In The Year …

One of the things that I love about Tapestry, the community of Christ that I am a part of, is the diversity of political thought that is a part of us. One of the members of the Leadership Team will summarize this thought with a statement that I love. He says:

If you are going to be a part of Tapestry you need to be okay being ticked off every now and then by something someone has said.

What this means today is that quite possibly half of my friends in Tapestry are very excited about the results of last night’s elections and the other near half might be in mourning and worried for the future of our country.

For those that are excited about last night’s elections, I hope that your thoughts and dreams that led you to vote the way you did turn out to be correct. I hope the next four years actually do increase the greatness of America. I would be very pleased to look back and end up believing this was a great choice.

For my friends who are mourning the results of last night I hurt for and with you. I always hesitate to say “well God is still on His throne” (even though it is true) because I feel like it can seem to dismiss someone’s pain and worse can lead to a mindset of doing nothing. I do however love the passage of scripture that I believe the saying comes from. In fact, I mentioned this past Sunday at the Tapestry Sunday morning gathering.

I believe the saying comes from Isaiah 6:1-9 which is written during a time of great mourning for God’s people. The popular king Uzziah had died and God’s people were disheartened. It led to some feeling a loss of control and uncertainty about the future. The passage’s context fits for me right now. Let me quote it with a little change of my own.

In the year that [Donald Trump was elected President of the United States of America], I saw the Lord, high and exalted,seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
    the whole earth is full of his glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips,and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

One of the things I love about this passage is that while it brings comfort, it also brings discomfort. God’s comfort to Isaiah during a troubling time also brought trouble to who Isaiah recognized himself to be and that led to Isaiah going to do the work of God because of the comfort he received from God being on His throne. God being on His throne is a call to action as well as a source of comfort.

May all of us, both those who are glad and those who mourn, see examples of God on His throne this week and respond by being challenged and sent to do the work of His kingdom. May we hear the voices shout “Holy, Holy, Holy” and so vividly recognize that the whole earth is full of His glory that we can’t help but desire and act to be a part of extending that glory. May God being on His throne cause His people to fight for the weak and marginalized.

God is on His throne so be comforted … and let’s get our butts in gear and start doing the works of His kingdom.