Politics has become a “bad” word these days. I get that, when we talk about politics, it always touches on something that we really don’t want to deal with or that makes us angry or sad. This is especially true when we think of religion and politics together.
At family gatherings, the rule is we don’t talk politics and religion. The idea is we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or make anyone mad. I know that is a big deal at Christmas and Thanksgiving. We would rather argue about which pro football team is the best. We would rather gossip about the family member or members who are not there that year. Let’s think about that for a minute: we don’t want to argue about political or religious ideas but we are willing to put down our own family members?
I write to express my heart and to, maybe, touch on some things about the living God that we are all thinking. It is important to me that I write what is in my heart. Today, what is in my heart is that I (and every Christian) is called to be political. We are called to stand for those who cannot stand for themselves. We are called by Christ to stand against oppression, against discrimination, and against wrong. It does not matter who does it, that is the call to each of us.
Why don’t we speak about the “unspeakable” when we are together with family? It is painful to recognize that there are things in the world that make us sad, angry, and/or emotional. Isn’t that what we are supposed to be? Isn’t that what makes us alive? The theologian John Howard Yoder wrote a book called the Politics of Jesus. And, Jesus most certainly was political. He stood for us all against the organized church of his day, that had gone astray with rules instead of preaching about love. And they killed him for it!
This Christian life is not always or even often easy. We are called to serve the “least of these his brothers and sisters”. That is political in and of itself when we live in a society that marginalizes anyone who is seen as unworthy of assistance. We help those we call the “deserving poor”. Those are people who we see as trying to do or be better. They aren’t lazy or looking for a handout. When are we going to see that Jesus came for those who aren’t trying, to those who don’t get better, those who want a handout? That describes each of us.
The harsh truth is none of us deserve grace. None of us deserve to be loved by the Creator of all. None of us is good enough and we all want a handout. We want God to be convenient to us, to be there every time we pray. And God is there, every time we pray and every time we don’t. And yet, we cannot be there for those who ask for help because we don’t want to be political? We don’t want to ruffle some feathers? Dear ones, we are called to do just that, ruffle feathers, even the feathers of those we call family or friend.
TMM