Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
November 2, 2008

Scripture:

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

This morning we stand on the eve of one of the most important events in our life together as Americans, a general election in a Presidential year. Several things have happened this election year that raise for us a very important question. It was raised for me in a very stark way recently by a radio ad by the people supporting Initiative 1000 here in Washington state. Something in that ad really bothered me. It said that “out of state religious leaders” are trying to “impose their will” on the people of Washington by speaking out against that initiative. When I heard that I thought: I’m not sure I agree with those out of state religious leaders, whoever they are, but since when was it inappropriate for people of faith to speak out of their deeply held values on issues of public interest? Since when did we lose our right to defend our values in the public arena just because we are people of faith or even “religious leaders,” whatever that means? Since when did people of faith speaking out in defense of their values constitute trying to impose those values on other people any more than anyone else expressing an opinion on public issues does? I may or may not agree with a public statement by another person of faith. I often disagree with those statements, but I will never deny anyone’s right to speak up in defense of their values.

This radio ad raises from the secular side an issue that is also important from the religious side. What is the relationship of faith and politics? Are they essentially unrelated? Must we compartmentalize them and never let our faith inform our politics or let our analysis of the human condition as reflected in political, economic, and social structures inform our faith? I’m sure it will come as no surprise to most of you that my answer to that question is no, they are not unrelated. God does not call us to compartmentalize religion and politics. Rather, our call as Christians is precisely to let our faith inform our politics and to allow our analysis of the human condition, including politics, inform how our faith calls us to respond to that human condition.

There are, I think, at least two basic reasons why it is inappropriate for us to hold our religious and our political views in separate compartments. The first is that the Judeo-Christian tradition has always had an inherently political aspect. From the very beginning the Judeo-Christian tradition has had a political aspect inherent in it. God sent Moses to bring the people out of slavery in Egypt, an inherently political act. Then came the great Jewish prophetic tradition. We heard a small piece of that tradition just now in our reading from Micah. In that passage the prophet rails against rulers who abhor justice and against judges who take bribes. In other words, he rails against political evils from a position of faith. Jesus’ actions and teachings about the Kingdom of God—Kingdom of course being a political concept—were so political that they got him crucified as a political criminal. From his time to ours faithful Christians have cried out and worked for justice and peace, often at the cost of their lives. Our tradition has always been political.

The second reason is that God desires us to be whole persons, not fragmented ones. God’s desire for us is wholeness not compartmentalization. In Matthew’s Gospel there a saying of Jesus that is usually translated “Be perfect…as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48 A better translation of that line is “Be whole as your heavenly Father is whole.” Wholeness is the life of integrity, of integration, in which all parts of our lives, all parts of our personality, are coordinated and in harmony. Compart-mentalization of any kind detracts from wholeness and therefore is not what God wants for us. Separating faith and politics is that kind of compartmentalization. It is not what God wants for us.

So what does all that mean for us as we approach this practically and symbolically significant day in our life together as Americans on Tuesday? For one thing, it does not say that we must all vote for the same candidates or vote the same way on any ballot measure. The truth that faith and politics are and should not be separate does not give us specific political answers that everyone must accept. Faith can and should, however, inform how we approach finding those answers. It tells us that it is legitimate, appropriate, and necessary for us and for others to examine political choices in the light of our religious values. It says that Christianity is a civil faith, a faith that is concerned with how we humans live together in community. In other words, is says that Christianity is a political faith, for politics is simply how we live together in civil community.

And Christianity is also a civil faith in another sense too. In faith we know that all people are children of God whom God loves absolutely and unconditionally. That knowledge can and should make it possible for us to be civil with one another when we disagree about political or any other matters. Our faith doesn’t give any of us absolute, absolutely correct answers to political questions. Whatever happens next Tuesday some Americans will be happy, and some Americans will be disappointed or even angry. As people of faith we can be people of reconciliation and peace, helping to bring our nation and our world together after all of our recent divisions.

So let your faith inform your political choices. We won’t all agree on what those choices are. That’s OK. We don’t have to agree; but as we disagree we can nonetheless be agreeable with each other, knowing that we are all children of the one true God. Amen.