Love Notes

by Bill Love

Voting is a decidedly political act. I am a person of faith – we are a people of faith – voting.

In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled [on the tax books], Luke tells us. Against the backdrop of a decidedly political act, God brought salvation into the world in the form of a baby. Of course, what the government was up to and what God was up to were not the same thing. It has always been that way. And still is.

God does do holy work through and in the midst of political acts. Desmond Tutu said: All life belongs to God, including politics.... The God of the Bible is first encountered not in a religious setting but in an out-andout political experience, in helping a rabble of slaves to escape from bondage.

The crucifixion and guarding the tomb to protect the world from the resurrection were parts of a political solution. Yet, in ways the politicians could not conceive, God worked through the crucifixion and resurrection to achieve our salvation.

Edward Hughes Praden said: The gospel message needs no governmental sanction to survive.... And that is true. Such a kingdom as the United States has carved out for itself is not the cause of the survival of the gospel nor the protector and guarantor of the Realm of God.

There are some who would dispute that the United States is not the defender of the faith. I was concerned when, leaving church, I found political circulars on my car (distributed without the permission of the Session). They favored the conservative side and, in some cases, misrepresented or distorted the position of a denomination, in this case, the Lutherans (ELCA). And while I was grateful that the Presbyterians were not the focus of their ire (just for the respite), I was bothered by the malicious invective of their circulars and their seemingly portraying their view as the linchpin of protecting the Realm of God. I was bothered by reports of partisan political campaigns asking supporters to bring church membership rolls to be used for political mailings. It seemed as if partisan politics were coopting the Church as if one partisan position was the only one people of faith could take, as if the Church were a political action committee. That considerably narrows the view of Christ’s place in culture.

I was bothered that those who promote social justice were silent about their faith, neglecting the passages in Scripture which call for justice. The Civil Rights movement of my youth did not shy away from its roots in faith communities or the basis in faith for social justice.

God enters our world, even politics, and, through and often in spite of what we do and think we are doing, God works to accomplish God’s will for all creation.

While I seek to take seriously the responsibilities of citizenship in a human political state, my citizenship in the Realm of God is more important. It is to God that I, that we, owe allegiance.