St.
Paul’s Episcopal Church, Delray Beach, Florida
Election
Day – November 6, 2012 (Service of Prayers for the Healing and unity of the
Nation)
Deuteronomy
6:1 – 9; Matthew 5:1 – 12
Preacher: The Reverend Canon William H. Stokes, Rector
On Winners and Losers
and this Ship of State
Blessed are the
poor in spirit, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 5:3)….Though
today we should be celebrating the incredible freedom and privilege of voting,
and of our democratic system, how could we not be poor in spirit at this
moment, all of us…We have been bombarded over the past year or more with an
ever increasing assault of political mudslinging and slurs. Oh, there have been worse things said than
the things said in this campaign, though not much, and especially in some of
the local contests….
In
the 1828 Presidential Campaign, Andrew’s Jackson’s wife was labeled an
adulteress and his mother a prostitute.
There was the infamous “Daisy” commercial aired by President Lyndon
Johnson’s campaign against Barry Goldwater and the “Swift Boat” attacks against
Presidential Candidate John Kerry. But
we have never, in the history of political campaigns in this country, been
assaulted by the volume of political attack ads and constant inundation of
“robo-calls.” These
have insinuated themselves into our lives, into our homes, in virtually every
waking hour. What does this do to our
national psyche? What does it do to us
as a people? It polarizes us, it
alienates us one from another. It dehumanizes
us. Blessed
are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…
Chances are, tomorrow, not everyone
will be poor in spirit….It is likely that half the population will be in pretty
good spirits. Their candidate, or candidates, will have won the election,
assuming we are able to confirm the results tonight. Yes, it is likely that
about half the citizens of this country will be in good spirits tomorrow…But
what about the other half? What do we
do about them? Many will be deeply
hurt.… Many will be frightened and concerned for the welfare of the nation, no
matter which political party they are from, no matter which candidate or
candidates wins the election. What do
we do about them and for them?
Gloat? Say, “oh well, so sad, too
bad!” and leave it at that? What will we
do? What ought we to do? And how will those whose candidates do not
win respond? How should they respond?
Should they take a vow of non-cooperation and civil disobedience and
plan on obstructing any plan or policies proposed by their opponents on the
other side? Where will that lead
us?
Well,
if one party is able to win both the Presidency and both Houses of Congress,
some work might get done. If not, we
will find ourselves pretty much in the place we have been for the past four
years - a place of stalemate and
grid-lock, where the opposing parties fight like children in a playground and
the great needs of the people of this nation are not served. In either circumstance, it seems likely that
the animosity and furor that have marked our national psyche have a very high
chance of continuing, unless we do something about it.
Refrain from
anger, leave rage alone, the psalmist says (Ps. 37:9). We need to take these words to heart…The
current climate of American politics, and current mores of our American culture,
have, for some reason, appeared to license unbridled anger and incivility. All too often, in public discourse and in the
discourse we share with one another, there has been this very human tendency to
conclude that if a person doesn’t agree with me and my political opinion, they
are not only unreasonable and wrong, they are stupid, un-American and, even, an enemy, not only a personal enemy, but an
enemy of the country. This is true of
people on both sides of the political aisle.
This is sinful….sinful and shameful.
Love the Lord your
God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all
your strength” and “love your neighbor as yourself” Jesus said in
his summary of the Law, “there is no
other commandments greater than these.” These
are not divine suggestions from the lips of Jesus, they are commands….
In
the Baptismal Covenant of the Episcopal Church, which we renew at every
baptism, we commit ourselves to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving
our neighbor as our self,” we promise
further, to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and to respect the
dignity of every human being.” In
neither case does it say, “seek and serve Christ in all Republicans, or in all
Democrats,” or “strive for justice and peace among those of your political
persuasion and stripe.” It doesn’t
qualify the promise by saying, seek and serve Christ in all persons who happen
to agree with you….” or “strive for justice and peace among all people who
happen to be on the same page with you.”
In both instances, the promises are unequivocal: seek and serve Christ in all persons….strive for justice and peace among all people and love your neighbor as
yourself…” all your neighbors!
Too
often in the midst of the political season, we allow ourselves to be caught up
in the heat of it all. Yes, there are
important questions and issues at stake and we will have disagreements about
them. People will feel passionately about these things, there is no avoiding
this. It is part of living in a free and
democratic society.
In
all of this, however, it is critically important that we focus on the issues
themselves and not be drawn into attacks on the personhood of those who believe
differently than we do. We would do well
to follow Joe Friday’s lead in Dragnet, “just the facts, ma’am” when engaging
in political and philosophical discourse.
Too often, we stray, and take it personally, and begin to question the
motives and the personhood, not only of the candidates and politicians we don’t
like, but also of those persons, sometimes friends and family, with whom we
disagree, sometimes even demonizing them.
