Reflections Before an Election: A 40 Day Devotional

This is the first entry in Reflections Before an Election: A 40 Day Devotional. Subsequent entries can be received as a daily email by signing up here.

Day 1: Friday, September 27 

But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up. - Daniel 3:12 

Reflection by the Rev. Erin Jones 

This probably seems like a strange verse with which to start a devotional...but it is from one of those vibrant and visceral stories of our faith. From a young age, we tell it in Sunday School, and every year we hear it at the Great Vigil of Easter. We are drawn, over and over again, to Rad, Shad, and Benny (credit to VeggieTales), who are part of the Jewish contingent that has been exiled from Jerusalem, living in Babylon. It’s been several generations since the exile, so they know of no other way to be Jewish except in exile.  

Reading this story this year, what I find most intriguing about these three is that they serve in the court of Nebuchadnezzar as political officials. They have gone through some sort of assimilation, some maneuvering of identity and realistic acceptance of where they find themselves and how they and their people can survive. We see that they, and all the people of Israel in exile, are striving to find ways to participate in the community where they find themselves, while also knowing sometimes their faith demands they go another way.  

This story tells about when Rad, Shad, and Benny come to a line in the sand. They have been able to serve and live and survive in Babylon, but when the king asks them to worship him, they discover the boundary of their ability to assimilate. They know that this ask is one that requires them to violate the very foundation of their faith, the very first commandment - “There is one God, no other gods.” Nebuchadnezzar, by demanding all to bow down to him, is asking them to make him their god. He is demanding proof that, as Luther defines in the Large Catechism, that he is that “upon which [they] set [their] heart and put [their] trust.” And while Rad, Shad, and Benny can and have up to this point, faithfully served in a governmental system, they cannot abide when that system demands their faith, love, and trust.  

We live in a time where our questions of how to live a faithful life are not entirely unlike Rad, Shad, and Benny’s. Sure, there’s no hyperbolic despot building golden statues and demanding we bow to them - though perhaps we try to convince ourselves that the leaders of “the other side” are just a hair’s breadth away from that possibility. We can struggle, though, with living in a world where norms, realities and priorities feel so different from just a couple generations ago.  What does it look like to be faithful in this time? How can we both keep God as the center of our love and trust, while also caring for our neighbors and our community in this pluralistic society in which we find ourselves? 

These are questions that we’ll grapple with in this devotional. We might not come to any concrete answers about the “right” way to engage at the intersection of civic life and our faith, but by reading scripture and praying together, we might remember what is at the center of our hearts; we might become more confident in who claims our love and trust.  

Rad, Shad, and Benny remind us that no candidate, party, office or government in its entirety deserves our worship. One God, no other gods. AND, they show us that as long as we can keep God as the center of our love and trust, we can participate in our communal life with our neighbors.  

Trying to find that balance is hard, and we will probably get it wrong nine times out of ten. BUT, when we feel like we have failed, or when we get the balance right and still find ourselves in the fiery furnace, at the mercy or ire of those in power, or even of our friends and family who think differently, we strive to have the confidence and conviction that God will be with us.  

Immanuel, Jesus Christ, comes down to earth to be with us. Christ shows up in the bread and wine to be with us. Through fires and elections and angry debates, Christ shows up, broken, wounded, and resurrected so that we might be transformed and moved to worship the God who made and loves us. And when we speak of that transformation, we hold on to our faith even when it is hard or seemingly impossible, so the world might know that transformative love and presence with us. May we do so boldly; may we do so lovingly.  

Prayer 

Immanuel, remind us that you are indeed always with us. Help us to be bold in our faith, bold in our love, and bold in our trust in you. As we journey through these next 40 days, be at the center of our hearts and minds, guiding us toward deeper love of you, of those we disagree with, and all those in need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.