May, 2008
Posted by Administrator (holytrin) on May 30 2008 at 4:24 PM
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Dear friends,

What an interesting time of year this has been.  If you like politics, it has been a continual smorgasbord of news, details, policy statements, and debates to slake your thirst.  If you don’t like following politics, there is a continual barrage of gossip and slander to feel irate about.  There is something this season for everyone!

As I write this letter, Indiana’s primary voting is less than two weeks away, and so the presidential candidates have turned their eyes on our state.  The pressure is rising, and you, too, have probably received the phone calls as we have, encouraging us to register, to vote, to be a part of our great American system. 

One of the fascinating aspects of this whole process has been how faith has worked its way into the national conversation.  From questions about Jeremiah Wright’s preaching to Mitt Romney’s speech on faith and religion, faith and God-talk has been front-and-center in the conversation.  For us faith- and God-talk folks, it has been exciting and interesting: this is our stuff!  This is a conversation we know how to be a part of.

You’ve also heard people reacting against this, as I have.  People who are uncomfortable with faith and politics coming together, people who point to the concept of the separation of church and state – perhaps even some of us who are uncomfortable reading a pastor’s letter that is touching on politics.  It is one of our American ideals, this notion of separating church and state.  We’ve been holding to this idea for a long, long time.

My understanding of this ideal is that it was originally intended to protect the church from undue influence by the state, not the other way around.  In Germany, the Lutheran church is a national church, actually part of the government – their offerings are part of the taxes.  We have no such system, and so our religious life is (or should be) free from the influence of those who govern. 

However, in the years of founding our country, as I read history, people had no notion that faith had no role to play in politics – for the men and women of previous generations and eras, faith impacted and influenced and had everything to do with every aspect of life – including government and politics.  Faith and religion is who we are, it is how our character is formed and why we do what we do.  Faith forms everything we are, everywhere we are, every moment of every day.  God is with us always, and we are his people, period.  Full-time.  At home, in the car, in the supermarket, in the voting booth – we are people of faith.

So faith certainly does have something to do with politics.  What we believe makes us who we are, and that influences our decisions and our ideas.   Whose we are – chosen, adopted, beloved, people of the Most High God – makes us who we are, and how we believe and feel and think.  Faith has everything to do with our civic life together.

So bring on conversations about faith in politics!  Bring on the discomfort and disquiet.  Bring on this season of debate and discussion.  We are people of God, and our faith makes us who we are.  We have something to say in this national conversation.

Peace,

-Pastor Tim