Sunday was filled with praise for the one who is “the hope of the entire world.” One religious leader declared that he was “sent by God,” and that he works “through the glory, by the glory of God.” People were seen wearing shirts that stated “I love” him. Associates went on national television declaring that he rules. All this after having been assailed by his opponents for the ones he associated with.
Of course, none of that is new. What is new, is the subject of this praise. The subject wasn’t Jesus Christ. In this case, it was for the President-elect Barack Obama. Most likely you figured that out already. Actually, many supporters of Mr. Obama are used to doling out such praise, and to the real Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. But a huge segment of his support is finally getting an idea of what makes us Jesus worshippers so excited. The people engaged in this excitement were not doing anything extreme. In the contexts in which they were said, all the statements above were correct. I was amused by the irony of it all. This is what we’ve been excited about for 2,000 years!
The same people who would be offended by Christians excitedly sharing the Gospel, are going on TV and other forms of media to extol one whom they believe to truly be source for hope and betterment for America. While I don’t share their optimism in him or his policies, I share their excitement, because I am looking forward to the same changes.
There is a clip done by The Onion that I saw on maxgrace.com. It “reports” on the aftermath of all the Obama supporters now that he has been elected. The reporters say they no longer can relate to the real world and that even Mr. Obama finds them extremely annoying. It reminded me of new Christians and how the unbelieving world receives their newfound faith. Sometimes that enthusiasm dies, but it does not have to. It can last because the object of that eagerness is not dead. And it’s not just His promises that filled with fervor. It is the One they believed in.
I believe in One who offers hope to a world that is troubled by all sorts of ills, but not just those of an economic, or physical, or intellectual nature. He does offer economic relief when He promises to clothe and feed us in ways that the richest kings could never dream (Matt. 6:29-34). He does promise to restore the physical well being of us all. As a physician, He came to seek us and to save us from what really ails us (Matt. 9). And in the end, we all will need the health insurance only Jesus can provide. He also promises to give us the knowledge that will restore our relationship to God because He is the knowledge (John 1:1). It is no “secret.”
I also believe in hope. Jesus is the Provider of that hope: “…guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Finally, I affirm the statement “Yes, we can.” Paul tells me that is a promise from God Himself, when He tells us “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”
I am not trying to mock the President-elect with a childish, “God said it first” attitude. I believe these thoughts from the Word inform his philosophy. I have a problem with him trying to use the government to bring his promises about.
What is ironic is that now I can talk to a true-blue Obama supporter and tell him or her we have some of the same goals in mind and we are just as enthusiastic as they are. In fact, I can tell them, we’ve been meeting with others to talk about them for years.
We finally have an “in” with them. Now, they know what we’ve been excited about for so long.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Election Reaction
I hesitate to make another political entry because I don’t want this to be a political blog. But, it is still the news and I heard and saw two pieces that I have to comment on.
First, there was an item on WGN radio news. A woman went to the Tribune Tower to pick up a special publication/edition of the paper chronicling the Barack Obama story. The story said she had never read the paper before. So, on what basis did she vote for him? If she didn’t read the paper, I doubt she regularly reads books. That’s not to say a vote for Mr. McCain was an educated vote. He certainly didn’t do what he could to educate possible supporters. All he had to do was tell us what the country would be like and eventually become with the kind of policies Democrats normally support. As John Kass put it, the U.S. will become an overfed “federal leviathan” that “will shrink our scope of individual liberties…” But Mr. McCain didn’t do that. Only in the last couple of weeks did he start telling the people that Mr. Obama was a socialist. Even if that were an extreme view, it would have put Mr. Obama on the defensive. He would have had to explain how his proposals wouldn’t lead the country in a European socialistic direction.
The second item I saw was on Roger Ebert’s website. He tells us there “our long national nightmare is over.” It’s good to see an accomplished writer make use of a cliché and that without crediting the Republican he took it from. I have a couple of questions and an observation for him: Where did you get your medical treatment over the last couple of years? Was it in the U. S.? Do you really think it will stay at that quality when the President-elect institutes his universal health care? And besides your personal health, how has your life been a nightmare in the last 8 years?
Then the observation: Eight years ago in the intervening time between election day and the time when the decision was made final in Florida, he went on a rant that said if George Bush was elected, it would be a sign that the American intellect was headed down. My first response was that I figured the sign of the declining American intellect was that we were listening to movie critics give political opinion (sorry, Michael Medved). Now, looking at last Tuesday’s results, I guess Mr. Ebert was right.
First, there was an item on WGN radio news. A woman went to the Tribune Tower to pick up a special publication/edition of the paper chronicling the Barack Obama story. The story said she had never read the paper before. So, on what basis did she vote for him? If she didn’t read the paper, I doubt she regularly reads books. That’s not to say a vote for Mr. McCain was an educated vote. He certainly didn’t do what he could to educate possible supporters. All he had to do was tell us what the country would be like and eventually become with the kind of policies Democrats normally support. As John Kass put it, the U.S. will become an overfed “federal leviathan” that “will shrink our scope of individual liberties…” But Mr. McCain didn’t do that. Only in the last couple of weeks did he start telling the people that Mr. Obama was a socialist. Even if that were an extreme view, it would have put Mr. Obama on the defensive. He would have had to explain how his proposals wouldn’t lead the country in a European socialistic direction.
The second item I saw was on Roger Ebert’s website. He tells us there “our long national nightmare is over.” It’s good to see an accomplished writer make use of a cliché and that without crediting the Republican he took it from. I have a couple of questions and an observation for him: Where did you get your medical treatment over the last couple of years? Was it in the U. S.? Do you really think it will stay at that quality when the President-elect institutes his universal health care? And besides your personal health, how has your life been a nightmare in the last 8 years?
Then the observation: Eight years ago in the intervening time between election day and the time when the decision was made final in Florida, he went on a rant that said if George Bush was elected, it would be a sign that the American intellect was headed down. My first response was that I figured the sign of the declining American intellect was that we were listening to movie critics give political opinion (sorry, Michael Medved). Now, looking at last Tuesday’s results, I guess Mr. Ebert was right.
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