Living Wisely During an Election

​My sermon this morning is about wisdom. But I want to begin with women.
 
Although we always celebrate Mother’s Day here at Saint David’s (and Father’s Day, too!), Mother’s Day is not officially part of the Christian year. In terms of our readings, today is a better time to celebrate women than Mother’s Day.
 
Here’s how our Old Testament reading begins. “A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.”
 
From there, Proverbs praises women for a range of accomplishments that is remarkable, particularly when we remember that ancient Israel was a thoroughly patriarchal culture. The capable wife cares for her husband and children. She also buys and sells land, plants vineyards, and produces finished linen goods for sale.
 
That’s a high standard for any woman. For any man, too. There is no question that, by this measure, Carrie is more capable than I am. The only thing I am clearly better at is picking a spouse!
 
But the most valuable thing about a capable wife is her wisdom. Proverbs says “she opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”
 
The value of wisdom is not limited to women, of course. As we see in our reading from James, every Christian is called to be wise. James encourages us all to show by our good lives that our works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.
 
Now, a first thing to notice here is that wisdom in Proverbs and the book of James differs from what Paul calls “the wisdom of the world” (1 Cor 1:20). The wisdom of the capable wife, James’ “wisdom from above,” has nothing to do with intelligence or education or whatever else the world might value.
 
Biblical wisdom is fundamentally religious and practical. Biblical wisdom begins in the “fear of the Lord”—that’s the last thing Proverbs says about a capable wife. And biblical wisdom issues in a good life—that’s the first thing James says about a person who is wise and understanding.
 
I take this to mean that Christian wisdom means doing our best to live in accordance with God’s will, always relying on God’s help.
 
James teaches us what that wisdom is supposed to look like in our lives. “Wisdom from above,” he says, “is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.” It is “a harvest of righteousness…sown in peace for those who make peace.” That is who we are called to be as wise, Christian people.
 
The opposite of wisdom, according to James, is manifest in conflicts and disputes among us. That is the folly we are called to avoid.
 
This biblical wisdom should shape every part of our lives.
 
As Proverbs reminds us when describing a capable wife, one place to live wisely is at home with our families. Another place to live wisely is in our business dealings, when we buy and sell goods.
 
In his teaching on wisdom, James is thinking primarily about life in the Church, how we treat each other in the community of faith. Being wise in Church can be surprisingly hard, as we see in our Gospel reading.
 
Jesus is trying to teach his disciples what will happen when they reach Jerusalem. But the disciples did not understand what Jesus was teaching, and they were afraid to ask.
 
Immediately their failure to understand Christ’s teaching shows up in how the treat each other. They argue about who is the greatest. No willingness to yield here! Instead, we get conflicts and disputes. Could the disciples have missed Jesus’ point any more dramatically? Could they have embodied folly, not wisdom, any more clearly?
 
Jesus has to back up and start over. It should not be your goal, Jesus says, to be the one in charge, to have authority over your brothers and sisters. It’s closer to the opposite. Your job is to serve each other. Your model should be a little child.
 
That’s what wisdom looks like in Church. That’s how we should interact with each other.
 
But, important though family, and business, and Church are, the arena that most requires wisdom right now, in contemporary America, is, it seems to me, in our politics.
 
I would not characterize the way we talk about politics as pure or peaceable, which is to say, wise. Few seem willing to yield. Instead, our political life is full of conflicts and disputes, those markers of folly.
 
The tone of our politics is not likely to change anytime soon. But the divisive tone of political discourse in our country does not excuse us from trying to live wisely and well, to live in the fear of the Lord, to live and interact with our fellow Americans as Christian people.
 
In my effort to do better, to participate in our political life wisely and well, my goal over the next six weeks of the campaign season is to live by two basic principles.
 
First, I hope to disregard anything that campaigns say about their opponents. Doubtless the accusations are sometimes true. But in general, mud that has been slung is not a reliable source of information. Accusations are routinely exaggerated, based on comments taken out of context and spun to make one’s opponent look as awful as possible.
 
As best I can tell, most politicians distort the position of their opponents, the politicians I tend to like as well as the ones I tend to dislike. If I really want to know what a candidate stands for, I need to tune out his or her opposition. The best source is that candidate him or herself, not the candidate’s opponent.
 
This way, I hope to avoid the distortions and demonization that have become depressingly common, and instead to make my decisions about who to support based on accurate information, which should be the goal of every responsible voter.
 
Second, after I have decided how I want to vote in each race, I plan to disconnect as much as possible.
 
Getting actively involved in campaigns can be a great thing, so I don’t mean avoiding that. What I want to avoid is the constant stream of news reporting on who said or did what and how that might effect their chances to win. I don’t need to follow campaigns like a horse race, obsessing over who seems to be leading at any given moment. That kind of news agitates me to no purpose.
 
My goal in this election is to participate as an informed citizen with the wisdom of our readings, to participate in a Christian way. I want to speak the truth about what I think is right, but always in love, not berating or demonizing people just because they disagree with me.
 
As it happens, speaking the truth in love is not only the Christian way. It is also the most effective way to participate in political conversations. Nobody is persuaded by getting attacked. But people might listen to someone who speaks with humility, charity, and a clear commitment to honesty and integrity, even if they start out inclined to disagree.
 
This election, like every election, is a test for us as a country. It is also a test for us as Christian people. Can we engage with each other in ways that are pure, peaceable, and gentle? Or do we exacerbate the conflicts and disputes around us?
 
My prayer for us is that we all can live in the fear of the Lord, and always show by our good lives that we are born of wisdom. In Christ’s name. Amen.