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In a couple of weeks, we will hold in America what we call our midterm elections.
We shouldn't have to remind ourselves of this, but given the current division in America, I think it's worth noting that, friends, it's really still only an election.
Oh, I know that increasingly we continue to divide ourselves into political camps, drawing lines of demarcation and vowing to avenge the wrongs of those who differ politically with us.
But in the end, it still is just an election. Regardless of the outcome, whether the balance of political power in Washington swings one way or the other, some will be upset ... After all, the future of America is at stake!
And yet, as we gnash our teeth, God reminds us that there has been a higher power at the helm for millenia. And our current messy state is only one small era in a creation millions of years old.
This isn't a Pollyannaish view of the difficult set of circumstances that many Americans find themselves living in. This also is not naivete of the power over lives that those in Washington, D.C., wield.
Rather, this is just faith talking, because whether our nation's capital is awash in red or blue colors, we each individually still possess the ability to do good right here, right now. And that is what Jesus actually demands of us.
Jesus' public ministry was practiced during the Roman Empire's occupation of Judea, and neighboring lands. Jesus was no more enamored with those who governed than many faithful people are today, regardless of how they politically identify.
And yet he went about his public ministry, tending to the daily needs of those he came across as he practiced living out God's kingdom here on earth.
Those whose fortunes depend on the outcomes of elections want us to believe they have the power to tear us apart or to heal us as a nation. The truth is we are the only ones that possess that mighty power.
We have the ability to befriend our neighbor, to serve at a soup kitchen, to assist our seniors, to lift up a family in poverty, to teach someone a second language, to help someone with tasks around their home they can't complete.
We can give of our time, our talents and our treasures until our hearts overfill, and no election big or small can stop that. So let's stop making this division about those in Washington or other seats of power. And let's start the healing right next door.
Jesus reminds us that the Greatest Commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and also to love our neighbor as yourself. No election can interfere with that. That's our choice, and I see that as the most vital way of helping us find our way out of darkness. Amen.
Devlyn Brooks is the CEO of Churches United in Moorhead, Minn., and an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America serving Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He blogs about faith at findingfaithin.com, and can be reached at devlynbrooks@gmail.com.