, or Mike Huckabee, or Mitt Romney or Hillary Clinton or Barak Obama to discover that faith has become an issue. But what kind of an issue should a candidate’s personal faith be—should that be the deciding factor in our vote?
I would argue that it should not—because the qualifications for being the President of the United States are not primarily about faith—they are about leadership, and judgment and wisdom and lots of other things, but not primarily faith. And we all know that just because a person says they are a Christian, or just because a person says they attend church, that doesn’t mean that we understand them. They might not profess the same kind of Christian values that we do. They might, for instance, think very differently about whether the communion table is open—some churches don’t invite everyone to the table. What kind of relevance does that have? Well, it has relevance for political issues which deal with hospitality, such as immigration issues.
We also can’t issue vote on things such as abortion or the death penalty, and say, well, here is the Christian perspective on these issues, so I vote with the candidate who shares that perspective. These kinds of issues are complicated, and there are faithful believers on all sides of social issues such as this. So, again, it is not as simple as saying, well, this candidate believes the “Christian” thing on this issue, so I’ll vote for him or her.
So I don’t think figuring out how to vote is as simple as saying, OK, here’s the candidate who is the best Christian, I’ll vote for them. And that’s why I think it’s not helpful for me, as your pastor, to pass some sort of judgment on candidates, and tell you who to vote for. I think we have to dig deeper.
And when we dig deeper, I think we have to look at scripture and at the values we hold as followers of Jesus, and let those values guide our decision making. And the baseline value of Jesus, as it is presented in the scripture from Philippians that we read this morning, is humility.
What exactly is humility? Humility is putting others first. Humility is realizing it isn’t all about me—or us. Humility means our motivation for something is not selfish conceit or ambition—instead our motivation for doing something is that it will make the world a better place for others. Humility, as Jesus lived it, means doing what he promised to do early in his ministry as he read the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in the temple in his hometown of Nazareth. It is recorded in the 4th chapter of Luke that Jesus promises to offer good news to the poor, pardon the prisoners, set the oppressed free, and offer sight to the blind.
Now, these are not political promises which will make one popular. When we follow in Jesus’ footsteps and look out for the interests of those who are oppressed and held captive, it is difficult to win an election. Why? Because when someone who is relatively stable asks the question, “what are you going to do for me” the honest answer is—not much. But the humble leader can help us realize that it isn’t about me—it is about us, about our world, about how we live together as brothers and sisters.
Now, let me be clear—we are not looking for a Messiah here. We’re not voting for a Messiah. But if we are Christians, when we vote, we should cast our vote for those who look out for the least, the last and the lost. When we are Christians and we vote, we don’t look only at what policies the candidates stand for that will make our lives better—we need to look at others’ lives as well. We need to embrace the humility of our Savior and look beyond ourselves. And when we do that, we will find the candidates who are better able to look beyond themselves. And that is how I believe we can most responsibly cast our vote as Christians.
On Saturday, November 8, the Kenwood community will reach out to our neighbors once more in Mission to Hanover. We have been assigned four homes to winterize, and need helping hands to get it done! We start at 8 in the morning and finish by noon. If you’re planning to help out, contact Bill McGill at bill.mcgill@comcast.net.
Kenwood’s Fall Festival, coming up on November 15 from 11-2, will raise money for ShyAnne Shane’s medical fund. ShyAnne is a fourth grade student at Elmont Elementary who has been battling cancer for almost a year. She has recently undergone an initial bone marrow transplant, and more procedures are scheduled later this fall.
The Fall Festival will include sales of barbeque by the place, homeade soup by the quart, Silent Auction of Bountiful Baskets and more, bake sale, and children’s activities. Flu Shots will also be available from IVNA for $28. For more infomation, contact the church office, 798-7444 or main@kenwoodumchurch.org.
No longer are you kids—now you’re growing, reaching and stretching. But, at Kenwood, we know it is still important to have a safe space where we can grow, reach and stretch together. That’s why there’s Higher Ground. It’s a place where you can have fun with one another, talk about how life is changing, and serve God together.
Higher Ground usually meets two Sunday evenings each month during the school year from 5:00 until 6:30 p.m. in Kenwood’s Education Building.
Higher Ground Meals
Each night Higher Ground meets, a meal will be provided by Kenwood for the low cost of $1 for children, or $2 for adults. Meals will be simple: pizza, sandwiches, mac and cheese, etc. Reservations need to be made by the Thursday prior to the meeting so that we have enough food. You may also make a standing reservation for the fall or spring months.
