Follow the Leader

Whether you are politically conservative or liberal, I think you will agree that the American presidential election of 2016 was the most divisive in modern history. President Trump stirred up in people a vast range of emotions from hatred and fear to hope and trust. Whether you are a Trump supporter or not, it is clear to me that the election glaringly showed a desperate need for someone to follow -- a deep longing for a leader we can place our trust in.

I think our longing will never be satisfied as long as we are placing our trust in people. People are fallible. People are flawed. People will fail us. Maybe it is time to shift our allegiance from people to God.

What might this world look like if we placed our trust and faith in a God who does, in fact, lead? What if we followed a leader (God) that is fiercely loyal, who loves radically, and who takes risks for the sake of justice?

Narrative Lectionary Text: Psalm 2

Why do the nations conspire,
   and the peoples plot in vain? 
The kings of the earth set themselves,
   and the rulers take counsel together,
   against the Lord and his anointed, saying, 
‘Let us burst their bonds asunder,
   and cast their cords from us.’ 

He who sits in the heavens laughs;
   the Lord has them in derision. 
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
   and terrify them in his fury, saying, 
‘I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.’ 

I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, ‘You are my son;
   today I have begotten you. 
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
   and the ends of the earth your possession. 
You shall break them with a rod of iron,
   and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ 

Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
   be warned, O rulers of the earth. 
Serve the Lord with fear,
   with trembling kiss his feet,
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way;
   for his wrath is quickly kindled. 

Happy are all who take refuge in him.