JESUS FOR PRESIDENT
Election day isn’t just November 4th

For the past 6 weeks I've been blogging and teaching my way through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7): the essential teachings of Jesus – his vision of life, his understanding of community, his relational experience of God and neighbors, his invitation to live in and into the Kingdom of God. We’ve playfully interpreted this teaching through the creative lens of the recent book Jesus for President: which lifts up the Jesus Doctrine of radical non-violence and neighborly love in view of empowering the redistribution of the wealth of God’s compassion and justice among all peoples. A friend recently told me that it didn’t look like my candidate (Jesus) was going to win the election on the 4th. I laughed. Thinking about it in hindsight, I’m struck by the poignancy of that comment. Jesus doesn’t call us to partisan in the way we live our faith. Jesus isn’t running for election on the 4th of this month, rather he’s inviting us to a daily election as those courageous enough to choose the third way of Jesus’ radical doctrines and vision of daily life. Voting is our duty as citizens. It’s the primary way we participate in our democracy. And we’re also invited, as we’ve seen in this election, to participate even more through the gift of our money, our organizing skills, our presence, our relationships, and our active engagement in discussions. Jesus invites us to an even more radical participation. To vote everyday with the way we live. The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) is his call to action, his inauguration speech pointing towards the kingdom that he wants not only to build for us, but also calls us to build alongside him through our actions, words and relationships. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” How are you using your gifts (time, money, relationships, and talents) to further the candidacy of our maverick candidate for change, who wants us to vote for hope everyday by our participation in his kingdom work of loving and living as Jesus first loved and lived for us?

Peace to you and yours, and to all of us - no matter if we feel like our hopes win or lose in the election unfolding today. We're called to more than just victory....