Thinking Biblically about the 2024 US Presidential Election

Before I get to the ministry of God's Word, I'm made to understand something big is happening on Tuesday.

Um, um, only thing I know happening on Tuesday is my football team's playing. Um, no, I'm kidding.

There is an election coming Tuesday, um, I understand, in the great state of Oregon. I can't vote because I'm a green card holder, so, um,

I'm kind of watching on the sidelines, but I'm paying attention enough to know that in the state of Oregon, we postal vote.

So I imagine most of you who have voted already, if you haven't, you've got to Tuesday, um, you should vote.

Even if you don't think it's a good idea, it's still a good idea. But election day beckons, and I have a few things

I'd like to share with you just as we, uh, enter into a week that who knows how this week is gonna go.

I think we can agree this has been one of the weirdest election cycles I've seen in my lifetime, short as it's been.

A few thoughts. First of all, um, join with me, if you will, this week. Just pray. You don't know how

I feel about prayer. You can do more than pray after you've prayed, you can't do more than pray before you've prayed. So, pray.

I will say this also. Uh, some of you have gathered, I've maybe spoken a little more about this election than usual, and part of that has just been a shift in my own thinking.

As some of you know, I don't have the highest regard for the game of politics. I think that's what I've come to realize.

It's not the institution of politics, God ordains government, I'm gonna say more about that in just a second. So, I don't have issues with government per se, it's the game of politics

I struggle with. But I know that for me, what's ended up happening is, honestly, there's just been a callousness towards what happens, whether it's in Salem or in Washington.

Like, there's just been a callousness where it's just like, I can't stand them and I don't care. But actually, as a Christian, I don't have that luxury.

I don't think any of us have that luxury. I think part of, and I'm gonna say more about this in just a second, part of our witness as Christians is that we engage with the world around us for its welfare.

Now, that being said, um, politics and elections and those sorts of things can provide us with a dangerous tendency at times.

And I think the dangerous tendency that can happen is we get caught up in people and we miss the fact that ultimately, what we think about in terms of politics is really a matter of worldview.

Like, we are not in a war of two parties. We're really in a war of two worldviews.

If you were in our Sunday school class, we were talking about this yesterday. And so with all that's happening, with all the noise and all the back and forth,

I was thinking of saying something anyway, and then just so happens last Sunday when I was visiting our friends at Heritage, Paul, who is the pastor there, gave some really helpful wisdom.

So helpful, in fact, that after the service, I found him and said, can I borrow that? And we're pastors, as preachers, we're always borrowing from each other.

It's not plagiarism, if you ask. So I asked him, and he said, oh, brother, please, by all means,

I'm glad you thought it was helpful. And so for a moment, actually, I've put it in the worship guide, if you've seen it.

I want to give you seven biblical principles. I'll do my best to keep this real quick. Kind of consider this, as my brother said last week, the sermon before the sermon.

But seven biblical principles to help us keep our heads as this election draws near.

Seven biblical principles, I'm going to do my best to move through this real quickly. Number one, we can be assured that God is sovereign over elections.

No matter who wins this week, you know what we can know for certain? That God's will happen.

So let's all take a deep breath, especially on Tuesday.

I'm going to remind you, I might even send out a text message reminder to everyone, take a deep breath. God is in full and utter control.

Daniel 2 .21 says that he removes kings and he establishes kings.

So I'm not saying we shouldn't care what's happening, but let's not care so much that we lose our heads.

God is sovereign over elections. Secondly, we ought to seek the welfare of the country as sojourners.

This world is not our home in the eternal sense. But in the temple sense, this is our home. This is where God has placed us.

Jeremiah 29 .7, one of my favorite verses says, pursue the well -being of the city.

I have deported you. God was writing to the exiles he sent to Babylon. And he said, you are to pursue, seek the well -being, the peace of the city

I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.

And now in our democratic system, one of the ways in which we pursue the well -being of the city, the country that God has placed us in, is we engage in political process.

But it's not the only way. Past Tuesday, we will still be here, and we will all have

God -given vocations and callings that he has called us to. And those vocations are given to us by God to serve him and to serve our neighbor.

So yes, vote, but don't just vote. Be actively seeking out ways to seek the welfare, the well -being of the community in which we find ourselves.

Three, we are to live as salt and light as sojourners. We are to live as salt and light as sojourners.

Matthew 5, verses 13 -16, I won't read it because of time, but Jesus says that the church, the people of God, that we are the light of the world, and we are the salt of the earth.

