Elections and Easter

Election campaigns can be depressing. What we hear is a month of division – of drawing lines in the sand. The other side or person has got it wrong. They got us in this mess. My side has got it right. Vote for us; only we can get us out of this predicament.

Behind all sides sit some unspoken assumptions. If we follow one path, things get better. If we follow another path, things get worse. In other words, it’s up to us to choose the right path, and in the process, bring in solutions.

This sounds remarkably like the first century. Israel is in a mess, and the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the zealots and the essences all have competing solutions. Follow us to bring in peace.

Jesus critiques this mindset with the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Comparative assessments are part of the problem on two fronts. First, they are arrogant and self-unaware. But second, they assume that we can bring solutions by our choices and performance.

Jesus’ solution comes from the left field. It is not by performance, but by throwing yourself on the mercy of God – this is the path to peace. Jesus dies for you and me, not because we are better, more loveable, clever, or more worthy.

As a response of gratitude, Jesus invites us to love others as he has loved us. We ought not to love because we find them more loveable, friendly, clever, or pleasant; or because we have a natural affinity with them.

We love people because they are made in God’s image. It’s not just our friends who are made in God’s image, it’s our neighbours. Those non-descript people who we all too easily ignore. Jesus calls us to love them, like he loved us at Easter.

By Rev. David Rietveld