Saints Marching to the Polls

Walking with the Saints

The walls of the sanctuary in The Cathedral of Our Lady and the Angels in Los Angeles are lined with life-size tapestries that portray saints from all races, cultures, times and places. Entering that space we walk with them and they walk with us toward the table where we share the bread and cup in “sure and certain hope of resurrection.”

The tapestries are a visual expression of the words from the letter to the Hebrews:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of  the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:1-2)

All Saints’ Day reminds us we do not make this journey alone; we are surrounded by the saints who have walked this path before us. The saints on the cathedral walls also remind us that the Body of Christ includes people from every nation and culture. The “Christian nationalism” in “Project 2025” is both an oxymoron and a heresy. We walk with brother and sisters from every nation who share their gifts with us as we share our gifts with them.

One of the gifts of the church in South Africa to the rest of us is the song, “We Are Marching in the Light of God.” People in every culture have learned to sing the original Zulu words: Siyahamb’ ekukhanyen’ kwenkhos.

Marching to the Polls

Another gift from South Africa was the courageous witness of Christian people who stood against Apartheid. Sadly, like much of the church that went along with Hitler in Germany in the ’30’s and like many “evangelical” voters in the US who support the former President, there were many faithful people who went along with the authoritarian racism of Apartheid. But there were others who, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the “Confessing Church” in Germany, practiced our Baptismal vow to “resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.”

In 1987, during the height of the struggle, Bishop Peter Storey asked his congregation at Central Methodist Mission in Johannesburg, “What should you carry into the voting booth?” His answer speaks to our nation’s decision this week. (From, With God in the Crucible, p. 103-108)

• If you are a Christian, you can’t leave God out of the voting booth.
  “If Christ is Lord, nothing may operate outside his reach. If I believe my Christian faith has nothing to say about my politics, I am saying God ought not to be God. I am responsible to God for how I exercise that vote.”
  
• If you are a Christian, you can’t leave your neighbor out either.
  “Voting with a Christian conscience means voting so that my neighbor will enjoy all that I want to enjoy…imagine them looking over your shoulder.” In our case, imagine immigrants, people of color, the LGBTQ community, people who are homeless, our grandchildren, etc.
  
• If you are a Christian, you can’t leave the Truth out of that voting booth.
  “This election is more informed by lies than any I remember … The Christian will measure events and opinions against the revelation of Jesus–the Word of God … The lie says that differences between people are more important than the things we have in common, and that our racial and cultural identity is more important than our common humanity.” For us, it’s also the lie that we can’t trust the integrity of our elections and the peaceful passing of power unless our candidate wins.

There will be time to debate the details of specific policies the two parties are offering after the election. But this election confronts us with a larger issue about the very nature of our government and the direction of our nation. I shared the convictions upon which I decided how voted previously in My Stubborn Ounces. I respect and celebrate the freedom with which we make our own decision. My hope, prayer and challenge is that as we march to the polls we will be deeply aware of the saints who march along side us. May we sense that “We Are Marching in the Light of God.”

Grace and peace,

Jim