Catastrophizing The Presidential Election...Or Trusting In Jesus.

Brad Sullivan

Proper 24, Year C

October 16, 2016

Emmanuel, Houston

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Luke 18:1-8

Catastrophizing The Presidential Election...Or Trusting In Jesus.

Does anyone else ever find themselves catastrophizing their lives?  Imagining the worse scenario happening, maybe even what would you do if?  I thought it was pretty uncommon, maybe even that I was the only one who did that, but I find more and more that catastrophizing our lives is actually quite common.  We’re afraid of things, and our brains seem to like to try to prepare us for possible tragedy by playing out our fears.  It doesn’t actually help, but our brains sometimes just don’t get that.  When we’re afraid, we often live into our fears, and we can’t really spread that much love and joy and hope when we’re catastrophizing our lives.

In the midst of our worries and fears, Jesus said, “Do not be afraid.”  “Do not worry.”  “Do not lose heart.”  Jesus repeated these refrains throughout his ministry, which tells us his disciples and all those whom Jesus taught were rather anxious and worried as well.  It may be rather gratifying to realize that we are not the only ones who are living in an anxious time.  We are not the only ones who worry about the present, the future, heck even the past.  Into the darkness of our anxieties and fears, Jesus brings us the light of hope, and as Paul wrote in Romans 5, “hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit…”

At the heart of Jesus’ teaching and the practice of hope, was his teaching and practice of praying always and not losing heart.  At the core of Jesus’ teaching is a persistent hope and trust in God, and God’s abiding love for us is at the heart of this hope.  

God’s abiding love for us is at the heart of the parable Jesus told about the unjust judge (who didn’t care about God or anyone, we are told) and the widow who kept bothering him.  The judge in Jesus’ story didn’t care a hill of beans for this societally unimportant widow.  She wasn’t going to help get him re-elected.  She couldn’t bribe him, but she was terminally annoying in her persistence.  She was like a toddler asking for something.  If you ignore them, they just get louder.  So with no love in his heart, the judge granted justice to the widow just out of self preservation.

God, on the other hand, deeply loves us, Jesus is reminding us.  So fear not, for he will grant justice not out of annoyance, but out of love.  Hope in God, even in the dark times, for God is sovereign, good, and the source of all light, love, and grace.

Jesus’ teaching about our hope in God and the need to pray always and not lose heart was a part of a greater discourse in which he had been teaching about the kingdom of God.  The Pharisees has been questioning Jesus, seemingly concerned about when the Kingdom of God was coming.  My guess is that this was playing into some of those worries and fears and catastrophizing life. 

There seemed concerned about when God was coming so that folks could clean up their acts just in time.  Getting the house cleaned up before the guests arrive…“No, our house always looks this good; what, yours doesn’t?”  Don’t worry about when God is coming, Jesus said.  Don’t fret about when to clean the house.  Don’t fret about not being good enough for God.  You’re not good enough for God.  That’s the point.  God is ok with that.  God’s grace is what makes you good enough, not your efforts at cleaning.  God’s grace is more than sufficient to clean your house for you once he gets here, if you really need him to.  Truth be told, though, God’s already seen the clutter of your house and is really over it.  He’s pretty well unimpressed by it.  We’re all a mess, and God gets that.  His grace is more than sufficient for us.

So, rather than worrying about when God is going to show up, like the bogeyman, Jesus answered the Pharisees, “the Kingdom of God is among you.”  

The kingdom of God is among you, so live the kingdom life.  Live as my disciples.  Live the way, the truth, and the life that I am, Jesus taught.  Do not worry.  Do not be afraid.  Do not let your fears and anxieties rule your life.  Pray continually, and do not lose heart.  Pray continually for God’s kingdom to be lived out among and within you.  Pray continually for God’s kingdom to spread to those around you, in your homes, in your work, in your communities, cities, in the world.  Pray continually that God’s Holy Spirit, having been poured into your hearts, will lead you and strengthen you to live out God’s kingdom, to share his love and justice and peace.

You see, contra some modern gospels and preaching, Jesus is not the great self help book in the sky.  Jesus teaching to pray continually and not lose heart was for his disciples’ sake, to be sure, but his teaching went beyond helping the disciples just for their own sake.  “Pray continually and do not lose heart so that you can life out my kingdom,” Jesus was saying.  Pray continually and do not lose heart so that you will not constantly catastrophize your fears and will instead be filled with faith, hope, and love, and spread the joy of faith, hope, and love, to those around you in your words and actions. 

Anyone hear of an election coming up pretty soon?  Talk about catastrophizing our fears, this election is one in which many are losing heart.  There is a huge amount of fear on both sides that the other candidate will win, and many on both sides seem like they can’t imagine anything worse in the world than the other candidate winning.  Some people are even becoming afraid of admitting to supporting whatever candidate they support.  Some are afraid of losing friends.  Some are afraid of being told how stupid they are for possibly being an idiot enough for support the other candidate.  Some are actually afraid for their physical well being.  It feels like as a nation, we are catastrophizing this election. 

As disciples of Jesus, we have a duty...no, not a duty.  We have the joy, during this election, to pray continually and not lose heart.  We have the joy to spread the light of hope, the light of faith and love, into the darkness of all the anxieties and fears over this election.  The bottom line is this, in the upcoming election, anywhere from 40-60% of the population is going to be mightily disappointed in the result, regardless of who wins, and regardless of who wins, God is still sovereign.  God is not going to abdicate ruling the universe either to Donald or to Hillary. 

God is here and with us, and God is for us regardless of who wins.  God is here and with us and for us during the trials and misfortunes of life, and God is here and with us and for us during the joys and blessings of life.  God is here and with us and for us when we make great decisions and when we make bone-headed decisions.  So pray and do not lose heart.

Pray continually, and do not lose heart for all those times when you and everyone around you falls short of God’s kingdom.  We always have and we always will continue to fall short of God’s kingdom.  We have and we will continue not to love as we have been loved.  We have and will continue the let our fears and our anxieties rule our actions.  We have and will continue to want to control the actions of others, concentrating on how the speck in their eye is ruining the world, rather than trying to heal the world by removing the log in our own eye.

That’s why God has given us grace.  Fear not those who don’t live out God’s kingdom way.  Fear not during these anxious times, but rather continue to pray and continue through your prayers to open yourself to God’s Holy Spirit which has been poured into your heart to live out God’s kingdom.  Do not be afraid and do not lose heart.

Practice gratitude instead of fear.  Rather than catastrophize your fears, remember and give thanks for all that is good in the world.  Remember and give thanks for all that is good in your life.  Then cast your anxieties where they can be best handled.  Cast your anxieties on God, and trust him with the running of the universe, for at the heart of our hope, at the heart of our gratitude, at the heart of Jesus’ teaching and practice of praying always and not losing heart is a persistent trust and hope in God.  Amen.