What are we going to do about Washington? For years, the political climate has been heating up until it has now boiled over into name calling, biting criticism, and outspoken anger. The climate on Capitol Hill has spread to the rest of the country. During the recent Health Care bill debate, members of Congress were shouted at, cussed at, and sent threatening e-mails and phone calls. The House’s No. 3 Republican, Eric Cantor of Virginia, said at a news conference that someone fired a bullet through a window of his campaign office in Richmond. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich. received a phone message that said: “I hope you bleed … and die.” Senator Patti Murray (D- Washington) logged a message recorded on the morning of March 22, according to an FBI affidavit that said, “There are many people out there that want you dead. Just remember…. It only takes one piece of lead… Kill the … senator! I’ll donate the lead. ….Let the violence begin.” Rep. John Boccieri (D-Ohio), who served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Air Force Reserve, was quoted as saying, “Having flown missions in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan, I know what it’s like to be in harm’s way. But I never imagined serving in Congress could feel the same.” (The above quotes from News Telegram.com)
There’s a current of hatred in our country that calls for a response, our response. How are we supposed to answer the anger in politics? One response is to ignore it – or try to ignore it. That’s probably impossible and doesn’t do anything. We could turn away in disgust, and just shake our heads at the sorry state of affairs. That’s an understandable reaction, but, again, it doesn’t accomplish anything. We can join in the anger and name calling…. Does that help? Scripture suggests another way. Take a look with me at I Timothy 2:1 –7. (Read)
Our response to politics today, Scripture suggests, includes prayer. Pray for our political leaders. Does the suggestion to pray sound hopelessly irrelevant in this age of targeted exit polling and computer-generated political telephone calling? Before we decide that prayer is a naïve suggestion, let’s dig in and see what this call to pray includes.
Let’s start digging at the beginning, always a very good place to start! Right at the top, chapter 1, verse 3, Paul, the apostle writes: (read) Paul has sent Timothy, his disciple, to Ephesus, Turkey to take charge of the Church there and correct some bad ideas that new teachers have brought in. The whole letter is a letter of instruction. The first instruction begins with our passage: “First of all, I urge then….” (verse 1) – Paul begins his coaching with prayer in worship. When Christians assemble for worship, they should pray for their government. Prayer is important. Praying for those in authority is important.
There are several words used here for prayer. We probably don’t need to figure out the exact difference among the words that are used here for prayer; requests, prayers, intercessions, thanksgiving. They all mean about the same thing. They all point to the same thing: pray! And, when we pray together, include those in government. Each week, we print this prayer request in our fellowship of prayer: pray for our president, national leaders and military personnel. This has been in the fellowship of prayer each week before I got here. As a church, we recognize that we should pray for our leaders.
What should we pray for though, when we pray for our leaders in government? What are we praying for?
In the musical, Fiddler on the Roof, the local town Rabbi is asked if there is a proper prayer blessing for the Russian Tsar, who caused so much misery for Russian Jews. What should they pray for? The Rabbi stops, strokes his beard for a moment, then prays, “May God bless and keep the Tsar; far away from us.”
When we pray, what should we pray for our government? Paul comes right out and tells us: that “We may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” (v. 2) In New Testament times, that meant not being persecuted for their Christian faith. In Paul’s day, there wasn’t much government persecution. But, not too long after Paul’s death, discrimination against Christians broke into outright persecution and suffering. The book of Revelations shows the change to the Church into a persecuted group. However, Paul instructs Christians to pray that the government will pursue policies that allow us to live our faith out and grow in godliness. That’s good advice for today as well. When we gather, we should pray that we are able to lead peaceful lives, able to exercise our faith and grow in love and holiness. It is hard to grow spiritually if we are concerned for our safety, or for our finances. Worry can hamper our efforts towards godliness. Pray for peace.
Peace is always a worthy prayer request – with this reminder; peace does not mean we always agree. Peace does not refer to the amount of agreement between people and government; peace describes the attitude we feel in the relationship. Let’s use our congregation as an illustration. Do all of us always agree on things? I hope not! God has created us with diversity. We are different in gender, height, race, age- and, we share different ways of looking at things. It is part of God’s created order that there are differences among us all. Conflict between us simply means we have more than one way of looking at the same thing. The issue is not how we look at something; the issue is how we will resolve our different ways of looking and seeing. And, here is where peace comes in. Peace means we listen to each other. We are open to the real possibility that another person may have an equally valid idea. We respect each other. We take for granted that God probably is using different opinions to move us towards a new solution or way of looking that will be different from what we thought on our own. Peace is not an absence of conflicting ideas. Peace is the attitude of listening, respecting, and letting God fuse our ideas together to create a greater good.
At each session meeting, one of our Elders will volunteer to be the prayer facilitator. At any point in the meeting, any of us can ask the prayer facilitator to pray. Almost every session meeting, the facilitator prays for God’s empowering wisdom to be part of our decision. More than once, we have prayed as Elders when there has been a difference of opinion that is not getting resolved. So, we pray. Sometimes we have a period of silence. Then, we keep talking and listening and respecting each other and working towards a consensus of what we believe is God’s will.
Now, bring our church illustration to the national level. We pray for our leaders to enact policies that will promote peaceable lives. And, we pray that our leaders will come to peace among themselves. We are not praying they agree; how often do Republicans and Democrats and Greens and Libertarians agree? – but that their attitudes might change from anger and stubbornness to respect and finding common ground.
