A Pastoral Letter on the 2024 Election

 Dear Edmonds United Methodists, grace and steady peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ.

 The Bible is full of dramatic acts that change the course of human history. In Genesis, God sent a flood to cover the earth. Jonah went to Nineveh and converted an entire nation with a single sentence. The Apostles voted to open the Jesus movement to non-Jews. When we read these stories, we often want these dramatic changes in our lives, communities, and nation, and we are crushed when change is denied, deferred, or muddled. 

 Like many of you, your pastor wanted a resounding “YES” in the 2024 elections—a landslide that would clearly tell the world what we are about as a nation. A “YES” that says we are against violent rhetoric, on the side of racial justice and solidarity with ethnic minorities, and that we want our public policies to protect the lives of LGBTQIA+ and women in our communities.

Instead, we are uncertain and disappointed, confronted by the reality that so many individuals in our nation say “NO” to our desire for racial, economic, and climate justice, mercy for the disenfranchised, and accountability for our leaders. 

In Scripture, we find the prophet Amos in a similar place of helplessness and disappointment. In the midst of this, Amos chose to speak out and cast a faithful vision of community. Amos proclaimed that God does not delight in lip service but only when “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” 

Amos’ words remind us that God’s call to us remains, and our work for justice and mercy will not be completed in one day alone or by any one election. We place our hope in God, whose presence is ever near, even in brokenness and loss. We share the stories of those on the margins, bringing their experiences to the centers of the tables we are at. And we do not disengage from the political world even as we wait. 

This was always our work - we just didn’t know how troubled the waters ahead would be until today.

In these coming weeks, I encourage you to carve out time for self-care practices that help you feel more whole and encouraged. Check in on folks who suddenly feel incredibly, overwhelmingly vulnerable. And although it may be difficult, find ways to acknowledge the humanity of family and friends who may not share the same values you do. You and yours matter in the coming days of resistance, and we cannot do our church’s work without all of us. 

I also encourage you to go to God with your fears, anxieties, and rage. Because God can handle our feelings of disappointment, grief, and despair. God can feel our wails in the night and withstand our tears. Because God became human in Jesus Christ and felt all that, too, including bone-crushing despair and worry. And God felt the incredible joy of life together that keeps each of us going. Go to God with all of it, and bring all of yourself to worship, fellowship, and service. 

Blessings to you, and see you Sunday at 10:00 am worship.

Pastor Jeremy