Wake Up!

November 11, 2016

This election season has been one wild ride after another it seems, and Nathan and I have had hours of conversations throughout the past few months. We have had conversations with neighbors and classmates and even strangers in the store who know we are American and who also have a high interest in this years election. I am sad by how divided we are as Americans. How strongly and viciously people have reacted. How much hatred and polarizating rhetoric has been spewn forth for the world to hear. I am not typically a very political person, but I am an American and before that I am a Jesus follower. 

There is another way. And of course it is that Jesus is King, and as my king, I joyfully submit to him. If I am to follow him (Luke 9:23) and imitate him (Galations 5:1) , then I must be serious about it ("faith and deeds" James 2). I cannot and will not rely on a government to follow Jesus and obey Him, it's my job, it's the church's job, hallelujah. Therefore, no matter who you side with, no matter what party you voted for, Christian, it's time to wake up!  Wake up and follow!  Wake up and love! 

If you are passionate about pro-life, rock-on, now GO to your local crisis pregnancy center, volunteer, get to know a young, scared woman who is not sure what to do, and SHOW HER LOVE. Don't wait on your government to make legistlation or not about this!  It's up to you!  Your voice is so much bigger than your vote!

If you are pro or against guns, rock-on, now GO and hunt some animals and choose to LOVE your neighbors and try not to kill them if they break into your house. 

If you care about the education system and you see problems in it, you're right, now GO and LOVE some kids in the inner-city, or in your impovrished home-town. Get involved in a mentor-program. Help out at the Boys and Girls Club. This is love, this is action, this is doing something big!

If you think that God made all people in His image, I agree, and by that I believe that Syrian refugees and all people should have a safe place to live and grow. So, do what Jesus said and LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR. Don't shut your doors, open them! LOVE ruthlessly. Get to know people from different countries and cultures. I guarantee you will be richly blessed (as you are blessing by your love and hospitality)! There are refugees and immigrants living in your town. And praise our Father, they are not terrorists!  whew!  Find these lovely people and marvel at God's sovereignty and grace in making us all so unique yet so similar!

Whatever your stance, whomever you marked on your ballot, you have a delightful responsibility, Christian, to wake up, and move!  My friend Ghandi said it best when he said "Be the change you wish to see in the world!" and Jesus said it beautifully "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment, the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39) Let's together chose to LOVE our God more than our stances and our politics, and to follow His example by loving and serving, full of grace, truth and compassion! 

It's going to be a great next 4 years!

Ephesians (the message) 5 1-2 Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

3-4 Don’t allow love to turn into lust, setting off a downhill slide into sexual promiscuity, filthy practices, or bullying greed. Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.

5 You can be sure that using people or religion or things just for what you can get out of them—the usual variations on idolatry—will get you nowhere, and certainly nowhere near the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God.

6-7 Don’t let yourselves get taken in by religious smooth talk. God gets furious with people who are full of religious sales talk but want nothing to do with him. Don’t even hang around people like that.

8-10 You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.

11-16 Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.

Wake up from your sleep,
Climb out of your coffins;
Christ will show you the light!

So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!

17 Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.

18-20 Don’t drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.