Ahhhh, the political election season…. it just gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling, doesn’t it?!? Have you checked the headlines today? I have, but I will spare you by not posting them here!
A few thoughts for us as we navigate the chaos:
- Lower your expectations
It seems so obvious, but we are creatures of habit. The reason we vote for a particular candidate is because our candidate has done the best job creating an expectation for us. Campaign speeches and talking points lack substance. Why? Because substance is not the goal! Promises are the goal. Sadly, promises are made that can’t be kept. That is how the political process works. Candidates feel the pressure to make promises, BIG promises because that is what people want to hear. And if that is what the voter wants to hear, and a politician wants their vote….. You get the idea.
Being a creature of habit, it is what we have come to expect in a candidate. He who makes the biggest promises…. wins. And those promises create an expectation, giving a false hope. Friends, lower your expectations. People, politicians, and the political process is not our hope!
Sounds obvious enough… doesn’t it? And yet, how quickly we forget! This election year has a sort of new tone of hope. It is the same ‘ol misguided hope. Except this time the hope is “anti-establishment”. That is the buzz word, the “anti-establishment” deliverer has come. It is not surprising that both parties have their candidate who vows to be the “anti-establishment” savior.
Don’t misunderstand, I too would love to see a break from party politics and all the corruption therein. But, those who make “anti-establishment” promises are NOT my hope!
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.
- It won’t be the first time…
Did I mention: We are creatures of habit?
It won’t be the first time people looked to a leader to deliver them from their present difficulties. Isn’t it interesting how much we invest in hoping that a man or woman could be the ultimate answer to America’s troubles?
It won’t be the first time, that we look to man for the ultimate answer, and those same people miss the true and ultimate answer. Isn’t your vote a vote for: answers, deliverance, genuine hope, and salvation from the troubles?
It won’t be the first time, that Jesus is overlooked, never mentioned, and entirely left out of the discussion of our political process.
Likewise, the New Testament Jews were also looking for a deliverer. But, not the kind who had humbled Himself and now stood in front of them. They wanted “their” kind of deliverer. The New Testament Jews are not unlike us today! They too wanted a deliverer who would move and operate on their terms.
Well friends, thanks be to God, they did not get a deliver on their terms! They and we received a deliverer based on the sovereign, wise, and perfect will of the Lord.
You see, the Jews wanted a military leader. They wanted a New Testament version of Moses. Moses came and set the people of God free from the powers and slavery of Egypt. The Jews in the days of Jesus saw that potential in Jesus. They saw His influence and power. They saw the crowds flocking to Him. They were intimately familiar with the power of the Roman government, suppressing them. It was not difficult for them to begin to dream, imagine… hope in a Savior that would do their bidding. They looked to Jesus and saw in Him a man who could militarily overpower Rome and bring deliverance to the Jews.
Jesus was their hope, but the people did not realize that the hope He offered was a promise greater than they imagined. And Jesus was no politician!!!! His grand promise was not a hope for a temporary freedom from the enemy of Rome. No, Jesus came offering the ultimate hope of ultimate freedom from the enemy of sin and death!
- And that’s the point as we navigate through this political season:
“Christ” was inoffensive to the crowd at Nazareth too. That’s what they wanted: the long-promised Messiah who would set the captives free, and deliver good news to the poor and sight to the blind. But they wanted a Christ more distant, one who delivered for them their social and political objectives, without confronting them with the truth that their problems were far deeper, far more intractable, than culture or politics alone. “Jesus,” after all, is a personal name— a fairly common one at the time. But it’s also a message: “Yahweh saves.” Joseph is told to name this Christ “Jesus” because “he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1: 21). That puts us all on notice that what we need to be saved from is not just poverty or disease or cultural decay— or all those things outside of us. We also need to be saved from what’s within us.
Moore, Russell D. (2015-07-10). Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel (pp. 68-69).
Hope is not wrapped up in empty, political, promises. Actually, hope is not even found in man’s promises that he or she actually brings to pass. Let’s take it one step further. Hope will never ultimately be found in man at all!
Break free from the false hope, that creature of habit! Find your hope in the promises of the One who never breaks His promises and never fails to deliver on those promises.
Hope in Christ
Hope in His Word
Hope in the Cross
Hope in the gospel!
Christian, Jesus Christ crucified is your hope both now and for eternity!
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27 ESV)
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. (1 Timothy 6:17 ESV)
We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf…(Hebrews 6:19-20 ESV)
