Isaiah 9:6-7  For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.   Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.

There’s no question in my mind that politics has risen in importance in the minds of most people.  Politics used to be in the background of our lives, but everything changed a few years ago.  Many people will point to the 2016 Presidential race and the election of Donald Trump. I agree the Trump election was a watershed event but hardly the genesis of politics becoming front page instead of backpage news to the average person.  If you are single, your next date might end abruptly if it comes out that you have a certain position on certain issues or certain politicians. One well known writer was on Twitter a few months ago seriously telling women to divorce their husbands if they insist on being Republicans.

I think the shift from politics being a side event to the main event has most to do with when political decisions got personal for us all.  Prayer was removed from the schools, abortion was legalized, and marriage was redefined. People who, perhaps wanted society to be re-engineered, invited the government into a domain once mostly influenced by religion.

When the legal power of legislation moved from the administration of governance to personal empowerment, people begin to organize in groups, borrowed the playbook of the civil rights movement, and through congress and the courts began to acquire group rights.  So government that used to be mostly concerned with transportation, public works infrastructures, gross national product, education, building up the military, and interstate highways is now getting involved in community affairs, like whether a Christian prayer can be said at this year’s local high school graduation.

Because of this I am especially refreshed by the Christmas story this year.  Political condition during the incarnation of our Lord as Savior, as a baby in a manger, were every bit as contentious and invasive at the time of Christ first appearing as they are today, perhaps even worse.  At least Charles Dickens could say, “these were the best of times, these were the worst of times.”  I don’t think Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John could honestly write the first half of the Dickens intro.  Just skim the Biblical accounts of the ego maniacal King Herod, the oppressive and self righteous Pharisees, the omnipresent Roman soldiers stalking the Jews with the power to interrupt any pedestrian and make them carry their pack for a mile, in any direction.  Everyone was forced to pay a Temple tax to the Jews and a public tax to Rome. Corrupt tax collectors were allowed to extract as much money as they wanted on a whim and keep the profit. To remind them of the grimness of their lives, one could, on occasion, walk the roads outside of Jerusalem and see them lined with people nailed to crosses as a stark reminder that they better shut up and mind their business or the power of the emperor would crush them.

So, let’s relax a bit about politics shall we?  God didn’t send his prophets to the political leaders of the day with a warning to create a more just society so he could send them a savior.  God didn’t dispatch the Holy Spirit to move on the heart of the emperor so he would create conditions that would be more conducive to His kingdom being established on earth.  God also didn’t send an angel army to subdue all earthly oppressors from Palestine to Rome, so Jesus could ride triumphantly through the streets of Jerusalem. No, God sent his mightiest angel to negotiate the means of the Messiah’s arrival with a teenage girl who was engaged to be married.  God sent another member of the heavenly host to a senior citizen, who was still serving as a priest down at the temple, so he and his wife could facilitate the coming of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Christ. I could go on in this vein, but I don’t need to. You’re already ahead of me.

Now, I’m confident that I could make a case for caring about politics.  God loves righteousness and justice too much for responsible people not to impact public policy when they can.  However, if you are caring about immigration policies, a southern border wall, transgender rights, the Mueller investigation, Hillary’s emails or the consequences  of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s retirement so much that you are losing your peace… listen up! God’s plan to redeem the world through Jesus is moving forward.  God’s presence in our daily lives is undeterred by the makeup of the courts or the sorry state of socio-political conditions.

I’m not suggesting passivity as you ponder the Christmas season, but I am calling you to peace.  God doesn’t need anything to line up politically to complete the plan he has for your life or the world he made.  Be at peace NOW!  I close with a prophetic psalm that undoubtedly had December of 2018 in view.

Psalm 2: 6, 11  Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? …The Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain…”   Serve the LORD with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling.