Good morning church family,
I wonder what would happen if all the woodland creatures who lived in the fields, forests, and meadows of New England got together to form a republic. What if way out in the Allagash they built for themselves a court, capitol building, and executive mansion? When they finally got around to having a vote; who do you imagine they’d elect to serve as wilderness president?
Well, if this woodland republic was democratic, I’d think a mouse would end up the chief executive, for surely mice would make up the largest voting bloc in the land. In fact, I’d think most of the animal’s congress would be populated by rodents; with chipmunks, squirrels, gophers, and voles filling the majority of the seats. I mean, there might be a valley or a glen here or there represented by a whitetail or a turtledove and a I suppose a number of wetlands might elect beavers to serve as legislators, but aside from a few of these outliers, this new republic of the woodlands would surely be run by little critters.
But if the animals decided to populate their government the way we populate ours, a trip to the Allagash would reveal a truly dumbfounding reality. For inside the animal’s capitol building you wouldn’t find a bunch of field mice and tree squirrels pontificating on the importance of deforestation control or wrestling over acorn subsidies and such. No, you’d find a bunch of coyotes there instead; raccoons, skunks and hawks all sitting back smoking cigars while they sell the future of the woods down the Kennebec. A big fat bear would be asleep in the Speaker’s chair and a little weasel would have his feet up on the desk, twirling a gavel in his hand. And there in the woodland White House, a sly fox would be holding forth in the oval office.
I never saw a single episode of the hit Netflix drama House of Cards, but I did read a good bit about it. I was fascinated by the popularity of a show that portrayed the people’s government in Washington as a hothouse for the flourishing of every kind of corruption, perversion, and degradation. What was particularly interesting to me was that no one saw the sad storylines in every episode as unrealistic. The nation just shrugged it all off; thinking to itself, “Yeah, I guess that’s about right.” Even though there was nothing ennobling or inspiring in either the plotlines or the characters that were being developed, our countrymen spent good money and precious time watching this stuff. America was entertained by the debasement of its own government.
What is wrong with us? Why, in a republic like ours where the people have a vote, do we have so many wolves, weasels, and thieving raccoons representing us in congress? Why is the White House so often a den for a fox? Why aren’t we represented and led by everyday critters like us – men and women who are simply looking to work hard and provide for kith and kin; all while pursuing happiness? I mean, most of us are pretty ordinary. We’re not a bunch of sophisticates and elites with nefarious agendas for the radical transformation of our country and world. The vast majority of Americans aren’t one-percenters who’ve made their millions and billions by using access to power to secure no-show consultation jobs and lofty positions on Fortune 500 boards. We’re not a nation of nihilists. And yet, if you look around the halls of government, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks or talks or lives like us. Why is that?
Well, I suppose it’s possible that power’s corrupting influence on people is entirely to blame – we keep sending good people to Washington, the thinking goes, but then something in the Potomac River water turns Mr. Smith into Mephisto. While there’s certainly something to this theory, it’s just a little too neat and tidy for me.
I think instead that we, the people, have allowed Washington to become the kind of place that attracts dodgers, scoundrels, and other bad hats. I think we’ve so demeaned politics at this point and become so accepting of a culture of corruption in elected office that robbers find license in our sighs of resignation and are emboldened by all our shrugging. When we rate candidates not by their character but by how artfully they lie and obfuscate, we unwittingly promote the wicked. When we award points for honey-tongued promises and applaud clever evasions, we’re courting partnerships with manipulators. I’m an adult and I recognize that when there happen to be a lot of weasels on the ballot that my obligation is to vote for the lesser of two weasels. And I’ll certainly continue trying to make those decisions in wisdom. But we must mourn over a ballot like that and pray earnestly for better ones.
My simple plea – which, admittedly, is but a voice crying out in the digital wilderness – is that we do everything we can to make character an issue in elective politics. As we continue to strive as Christians to live holy and upright lives, let our righteousness be reflected in our representative government – however small and insignificant that reflection might seem. Don’t allow the jadedness of Washington politics to dim our light or take the seasoning out of our salt. Let us remember what Solomon said in the twenty-eighth chapter of Proverbs, verse one, “The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” When we give up on Washington or Concord as hopeless places, we give up an opportunity to allow God to use us in those places. When the light that God has kindled within us shines from atop the stand He’s placed us on – remember that it gives light to all that are in the house that they might see our good deeds and glorify their Father who is in heaven. What a ministry!
As we prepare to go to the polls this election season, don’t forget the high office that we’ve been elected to by Heaven. We daily serve as agents of salvation to a condemned world. And if the Spirit of God reside in little mice like you and me then we, the lowliest of critters, become kings of the jungle.
We’re looking forward to gathering in God’s house tomorrow and I pray that we’ll find that a ladder like the one Jacob saw years ago, has been set against the back wall. I pray that God will be bringing Heaven down to us and that we will be sending the concerns and praises of Earth back up to Him. It’s going to be a wonderful day! May the Lord, mighty God, bless and continue to keep us!
- Pastor Tate
