Grace Lutheran Church

Sermon Proper 24A October 19, 2008 “God in an Election Year”

+ In Nomine Jesu +
The Rev. Evan P. Gaertner
Proper 24A
Isaiah 45:1-7
“God in an Election Year”

An election year in America is an interesting time when convictions, values, priorities, and sensibilities are all tested, defined, and spoken about. People seem to speak with authority about whose side God is on and others want to pretend that God is entirely ambivalent about what goes on in American politics. The question of who you are going to vote for and who you want to be president have the potential to say so much more about what you think and believe then you are maybe prepared for.

In the book of Joshua there is an interesting scene. Joshua was by Jericho preparing for the siege that the people of Israel are about to begin. The people have wandered in the wilderness for forty years and now they have crossed the Jordan River and are in the Promised Land. But one thing they may not have prepared themselves for is that the land is already occupied by the Canaanites.

Joshua on a hill overlooking Jericho looks up and sees a man standing before him with his sword drawn in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” The man replied, “No; but I am the commandeer of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.”

Joshua’s question showed a worldview that says either you are with me or against me. But this commander, this angel responds, “Neither. I am for the LORD.”

Joshua learned the importance of following God instead of trying to own God’s plan for himself. This was a humbling experience for Joshua.

The party labels of Democrat and Republican in America can start to receive religious affiliation. But remember the question that Joshua asked, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” The commander responds, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD.”

My faith in God cannot be owned by any political party. I do not intend today to speak about the politics of either party. I hope that if you are old enough and citizen of this country that you are registered to vote and that you plan on voting in this upcoming election. But please don’t frame your vote in terms of you having the power and position to preserve God in this country. God alone is the one that will preserve his promises. We live under that promise he preserves for us. God is at work in ways we may not always be ready for.

The prophet Isaiah comes up in a lot of our readings in church. As a prophet he spoke to his people during very difficult times and continually pointed them forward to God fulfilling his promises. The prophet Isaiah gives to us the confidence that no matter what takes place around us, there is only one Lord God and He is the almighty.

In these words we heard today from chapter 45 we find that God can be at work in ways beyond our understanding. The people of Israel were a defeated nation. But did that mean that their God was defeated? If the king of Israel is powerless to make a difference in their lives, does that mean God is powerless?

Consider in a modern example that if you tie your sense of God and his power to what one particular political party stands for, and that political party then loses, did God lose?

Israel was defeated but this did not mean that God had abandoned his plans for our salvation. God had promised to Abraham, “Through you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” God does not make empty promises. He fulfills his promises in ways we are not always prepared to receive.

The Lord promised, “Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you; you are my servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.”

The Lord may have promised to not forget them but as Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and the people are taken away in exile, it looks bleak. Babylon did a number over on Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple and took away all the treasures of the Temple and the leaders of Jerusalem. When no victory seems to be coming from Jerusalem, does that mean no victory is coming from God?

Cyrus the Great the king of Persia was raised up by the Lord God to defeat the Babylonians and restore the people of Israel. Cyrus the Great may not have known that he was a servant of the Lord God but that did not mean the Lord was absent from what was happening.

Why would God even consider working through a foreign king that followed after foreign gods? Isaiah promised the Lord works even through Cyrus the Great, “For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, through you do not know me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me.”

The plan of God for our salvation was preserved through God at work in the life of a Persian king named Cyrus the Great.

How is God at work in your life? You may wonder at times like the people of Israel that you have been abandoned or that you are on the losing side of things. Or you might be so bold as to presume the mind of God and claim ownership of God and declare that God is empty in someone else’s actions.

I find it wonderfully comforting that God works in ways beyond my understanding. Even if a doctor does not know it, as this doctor uses his skills to help and support me, he is doing the work of God. A farmer in rural America may not know me or my faith in God, but he does know how to grow the food my family needs. God provides our daily bread in many ways. I do not deserve the gracious and innumerable ways God is work to preserve and protect me, but I give thanks for Him.

I never will be able to understand why our Heavenly Father would send his only begotten son Jesus Christ to die for us sinners. But my salvation does not depend on knowing why God loves me. I simply trust that God does love me and that he seeks to preserve my salvation. I am a sinner in need of rescue and God desires to rescue me and restore me to his kingdom. He does this gracious work not because of anything I have done, but entirely from a heart of mercy. I go forward this election year, this year of transition, this year that I am leaving Grace Lutheran Church to be the pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church knowing that God is at work. I know this not because I am so prideful to think that God is only at work in my life and no one else. I know that God is at work in my life because he desires to be at work in all of our lives. God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son to die so that we may not perish but have eternal life.

The election this year does mean many things for our country. For my faith though I know God will be at work in my life and in your lives to preserve our salvation no matter who is elected.

Soli Deo Gloria