Year A, Proper 26
How do you select the candidates you will vote for? Did you vote already during early voting? What criteria did you use to select the people who got your vote? Are you voting this Tuesday? How will you decide which candidates deserves your vote?
Political ads and news reports are, at best, unreliable. Some use AI generated images and speech, others twist facts or communicate things that are not true, and most seem designed to demonize the candidates or party they don’t agree with. What can you use as a reliable voter guide?
The Bible, in today’s readings and beyond, is a reliable voter guide. Using the Bible to guide voting or other decisions requires time and effort. Effort that yields results well worth the time required. The Episcopal Church directs members to use scripture, tradition, and reason to guide day to day activities, and for making major decisions. Voting is a major decision. Voting is not merely a civic duty, it is a demonstration of what we believe; the faith in which we were Baptized. In Baptism we vow to seek and serve Christ in all persons, strive for justice and peace, resist evil and repent, and proclaim God’s good news by what we say and do. Our vote demonstrates what we believe. Today’s Scripture lessons (Joshua 3:7-17, 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13, and Matthew 23:1-12) illustrate how to live one’s faith with integrity. Integrity is an essential character trait for politicians and people, and for religious leaders and believers.
In the first lesson, God is talking to Joshua (Joshua 3:7-17). After Moses’ death, God passed the job of leading Israel onto Joshua. God invited Joshua to partner with God, just as Moses had partnered with God.
…This day I, God, will begin to exalt you, Joshua, in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses. Joshua, you are the one who shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant; when you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still and dry in the bed of the Jordan river (sic) (Joshua 3:7-8).
The ark was a vessel for God’s presence. The ark functioned in the same way tabernacles in churches function, and tabernacles in synagogues function. The ark was the dwelling place for the tablets on which God recorded the Ten Commandments. Tabernacles in synagogues contain Torah scrolls (God’s Word). Tabernacles in churches contain consecrated bread and wine (the body and blood of Christ). After his conversation with God, Joshua invited each of Israel’s 12 tribes to identify one person to represent them. This representative would carry the ark and walk with Joshua into the Jordon river. God, who had parted the Red Sea for Israel’s escape from slavery, planned to part the Jordon for their entrance into the promised land. Joshua, a leader with integrity, involved others. Joshua did not step into the swift currents and deep water of the Jordon river alone. He incorporated the time and skills of individuals trusted by each tribe and delegated carrying the ark to them. He invited other wise and respected leaders to accompany him as God parted the water. Next, as a person of integrity, Joshua listened for and heeded God’s direction. Partnering with God, Joshua helped Israel deal with enemies, Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. This long list of peoples was generated so successive generations would know Israel’s enemies ‘out numbered and out gunned them.’ Last, but not least, Joshua was a person with integrity because he did not try to represent God. He left God to represent God’s self. He invited others to carry God’s presence for him, for their tribe, and for their nation. Joshua chose not to claim credit for his current position and power or for his past accomplishments. Moses had selected, mentored, and trained Joshua and he had many battle victories, but Joshua was clear that both his past accomplishments and new position and power were made possible by God.
In the second lesson, Paul claimed people with integrity do not burden others or take credit for accomplishments. As the apostles and disciples preached and taught, established and sustained congregations, healed the sick, and attended to sinners and people in need, they did so without creating hardships or problems for others. Paul said,
remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed … the gospel of God (1 Thessalonians 2:9).
In this letter Paul complimented the Thessalonians. Paul’s complimentary words display the type of integrity we saw in Joshua.
We… give thanks to God for you (sic), that when you received the word of God you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word… (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
People who live with integrity, claim their thoughts, words, deeds, and possessions while giving God credit for these blessings. When my ministry is helpful to others I feel ‘my living is not in vain’ and I feel God working in and through my efforts. Paul told the Christians in Philippi,
I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in want, of having success and enduring failure (sic). I have learned; (sic) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:12b-13).
Jesus’ instruction in Matthew should not be interpreted as a criticism of Judaism or Jewish leaders. Jesus stated emphatically,
…scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’s seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it faithfully… (Matthew 23:2-3).
Jesus was equally emphatic denouncing political and religious leaders who lacked integrity. Jesus said, leaders who lack integrity
…tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others, but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger… They do all their deeds to be seen by others… They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces… (Matthew 23:4-7).
Jesus said we should not emulate people who impose burdens instead of promoting justice, who seek attention for themselves rather than inviting empathy and marshaling resources for people in need, and who demand honor for themselves in place of honoring God, the greater good, or self-evident truths. If Jesus said not to emulate people who lack integrity then we should not vote for people who lack integrity.
People with integrity listen for and heed directions from a ‘higher power,’ take actions for the ‘greater good,’ and uphold “truths that are self evident - that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Declaration of Independence). People with integrity use accomplishments, power, and positions to serve God, people, creatures, and Creation. People with integrity, empower, include and delegate. When you vote, notice I said when, not if you vote, vote for candidates, ballot measures, school budgets that mirror values found in the Bible. Vote with integrity for people who demonstrate integrity.
