Pastoral Counsel for election day

My pastoral advice for election day remains the same as always: "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)

No matter what happens, Jesus lives and reigns over all things for the good of his Church.  That is true when God's people get to enjoy prosperity and when God's people bear a cross of suffering.  Prosperity can be a temptation as much as it is a blessing.  Suffering, although painful, can be a blessing as it purges God's people of idols that they cling to and refines their faith.

No matter what happens tomorrow, the foundation of our faith remains solid and unmoved.

A Pastoral Concern -- regarding the election

As we head into the more heated part of the election season, only about a month away from the date for US elections, I offer my counsel.  It is the same as it ever was and ever will be: "Do not trust in human helpers, in a mortal man who cannot save you.  His spirit departs.  He returns to the ground he came from.  On that day, his plans have perished." (Psalm 146:3-4)

While the election of our president, congressional representatives, and other offices is important and we rightly give prayerful consideration for whomever we cast our vote, we also ought to recognize that Jesus lives and reigns over all things.  When we pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," we mean our Lord's will.  Martin Luther, in his explanation of the 3rd Petition of the Lord's Prayer, wrote: "God's good and gracious will is certainly done without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also."  

Will the politician you vote for do the will of God?  Who knows?  Will God work out all things for the good of his people?  Yes.  He promises exactly that (Romans 8:28).  That will happen either in conjunction with an elected official or despite him.  It will happen as the policies enacted by our government benefit Christians or put a heavier cross on them.  We don't know what an elected official will finally do; we do know what our God will do.  Therefore, we are right to trust in that.  And if the world should burn and perish because of what an elected official chooses to do, the kingdom of God will still be secure and God's people in it will never perish.  They may die, but they will not perish.  For those who dwell in the kingdom of God have eternal life.  And so our prayer remains that, as God's will is done on earth, it will be done among us.  In other words, no matter what happens, we pray that we remain faithful as God's people.

Unless you don't care at all what happens in the election for our president, you are probably strongly devoted to one candidate or another.  You may even believe that the candidate you do not support is evil and that those who support him are warped, if not evil themselves.  Such is the political climate of our country.  Those who support a different candidate are not just people we disagree with; they are our enemies.  This societal attitude affects us in the Church, too.  We look at each other in terms of "us" and "them."  And while we may lament that it is sad that such divisions exist, we usually assume that "they" are the ones with the problem.  That itself is a problem.

So, what does the pastor say about all this?  What will he say to people who disagree with him?  Here it is.

Are you supporting Biden or Trump?  I will tell you about Jesus.

Are you a staunch Republican or Democrat?  I will tell you about the kingdom of God.

Do you want to see the state turn Red or Blue?  I will talk about God who loves the world in this way--he gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  

Do you lean Left or Right?  I will tell you about the paths of righteousness where our Lord leads us for his name's sake.

Do you prefer socialized medicine to cover all people or do you prefer privatized health care?  I will tell you about the blood of Christ which purifies you of all sin and of heavenly glory where our bodies will be immortal and incorruptible.  

"Do not trust in human helpers, in a mortal man who cannot save you.  His spirit departs.  He returns to the ground he came from.  On that day, his plans have perished." (Psalm 146:3-4)  If you put your trust in elected officials and in their plans, you will perish with them.  The Christian hope is focused elsewhere: "My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth." (Psalm 121:2)  

If you are putting your hope on "the right man" becoming president, then perhaps the Lord is doing you a favor having "the wrong guy" win.  This will force you to pray more and pay greater attention to God's promises.  That is, after all, the will of God being done among us.

The world and its glory is passing away.  The kingdom of God endures forever.  The plans of man will come to nothing.  The word of our God and his mercies endure forever.  This is the message and the focus of the Christian Church.  Whoever longs for a perfect and permanent kingdom will flee to the Church for the word which endures and for the sacraments which strengthen faith and give eternal life.  This is all that matters, no matter who wins what election.

A Pastoral Concern about Legalized Marijuana

This November 6, there is an issue on the ballot for legalizing recreational use of marijuana.  Full disclosure: I will be voting against it.  I am aware of the various arguments to legalize it, but I remain unconvinced.  Tax revenues should hardly be the trump card in this--unless money is the greatest good.  It is not.  I do not believe that the recreational use of a drug which serves the sole purpose of getting people intoxicated from the first hit is beneficial to society as a whole.  In fact, I think it will prove to be destructive, as it has been shown to be in Colorado.  But I guess if everyone is stoned, no one will care too badly.  (Okay, that was snarky.)  Nonetheless, I believe that Prop 1 is going to pass by a wide margin.  In fact, some are banking on it, already announcing plans to get people all the weed they can handle.  See here, and here, and here.

So, where does the Church stand on this?  How will our message change?

It won't.  God's word does not change, so why should our counsel change?  

Now, it is true that the Bible nowhere uses the word "marijuana."  There are a whole assortment of drugs which go unnamed in the Scriptures.  This is not a proof of God acceptance of marijuana, any more than God is okee-dokee with randomly mowing people down with an AK-47 since AK-47's are not specifically condemned by name in the Bible either.

So, what does the Bible say?  I refer you to the following passages.

Who has woe? Who has sorrow?  Who has strife? Who has complaining?  Who has wounds without cause?  Who has redness of eyes?  Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine.Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat....Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.  In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.  Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things.  You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast.  "They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it.  When shall I awake?  I must have another drink.” (Proverbs 23:20,29-35)

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. (Romans 13:13)

For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. (1 Peter 4:3)

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.  I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

I suppose I could hunt down more verses, but if four do not suffice, I doubt even forty would be enough.  

The point in these verses is that God forbids and condemns drunkenness, inebriation, intoxication, or any other similar term.  Anyone who contends that drunkenness is an alcohol issue and not a marijuana issue is working too hard to avoid what Scripture plainly teaches.  Regardless of what substance gets you drunk, high, intoxicated, inebriated, et al., God forbids and condemns such drunkenness.  (NOTE: Some drugs are used for medicinal purposes.  They are not taken for the sole purpose of getting high, although that sometimes is the result.  Still, even these can sometimes become addictive and can destroy people, too.  And if your goal in taking Nyquil is just to get drunk off of it, God condemns your use of Nyquil.)

If Proposition 1 is voted upon favorably by voters and recreational use of marijuana becomes legal in Michigan (which I think will happen), that does not mean God suddenly gives the thumbs up to getting high.  Just because something is legal does not mean it is good or moral.  Abortion is also legal.  Abortion is evil since it is the murder of a child in its mother's womb.  Even though smoking marijuana will likely become legal, it does not mean Christians have to join in or change our testimony.  The verses above still stand, even if the voters reject them.

More and more, the unbelieving world is acting like unbelievers, and the Church more and more looks different than the world it is in.  That's okay.  Jesus said it would be that way.  Jesus has not called us to blend in or to play along with the world.  Our task is to be faithful to the word of God, even when the world votes against it.

When people end up discovering that their high, their buzz, their daze, or their addiction does not give them the peace or relief they have longed for, the Church will still be here to point them to the peace which surpasses all understanding--namely, that Jesus Christ loves sinners and redeems them.  Guilt, shame, doubts, and fears are not taken away by drunkenness.  Only Jesus' promises can do that.  His word endures forever, no matter what the world votes on.