(Newspaper column for North Huron's The Citizen - Apr. 29/21 edition)
COVID-19 is all about taking shots. Some are taking vaccine shots. Yet-another-lockdown prompts others to take shots of alcohol. And then, still others seize the opportunity to take pot-shots at our leaders.
It must be a tough time to be in
leadership, with hospitals filling up and hundreds dying, and officials having
to impose restrictive measures in order to try to help people safeguard their
health. On social media we see memes poking fun at, or downright critical of,
our elected leaders. One I saw recently depicted a woman with a frying pan
raised, ready to whack our prime minister in the head from behind. Another
graphic showed our provincial premier with eyes superimposed from the main
comic figure of Mrs. Brown’s Boys, supposedly making a humorous expletive
statement. The situation isn’t helped by our premier’s recent
confession of having made a mistake in threatening police action to investigate
citizens’ movement during the lockdown.
I do not envy our politicians in
their delicate and imposing task of guiding millions of independent,
strong-willed, anxious citizens through a pandemic! I have the greatest respect
for many of them. Even when the freedom of churches to gather for public
worship is curtailed, I recall Scripture’s injunction to submit to the
governing authorities (Romans 13:1). The Apostle Paul also writes: “I urge,
then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be
made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live
peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and
pleases God our Saviour...” (1Tim.2:1-3)
At times like this, our leaders need our prayers more than our pot-shots!
At the risk of criticism for being
duped, I will admit I have been impressed by the verbal statements of three
leaders in particular: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Quebec Premier
Francois Legault, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Even though Premier Legault’s
English is broken, for instance, I can still hear his heart coming through in his
voice. All three have the sound of being genuine, sincere, trying to do their
level best for the people they serve. Our elected officials remain fallible
human beings prone to errors of judgment like the rest of us, and deserve our
ardent prayers through this present crisis.
It is perhaps endemic in human
nature to be extra critical toward those who are in authority over us. Adam and
Eve rejected God’s instruction about which fruit to eat in the Garden of Eden.
Cain rejected the Lord’s warning not to let envy override the need to be his
brother’s keeper. The Hebrews throughout Old Testament history bucked at God’s
laws transmitted through Moses, earning them the reputation of being a
“stiff-necked” rebellious people that eventually found themselves exiled to a
foreign land as punishment for disobeying the covenant. In fact their first
royal leader, King Saul, was roundly rebuked by the prophet Samuel for not
carrying out God’s instruction: “For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of
the LORD, he has rejected you as king.” (1Samuel 15:23)
The prevailing temptation for
worldly leaders is to exploit power, to milk it for all it’s worth. Scripture
warns against politicians who take advantage of citizens to enrich themselves:
“A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.”
(Proverbs 28:3) Jesus sought to show His followers a better way. He
acknowledged the common failing of abuse of political rank. “And he said to
them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in
authority over them are called benefactors.’” (Luke 22:25) However He held out
a higher ideal, backed by His example. He went to say, “But not so with you.
Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as
one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who
serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one
who serves.”
Jesus came to inaugurate an
upside-down kingdom, different from the usual worldly political kingdoms where
‘big fish eat little fish’ (as it were). He came not to establish a political
entity such as just another country or state; He came to call a people to
Himself, to give us ‘new birth’ as God’s very sons and daughters, who live not
for this world but for love of God and others, with eyes on what God is seeking
to bring about through us and in us. When we discover what His grace and
forgiveness are all about, we are ‘graced’ in turn by His Holy Spirit to pour
out our lives in service for others just as He poured out His life on the cross
for us, to bring us to God.
Scripture reveals to us the ongoing
role of our Risen Messiah – not so much ruling with an iron rod as interceding
and pleading for His people, upholding us before our Heavenly Father. He is the
Christ who has the ‘right’ to recline at table (referring to the Roman style of
banqueting) – but He becomes the waiter, serving us instead. This is His “High
Priestly” role, interceding for us. Paul refers to this: “Christ Jesus, who
died— more than that, who was raised to life— is at the right hand of God and
is also interceding for us.” (Romans 8:34) And the author of the Book of
Hebrews puts it explicitly, “Therefore he is able to save completely those who
come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”
If we have such a great High Priest
whose ongoing task is lifting us up before His Heavenly Father, we can in turn
be lifting up our elected officials! They may be imperfect, granted – but just
as we are all too aware of our own imperfections, their human fallibility can
prompt us to pray for them that much more intently. We become aware God’s
sovereignty is big enough to superintend and steer even the most powerful
political figures. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it
like a watercourse wherever he pleases.” (Proverbs 21:1)
