Introduction
Eight weeks from the UK General Election party claims and counter-claims leave nothing clear. Could ill-judged decisiveness make us less, rather than more, Christ-like? Are we wrong to accept fog and fuzz, thereby shirking our moral duty to look for the divine will in this important matter? How can faith transform indecision into clear, positive vision?
This week's news
What is the right definition of prosperity? www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-31791485
Whose policies are most truly fair?
Is it more important to balance the books or support society’s unfortunates or defend our nation?
Where does concern for the security of all citizens end, and spying on or demonization of some begin?
What about the NHS, the regions, schools or any of a hundred other issues.
Has one answer been ‘lifted up’ (v.14)?
Different Churches are offering different kinds of help to engaged Christians looking for guidance:
- the Church of England bishops produced a long ‘letter’
- the Roman Catholic bishops have offered General Election advice
- the Joint Public Issues Team of the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches together with the Church of Scotland offer an Election Resource Pack.
Reflection
Is it key that our judgements be made in love, as are God’s (v.16)? Not being God, we cannot love all equally. Who should be the primary objects of our love: our own families and communities, the poorest and most disadvantaged, or even the politicians themselves on whom so much responsibility rests? Can love mix with common-sense politics?
Are we more just and kinder when we are less high-minded, admitting that there is some good and some bad just about everywhere? Should we even prefer pragmatism to principle? Can clarity of vision be restricted to seeing clearly the complexities of the situation, and refusing to take sides? If we refuse to take sides should we decide not to vote?
Does seeing in Christ the power to heal the world mean rejecting all other views and all well-intentioned attempts to reconcile differences via other philosophies and creeds? Is it possible to be true to our allegiance to Christ and yet fair to the thirst for justice and righteousness we find among the followers of other great religions?
It seems to many that inclusiveness is essential to seeking the full life for all people which we believe God wills. How do we negotiate the paradox that the truth which is meant to heal the nations of the world – that Christ alone is the world’s Light – is in itself a highly divisive truth, and more starkly divisive the more clearly it is put?
Does it help to turn the matter round, not asking how we should view others but asking how we want others to view us? How should we behave in the light of Christ’s loving sacrifice to be seen as people of love not people of division? Does this necessarily entail uncertainty and lack of clarity in our own views as we are honest about our human limitations? Does the paradox of healing through suffering speak for itself to a divided world even as we ourselves suffer the unease of not altogether understanding?
Prayer
A prayer which might form part of prayers of petition and intercession.
Were things really so very different when John’s Gospel was written?
Was it then possible to feel that with one revelatory light, right and wrong, good and evil, would become as distinct as chalk and cheese, sea and shore?
And that in that moment of revelation there would be not horror at our mistakes, but health and healing?
What has changed in how we look out on the world?
Has the world changed, or have we?
Have we lost our edge? Our confidence? Our faith?
Should we be more certain of our rightness, more willing to exclude, to deny, to refuse?
Or are we not inclusive enough, too timid about what we do not understand, too wary of mystery, of potential, of promise?
Are we just beginning to grope our way to your greater truth hidden behind all our petty human truths?
Or have we lost our way, seduced by the attractions of a comfortable faith without hard certainties, without insights, without sharp vision?
Point us, Lord, towards a worthy vision.
It may need fuzzy edges to accommodate all the truth we cannot yet grasp.
It may need unexplored depths where we are still too timid to go.
It may need to be bigger, and brighter, and more various than we can altogether cope with.
But at the heart of it you will be, vaster than the universe you sustain; stronger and wiser and more loving than we can ever be, until the Vision has restored the unity you intended and you and your world are again at one.
Amen.
Questions
Can you think of one thing which is absolutely wrong in all circumstances?
Was it difficult to think of? Or are there lots?
Action
Have a look at the candidates’ election materials as they come through the door and look carefully for what is right and what is wrong in the light of your own Christian convictions.
Young People
At what age do you think young people should be able to vote? Why? What skills, knowledge, or experience do you need to take good election decisions?
Brenda Vance is a retired University Teacher of English and a URC Elder.
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