I love what Matthew Henry says about this point. He says, the holy, regular, and exemplary conduct of the saints may do much towards the conversion of sinners.

Those who are unequated with religion may hereby be brought to know what it is.

Examples do teach. And those who are prejudiced against it may hereby be brought in love, may be brought in to love with it.

And thus there is a winning virtue in godly conduct. When Jesus says that we are salt and light, salt was in the ancient world a preservative.

It's how you kept things. And of course we all know what light does. Light shines, it illuminates, it helps you to see what's happening.

Christians ought to be both of those in a decaying, in a dark culture. So we are to live as salt and light as sojourners.

Number four, we are to honor whoever God places in positions of power.

This might be a tough one for us because especially if you have strong political views, you may not like the person in power.

But please note, the Bible doesn't say anything. There's not one page in this book that says you have to like the person in power.

It does say a lot about honoring the person in power. 1 Peter 2 .13, we are to submit to every human authority because of the

Lord. Verse 17 says that we are to honor, Peter says to his audience they were to honor the emperor.

The emperor who is referenced in that passage is Nero. Like me, you are a history buff.

That sends a shiver down your spine. If you're not a history buff, Nero was not a good guy at all.

But that's not really the point, is it? Because the reality is, in a fallen world, you're not always going to have rulers you like.

Biblically, we are called to honor the institutions and those who serve in them, even if we don't like the persons. Can I pause for a moment?

I think I've said this when the whole attempted assassination thing happened during this campaign. But Christians shouldn't be those who sling epithets or are insulting.

We are a people of, we're actually going to see this in 1 Timothy 5 in a few months. We are people of an honor code.

We function with honor. And that applies even here. Number five, we are to pray for those in governmental authority.

We are to pray for those in governmental authority. Again, I quote the line from John Bunyan.

We can do more than pray after we've prayed. But we cannot do more than pray before we pray.

In one sense, this really should have been point number one, but I said it at the beginning so I can say it again. Pray. 1

Timothy 2, 1 through 4 commands us to do so. So it's not really a, I'll pray if I feel like it. No, we're commanded to do this.

What should we pray for those in governmental authority? Pray for their salvation, first and foremost. Pray for wisdom.

Even if they're not saved, they still need wisdom to rule. Pray for wise counselors around them. Think of Daniel and his three friends.

The Babylonians, by and large, did not become worshippers of Yahweh. And yet, they served and provided wisdom to the government around them.

So we should pray to God to provide wise counselors around those who lead us. Number six.

We are to ultimately not hope or despair over election results.

Now, please note, I added the word there. My brother didn't add this word, but when I was listening to him, I added it. The word ultimately.

Yes, we should be concerned about how Tuesday goes. I don't think burying your head in the sand and saying, ah, no big deal.

The war continues. It will, in a sense, but our lives may be impacted by what happens.

But there's a difference between concern and putting your hope or your despair in what happens.

Psalm 146, one of my favorite psalms, verses 3 through 6, says, Do not trust in nobles and a son of man who cannot save.

When his breath leaves him, psalmist goes on, he returns to the ground.

On that day, his plans die. Happy is the one whose help is the

God of Jacob, whose hope is in Yahweh, his God, the maker of heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them.

He remains faithful forever. Finally, number seven.

We are to exalt and rest in the ruler of the cosmos. Start, I finish where I started.

God is in control. And so I don't think our church has a problem with this, thankfully, but just in case.

Let's act like it. Let's not be the people pulling our hair out, saying, ah, it's over.

The Chicken Little impression. You know Chicken Little? The sky is falling. The sky is falling. No, it's not.

I remember during COVID when all the lockdowns were happening, a pastor I listened to, Anthony Wood, preached a sermon which had an excellent title.

It stuck with me. His title was, the world is okay because the throne is okay.

That the world is okay because God's throne is okay. And so ultimately we are to rest in and exalt the ruler of the cosmos.

There is one who rules, who has never been elected, who will never be impeached or removed from office, who does not have a term limit.

So Paul can say in Philippians 2, 9 through 11, For this reason God highly exalted Jesus and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is

Lord to the glory of God the Father. As I wrap up,

I can put it plainly. Donkeys and elephants are no match for the

Lion of Judah. And so yes, we should pray, think about what's happening, pay attention to what's happening, but ultimately are we going to,

I can't speak for you actually, let me not do that. Am I going to lose sleep over what happens on Tuesday? Absolutely not.

Because I know this, the world is okay because the throne is okay.