Elections and Resurrection

This election season, a whole vista of issues has been featured in the polls, but apparently none is so prominent in the minds of voters as the economy. I get it – everyone has to work and feed themselves and their families. If a woman is pregnant she has to eat for two people and there are medical bills. The prominence of the economy in polling shows the implications of human life needing to be sustained day to day. The best way – not a flawless way – to do that is through an economic system of capitalism where people are free to work and free to improve conditions for themselves and their family. But – and this may sound very obvious – someone can only have a better life if they are alive. And every life is made in the image of God, endowed with unique dignity because of being made in his image (see the declaration of independence and Genesis 9:6).

While some voters may prefer to not think about abortion, in fact, it is of vital significance. One man has said “the true measure of a society is found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”¹Thus, by preserving the heartbeat of the weakest, we are strengthening the heart of our nation. Truly, it may seem a paradox, but the country that kills its own people becomes the nation that consumes itself. After all the dust has settled there is nothing left but the ruins of a society that has destroyed those deemed unworthy until there is no one left. Martin Niemoller, a survivor of Adolf Hitler’s regime, reminisced,

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Although the discrimination against the preborn in our society may look and sound different in some ways from the holocaust, it is both bloody and destructive. Perhaps a modern quote, referring the grasping hands of violence and ensuing guilt apart from grace, may go

First it came for the baby

Then it came for my mind

Then it came for my body

Then it came for my relationships

Then it came for my career

Then it came for my eternity

And there was nothing left

This is not a happy picture, but it is all too real for those who thought abortion would be a quick solution to a long-term problem. The taking of these innocent lives has instead created long-term problems with a solution that seems so evasive. But is it? Is the solution so hard to find? Not for those drawn by love. Because the solution is a Person who gave his innocent life as the once-for-all sacrifice, calling us away from destroying one another on the altar of convenience and towards a community of offering up ourselves as living sacrifices to the one who made and loves his creation.

Jesus is perfectly worthy the spotless lamb of God who takes away our sin – no matter the sin, whether abortion or some sin that may seem “not a big deal,” all who come by faith to the stream that Christ provides through his atonement will be given the same hope, joy, and peace that is given to the “best saints.” Because we are all the worst sinners, and Jesus is the best and the Holy One who always did and does his Father’s will. He is the hope of nations. To him we look, whatever happens today, tomorrow, or ever. Because we know that he made and holds time as he made and holds our lives, and he is working all things to the good of those who love him somehow. Even when it’s hard for us to see. Even when there seems to be more whys than answers. Even when we are crying out to God and cannot see an end. Because if God allowed his only beloved Son to go through so much pain and gave him joy on the other side, why would he not also be with his children in their deepest night and bring them joy in the morning? That is exactly what he promises.

So let’s shout with the protagonist of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, ‘Life, life, eternal life!” and run straight into the light with the help of the Holy Spirit. Even when we stumble and fall, our Heavenly father is there to raise us up and lift our eyes back to the cross. There Jesus suffered for us so that he could guide and strengthen us in our sufferings. There he died, but he also rose from the dead and proceeded to victory over death so we could share in his resurrection. Do you know his resurrection today?

Works Cited and Referenced –

Gallup Polls, https://news.gallup.com/poll/651719/economy-important-issue-2024-presidential-vote.aspx accessed 23 October 2024

This quote has been attributed to Mahatma Gandhi and Hubert H. Humphrey. https://www.columbian.com/news/2016/nov/11/letter-quote-from-humphrey-not-gandhi/, accessed 23 October 2024

Holocaust Museum. Martin Niemoller quotation. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists, accessed 23 October 2024

4. Pilgrim’s Progress, https://www.monergism.com/pilgrims-progress-modern-english, accessed 23 October 2024

5. Bible verses and documents:

Romans 8: https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/rom/8/28/s_1054028

Declaration of Independence

Elections and Resurrection

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