Picking back up on our Bishop’s Pastoral Letter from earlier this month, I want to reflect on the second of his three points: vote. As you may remember, he called upon us all to pray, to vote, and to love as we prepare for this upcoming election. For the Christian, the three can’t really be separated, and yet they have their own distinctive characteristics that are worth exploring.
Elections are voting. Any kind of election is about making choices, hopefully informed choices. And while we take voting to be routine these days, it hasn’t always been so throughout history. In fact, it’s not a question of whether we as a people take voting for granted; the historically low turnout at public elections fairly well illustrates that Americans, as a group, are rather relaxed in their voting habits. A little more than half of eligible voters turn out to the polls for presidential elections; even less for midterms. Voting turnout percentages skew older, wealthier, and higher educated, with the highest demographics topping out around 75% turnout. My guess is that a congregation like Christ Church is full of likely voters who may not need much encouragement.
So what is a vote? It may seem like it’s just our little pebble cast onto a scale with a lot of other pebbles, not really significant in and of itself, but powerful in the aggregate. That is one way to look at it. A vote is also serious business for the individual voter, regardless of what the final outcome of an election is. At its root a vote is a vow. It is a pledge of ourself to a cause or an individual. We dedicate ourselves to the thing(s) and person(s) for which we cast our ballot. Even if we “hold our nose” when we vote, as so many seem to have described the voting process with recent ballot choices, we are dedicating ourselves to those votes and what they represent, whether we can smell the choices or not.
When I said the three aspects of the Bishop’s Letter could not really be separated for the Christian, the truth is that once upon a time prayer was bound up with voting because of how the words came to be used. Another ancient use of the root words for vote was as a prayer to God. This is also evident in a related word, suffrage. Episcopalians, in particular, know this word as a bridge between prayer and politics. Suffrage was known to mean voting or the right to vote, as in the suffrage movement in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In Latin, it was literally the tablet upon which one would vote. Going back even further, suffrage was understood to mean an intercessory prayer said on behalf of another. The last two editions of the Book of Common Prayer (1928 and 1979) use the word “suffrages” in this way, as in Morning and Evening Prayer.
Somewhere along the way, the meaning of a vote seems to have become vaguer, less spiritual, and easier to segment from our faith and the ways we live out that faith. Almost half the country doesn’t vote in elections. Of the other half that does, I wonder how many do so with the spirit of suffrage in their hearts? To what extent do we see our votes as prayer on behalf of others? This past Sunday, we heard the story of Jesus, confronted about the tax to the Emperor and whether it was lawful to pay it. I described that reading that episode, specifically Jesus’ response to pay to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s is not really a justification for a separation between empire and temple, or in our case, church and state. We can’t segment the two into different parts of our life. Our faith and our votes are interwoven.
In the same way, our lives are not to be lived solely with our own self-interests in mind, neither should any of our actions. Voting requires the same faithful responsiveness as everything else we strive to do (or strive to do in theory). How is our voting a prayerful interest in the other? How does our voting bring the kingdom of God nearer? We know what sorts of things constitute an expansion of God’s kingdom. It’s not a secret if we’ve read the Gospels or the prophets. God’s kingdom comes near when the fruits of the Spirit are on display: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. God’s kingdom is near when we do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. God’s kingdom is near when the hungry are fed, the thirsty are given water, the stranger is invited in, the naked are clothed, the sick are cared for, and those in prison are visited and treated with compassion. Voting remains, as cynical as we may have become, one way to help God’s kingdom come near.
We should vote. In part, because it’s the responsibility of each citizen not to take their freedom to do so for granted. Also, because it’s an extension of our response to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the invitation God has placed before God’s people for millennia to care for one another as we live together in community. I hope that our highest allegiances to God’s goodness are the foundation upon which we stand when we mail in our ballots or touch the screen this election season. I hope that we don’t lose the connection to the roots of our voting and its deep meaning and importance. As we vote, we might ask ourselves, to what we are dedicating ourselves? What vows are we making before God? Who are we pledging ourselves to follow? When we’ve prayerfully answered such questions, we can vote, as our pebble joins the others.
Tom+
Almighty God, to whom we must account for all our powers and privileges: Guide the people of the United States in the election of officials and representatives; that, by faithful administration and wise laws, the rights of all may be protected and our nation be enabled to fulfill your purposes; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. BCP p. 822
Photo Credits: Stickers and mailbox courtesy of Element5 Digital on pexels.com. Used with permission.