This is just wrong. And again, for
us, who are Christian, it is more than wrong; it is sinful.
There
is no question that there are two very different and competing visions for this
country right now, represented by the Republican Party and the Democratic
Party. Rarely in our history have the
differences in vision been so marked or so clear. The representative of one of these competing
visions is going to win the White House tonight…Other representatives will win
one or both Houses of Congress….
Yes,
some in our country will find themselves “poor in spirit” tomorrow
morning….Other’s will be glad in spirit….There will be a prevailing side in the
White House, and perhaps in the Congress….That’s the way Democracy works….We
should be mindful that God did not pick the winners, the American people did in
the exercise of their God-given freedom.
It may be that God’s Providence is at work in the election, but we will
not know that until history proves it to us sometime down the road. Still, it is a possibility to which we should
be sensitive. No matter what, we should
be aware that, as preacher, author and publisher of Sojourners Magazine Jim
Wallis regularly reminds us, “God is neither a Democrat or a Republican.”
We
should also be aware, everyone of us, that the people with whom we disagree
politically, sometimes, vehemently disagree with, are our brother and sister
Americans. Almost all of us are patriots
and love our country with a deep love and affection…. While we may disagree
about the methods and means of getting there, we have the highest hopes and
dreams for the United States of America and we all, with few exceptions, long
to see it be that city on a hill, spoken of by Ronald Reagan, and before him by
Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It is imperative that we give each other
credit for this; that we assume it about one another, even when our
understanding and opinions on issues are vastly different. If we can do this, it will go a long way
toward our healing and wholeness.
In
his first Inaugural Address, Thomas Jefferson addressed the gathered assembly
and the nation and said words that are as true now as they were when he uttered
them in 1801…Here’s what Jefferson said, “During
the contest of opinion through which we have passed, the animation of the
discussion and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on
strangers unused to think freely and to speak and write what they think; but
this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the
rules of the constitution, all will, of course, arrange themselves under the
will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All, too, will bear in mind this sacred
principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail,
that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; the minority possess their equal
rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Let us then, fellow citizens, unite with one
heart and one mind. Let us restore to
social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even
life itself are but dreary things…”[1]
If
this country is to be healed and be whole, the extreme polarization which has
marked our national life; the partisanship and rancor must cease. Those who prevail in the election will have
won their victory and the right of the majority to govern and to make policy under
our democratic system. Nonetheless, whoever wins cannot, and ought
not, to be unmindful of the minority who lose the election this day, and
especially as the margin of victory is likely to be narrow. There will not be, I believe, an overwhelming
mandate for either side. It would do
well for those who find themselves on the victorious side tomorrow, to remember
it could just as easily have gone the other way. They might well have found themselves in the
shoes of the “poor in spirit.” Those who
find themselves on the victorious side might do well to remember, next time the
roles could be reversed, and make an effort to empathize with those whose
candidate has lost, to speak with them and strive to understand their very real
concerns, fears and anxiety for our nation.
Prudence
and wisdom demand therefore, that whoever the victors are, should feel
compelled to reach out a hand of friendship to the loser, and commit to engage
with them in meaningful and civil discourse, to act in a spirit of compromise,
not in a spirit of triumphalism for their party; but in a spirit of patriotic
concern for the whole nation, seeking to
serve, not the interests of Republicans or Democrats, but to serve the
Constitution of the United States of America, and we the people, all the people, of this great nation,
which is their moral obligation and duty. This is the only healthy way
forward.
I’d
like to close by reading Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s classic American poem. The Ship of State written in 1849.[2]
The
Ship of State
Thou,
too, sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail
on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity
with all its fears,
With
all the hopes of future years,
Is
hanging breathless on thy fate!
We
know what Master laid thy keel,
What
Workmen wrought thy ribs of steel,
Who
made each mast, and sail, and rope,
What
anvils rang, what hammers beat,
In
what a forge and what a heat
Were
shaped the anchors of thy hope!
Fear
not each sudden sound and shock,
'Tis
of the wave and not the rock;
'Tis
but the flapping of the sail,
And
not a rent made by the gale!
In
spite of rock and tempest's roar,
In
spite of false lights on the shore,
Sail
on, nor fear to breast the sea!
Our
hearts, our hopes, are all with thee.
Our
hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our
faith triumphant o'er our fears,
Are
all with thee, -are all with thee!
Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow
[1]
Jefferson, Thomas “First Inaugural Address” found in Individualism and Commitment in American Life: Readings on the Themes of Habits of the Heart
(New York, Cambridge, etc: Perenial Library:
Harper & Row Publishers, 1987).
[2]
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth The Ship of State found in The Patriot’s Handbook ed. Caroline Kennedy (New York: Hyperion Books, 2003), 48.
