You know, if I were to let myself, I would be forced to admit that I'm pretty useless. Now, I know I'm fairly good at my job. I know how to preach; I know how to teach; I can make my way around a prayer book.
But in the big scheme of things? Useless. I can't generate electricity, can't turn petroleum into gasoline, can't mine coal . . . I wouldn't even know what it looked like if I hit it with a shovel.
I can't raise cattle, can't build a chicken coop, can't trap a rabbit. I can't thresh grain, can't grind corn; would kill myself foraging for the wrong kind of berries.
I can't spin thread, I can't weave cloth; I can't tan leather, can't work a sewing machine, can barely sew a button.
I can't build a sturdy shelter; can't build any kind of vehicle; can't even make a wheel.
I can't make an internet; I can't make a debit card; I can't make coins.
I could go on and on, but surely by now you realize that if things in the world change. . . even just a little bit. . . well, if you decide to depend on me for survival, you are doomed.
The fact is, looking at most everyone here – and I respect and love each and every one of you – if we had to depend on any of you for all of this, we'd be doomed, too.
The fact is, we are all pretty useless people. But, that's just life. If we found ourselves stranded with a nuclear physicist, we'd still be doomed, because I bet he couldn't spin thread or weave cloth either. I'll bet the sharpest sharpshooter, hitting birds and rabbits and deer every time, would still be doomed once he ran out of ammunition and realized that he had no clue how to make a bullet.
This doesn't bode well...it makes me anxious if I think about it. Sure I could buy all that survival food and get somebody to build me a shelter to live in, but what if my can opener breaks? What if my glasses break? Doomed all over again.
OK, ok, I know. I'm exaggerating. I know how society works. We are communal animals, like bees. We each know a little bit of something, and when we come together, we put all those little bits together and make a life that works. And the overwhelming majority of people on this planet know that and willingly work together to survive. Because it's in our DNA to help one another, to recognize that we can't do it alone, to see that spark in each other. Perhaps to see God in each other. And when the time comes that something happens, we will still work together to survive. Survival may be different, but we will survive together.
Most of the time, whenever I've heard this Gospel Reading, known as The Little Apocalypse, I can let myself get a similar feeling of anxiety.
Jesus it talking to his followers about when the Son of Man will come in glory. And he says that before the Son of Man comes, there will be all those wars, and national strife, and neighborhood strife, and family strife. Things will look bad.
And I wonder if people look around, cock an eyebrow, and raise their hands, “Ummm, Jesus. All those things are happening already. They've been happening all our lives” And I wonder if Jesus would have smiled and said, “Bingo. Those things are always happening. Those things WILL always be happening. And that means that the Son of Man is always coming among you...God is always among you, trying to show you a new way, a new way that is always there for you. Stop and focus on that. Stop and focus on the fact you need each other. To follow me, you will ALWAYS need each other, need to LOVE each other. Now, go and do that.”
Because I really think that's what Jesus is driving at. Loving God and loving our neighbor, even in the face of all of this anxiety going on in the world. Focusing on what matters, even when the world tells us something else matters more.
Lately, I've been watching more news than usual, and we've just come off some pretty anxious days, well, months...Oh, who am I kidding... anxious years. And we're going to have more anxious days what with markets and hearings and elections and all that yelling and fussing and blaming. And Thanksgiving is coming up, and most of us know – WE KNOW – that there are just things we shouldn't talk about with our politics in such a twist, but someone will talk about elections, and we'll be off to the races. But for most of us, the day before Thanksgiving is pretty much the same as the day after Thanksgiving. And the day before Election Day will be pretty much the same as the day after Election Day.
We will have some changes, yes, and some things will stay the same. And some of us will be angry and some of us will rejoice, and father will be against son and mother against daughter, and there are still wars and rumors of war, and all of that is going on, and just like in Jesus' day, we are so ready to let it distract us from what a wonderful life we have inherited, when God is present in it.
We have some real problems and real challenges, and we will need to work hard – very hard – to overcome them. And it won't always be easy. But we also are incredibly rich, free, peaceful, prosperous, creative, productive, and still pretty good at governing ourselves when we really try.
When any election is over, a choice will have been made, and that's that. But there will be choices, too, today: about our jobs, our businesses, our families, our schools, our churches, and our communities and cities and states.
And as Christians, living in Christ together – not alone – but together in community, we will meet those challenges because God is with us.
Us. Not me, not you. Us. That's how we do it. That's how we are able to keep it together, to keep from that anxiety of loneliness and doom.
We do it because as Christians, we know all about US. We know that Christianity is about loving the other. And that loving makes me and the other an US. Coming together, working together, sharing goals together, loving together, and, if necessary, fighting together. Always with that common goal of loving God and loving our neighbor.
But maybe to make that happen, today must also be an election day. Maybe tomorrow is an election day. Maybe every day is election day.
Maybe every day, we wake up and check a ballot box. Those decisions we make every day.
Check that box to decide to treat that cashier who's having a bad day with a little bit of kindness.
Check that box to give a little more to help who have little.
Check that box to cultivate compassion.
Check that box to work hard and honestly and raise our children to be good Christians.
Check that box to struggle for justice even when it's not popular.
Check that box to set aside just one minute each morning to pray.
Check that box to pray for peace as we honor those who fought to preserve our freedom.
Check that box to fight for farmers losing their farms and workers losing their jobs.
Check that box love God and love our neighbor.
Check that box to follow Jesus.
Going out into the world, every day doing our duty as citizens and as Christians. Marking a ballot that truly matters. A ballot for a better world. A ballot for a more loving world. A ballot written on our hearts and in our souls.
And you know something? When THOSE votes are counted? I still won't be able to spin thread, but someone will make me a coat. I still won't be able to make a wheel, but someone will lift me into their wagon. And together we will move on, through all of our todays, to God's kingdom of tomorrow.
Amen.