Dear CTK family,
You may be feeling a variety of things today as a result of the election. I feel many things myself. At the conclusion of a long and contentious election, I want to share a short pastoral note to help us process this result as a community and, most of all, to help us remember the Lord as our King in the days to come.
If you feel elated or relieved at the result –
Talk to God about these things and set them before him, first and foremost. Be careful not to put more of your hope in the result than it can hold. Ps. 146:3-4 says, “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.” It is not wrong to hope in this life, but this life does not last. So, in relief or elation, do not forget the only King and only hope that truly lasts and that truly sets you and others free. He is the one our hearts need most. He is the One whose kingdom we pray would come and whose will we pray would be done on earth as it is in heaven. Look to him most of all in this time. And as you look to your King, do not forget or look down on your neighbor who may feel differently. You are still called to love them as yourself and to care for and about them. Because power, in the Christian life, is meant to be used for others (Mt 20:28), not lorded over them (Mt. 20:25).
If you are discouraged, angry, or worried by the result –
Also remember Ps. 146:3-4. The ways and plans of ‘princes’ come and go, but the Lord is enthroned forever (Ps. 9:7). If, quite differently than your elated or relieved neighbor, the president-elect makes you deeply worried, remember there is a king above this ‘prince.’ And that King uses even the worst rulers as mere instruments in his hands to show what his loving, gracious and powerful kingship is like (see Rom. 9:17). Though we need to process what is in our hearts and wrestle with our concerns, we are not without hope or help in that. Rather, we have a God who gives us to withstand difficult circumstances and who makes us both know and show a resilience that is greater than the world can touch. We are a free people in Christ – we always have been, no matter the earthly kingdom – and we always will be. We can be sad, angry or worried, but while we feel that, we are still drawn into something vastly greater by our King. Remember, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17).
So whatever you feel today and in the days to come, invite the Lord to meet you in that. Talk to him about what you feel. Ask him to lead us, as the exiles and strangers we are, to the heavenly country that is our real home – even if we only see it and greet it from afar (Heb.11:13-16).
May the Lord be near us,
Pastor Travis