It’s unsettling, jaw-dropping and alarming to hear the seemingly unending reports of Christians in lockstep with the prejudicial practices, policies and proclamations coming from a chorus of our country’s highest elected officials.
You are dust, and to dust you shall return.
— Genesis 3:19
Stewardship in the church has long focused on giving, and well it should… But another stewardship topic deserves equal reflection: Time. More accurately, how we use it. In a world where so many find themselves filling each day to the brim, saving nothing for the margins, time is a scarce resource. The hectic pace at which most of us live often makes it easier to give our church our money than our time.
After Stephen Paddock’s Oct. 1 shooting rampage in Las Vegas, I had to ask myself whether Christianity could have made a difference. If we prayed the Lord’s Prayer with the understanding that it is meant to empower us to do God’s will in the world, might his life have been different? What might our country be like today if, from the time we first landed on Plymouth Rock, Christians prioritized the kingdom-coming work of bringing God’s love, healing and hope in Jesus’ name?
We come at a time when our nation is badly divided on matters of politics, policies, personalities and partisan practices. But, today, O God, make us more than Democrats or Republicans or Independents. Make us Americans who are deeply committed to the strength of our nation and the well-being of our fellow citizens.
As a Christian believer in the midst of Advent, I could feel an even greater hope stirring within, as pop culture often reflects the glimmerings of what the Gospel reveals in full: Despite the world doing its worst, Christ brings us into an abiding, lasting hope and way of living faithfully, boldly and fearlessly. Luke’s Gospel shows us the true power in the world — one that has neither patience for Empire nor a desire to be like anything that humans could conjure up alone.