“This is good and pleases God our Savior….” (verse 3) We pray for peace, for ourselves and for our leaders. The goal of peace pleases God. That’s why we pray for our government. There is another reason why we pray for those in authority, which also pleases God, who, we find, “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (verse 4) In other words, we should pray for our leaders that all should come to know Christ. If the connection between praying for our leaders and desiring that people come to know Jesus isn’t immediately clear, hang in for just a minute.
We find that God’s desire is to bring people to Himself. God has an intense desire to draw whomever to Himself through Jesus Christ. After this desire is stated, there’s a familiar saying that is brought in, probably from a Christian song or statement of faith that was around at the time and familiar to Christians. The saying is introduced by the word, “for.” Since there were no quotation marks back then, the word “for” can signal a quotation. Here it is: “There is 1 God and 1 mediator between God and people; the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.” (verse 5, 6) Paul brings in the familiar saying because its stress on all; all people. One God, one mediator; not many gods for many different segments of society, which was the general belief, but One God who created us all and wants all to know Him personally. Then, Paul adds his own witness to God’s great desire to save all people. He says he was appointed by God, out of God’s compassion for all, to go to all people, not only to Jews, but to all non-Jews, all Gentiles. Paul has taken on God’s compassion towards all, and Paul is passionate about it; “I am not lying about this,” he says. God’s desire for people to know Him is great. We pray for our leaders in this regard.
What’s the connection, then between praying for our leaders and bringing people to faith? The connection is the policies and laws that either help or hinder the gospel message. In many countries, Christ followers are thrown into prison, such as in Algeria. That’s a government policy. In some municipalities in America, restrictions are placed upon Bible study meetings because they have grown in size and neighbors complain about parking. That’s a local ordinance There are a hundred and one ways local officials can either help or hinder the spread of Christianity.
We pray for those in authority, not only that they will set policies that promote peaceful living, which benefits us, but also policies that promote people coming to the truth in Christ. That is why we pray. And, when we pray, these verses encourage us to keep a couple of attitudes in mind: peace, of course. A prayerful attitude that all may come to know Jesus Christ, certainly. How about this one? Politics is not king.
The Bible helps us see that politics is not king. Politics serves Christ. When we pray for our leaders, we are talking to God who is over the political leaders. We ask God to intercede in politics to bring just laws that promote peace for us and further efforts to bring all that we can to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We can respond to the current atmosphere of anger by praying for peace and praying for the purpose that many will come to salvation, in Laurel Springs and Stratford, and Clementon, and Lindenwold and Pine Hill and Cherry Hill and Berlin and Gloucester Township and West Deptford and Voorhees and Sicklerville and Williamstown and Woodbury and Waterford and Camden County and New Jersey and the United States and the world. Our prayers are important.
That is one vital way of responding to politics – with prayer. Prayer is not hopelessly irrelevant. Prayer is a mighty response, that does not rely on power or forcing our way upon others. Instead, it calls upon God to act, and God always hears the prayers of the faithful.
And, when we pray for our leaders, we can’t help but view them with respect. A person can’t help but respect those for whom he or she continues to pray. Respect for our leaders.
Leadership, particularly on the national level is a hard task. It loads them down with cares and responsibilities. It grinds down leaders. Each time a president leaves office, the media shows a before and after picture. This is the way the president looked when he came into office. The president looks so young in that picture, energetic. Then, a current picture of the president is placed along side it. How much older he looks. His hair is grayer, the wrinkles under his eyes are deeper. It is true of every president I’ve known. It will become true of President Obama, too. We may not agree with our presidents, but we can respect them.
The year was 1783. The battle of Yorktown had been won. American had gained her independence. Yet, the peace treaty to end the war official had not yet been signed. The Continental Congress was unwilling to disband the American Army while British troops still remained on U.S. soil. So, the army waited in New York state, with nothing to do. As they waited, the army officers began to become vocal about their complaints. They had been promised by Congress to receive half pensions for their service. The enlisted men had been promised $80 a piece by Congress, as well. Yet, Congress had little money or authority to carry out their promises. The officers began talking openly about forcing Congress to give them their money, maybe even marching on Congress.
A meeting was called to air these grievances and decide what they should do. George Washington made no public comment. Some thought he was siding with his officers. On the night of the meeting, the room was crowded with officers. Suddenly, a side door opened and in walked George Washington. He asked to speak. He pleaded with his officers not to undertake any forceful decision. He recognized it would set a terrible precedent. As he finished, he looked around the room and realized that he had not necessarily persuaded the officers to stand down. So, he reached into his coat pocket and took out a letter that a member of Congress had written him. The writing was small and he had trouble reading it. There was a long pause while he tried to see it well enough to read a portion of it.
What was wrong, some of the men wondered. Why did he delay? Washington then reached into a pocket and brought out a pair of new reading glasses. Only those nearest to him knew he lately required them, and he had never worn them in public. Then he spoke: “Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country.”
Many of the officers did not remember what he had read; but, they remembered his glasses, a symbol of their shared sacrifices over the past several years, and the hardships and suffering that Washington had endured with them all, and which had taken a toll on his life. After Washington left the room, there was no more talk of mutiny or marches.
Leading is a difficult job; our local leaders deserve our respect. We may not agree with them, but we respect them for the tough job they do. Our county leaders deserve our respect, as do our state and national leaders. All deserve our respect – and our prayers.