Welcome to AnchorCast, a weekly podcast of homilies and sermons from Christ our Anchor Anglican Mission in Nashville, Tennessee.

Let us pray.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, the Lord our Rock and our Redeemer.

Amen.

So, there has been very much said in the last 15 hours or so, for those who have been awake for most of it.

We’ve heard, Jesus is Lord, God is in control, trust not in idols, government, money, etc., but only in the Lord.

And of course, all of that is true.

But in all the chatter, I think we forget that for many, many of our neighbors, the election is not actually top of their mind.

It wasn’t on their mind yesterday, and it’s not top of mind today.

Hunger and fear and homelessness, abuse, unemployment, divorce, illness, children, rent, utilities, parents.

These are the things that are on our neighbors' minds.

Now, the easy path, of course, is to recognize all of this and turn it into a plea about how people should or should have voted.

A reflection on the reality of sin and selfishness, we love our neighbors with how we engage politically, etc., etc., etc.

And again, of course, this is true.

The Christians should enter the voting booth as a Christian.

The Christian should vote with God’s glory and the welfare of his fellow man on his mind.

But today, especially, let us not lose the thread in all of our focus on elections.

Elections are important and elections impact things.

Yes, we all know that.

But the most important election happened over 2,000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, declare us righteous, and elected us to eternal life in his kingdom.

We are, as the readings said today, to love our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

But Jesus doesn’t leave it there.

He commands us to love our neighbor as ourself.

This, my friends, requires more than words and more than an occasional vote.

And while I truly enjoy getting annual birthday wishes on Facebook, they are not enough to propel me through the year.

For that, I need family, I need friends, I need church, or repeating myself, to get me through.

The need I have is for the love of my neighbors, constant, ever present.

This is what we are called to as Christians.

We’re not Santa Claus or a politician where all of our energy is focused on a single day or moment of the year.

It’s not down to a single decision or to a single action.

No, the Christian life is about waking up deep and every day and deciding to love God and deciding to love our neighbors.

It’s little decisions that we make to see someone who might be unseen, to talk to someone, to give a little time, to send a meal, to send a simple text, to pray, and to visit.

Loving our neighbor doesn’t require us to be powerful, it doesn’t require us to be rich, and it doesn’t even require a specific person to be in the White House or in the Governor’s Mansion.

Loving our neighbor just requires us to accept the free gift of love and grace pouring down from God’s throne, to take that grace and to purposefully allow it to overflow out of our life into the lives of our neighbors.

So today, as we’re in the midst of election and stress and celebration and not celebration and all the mixture of these things, let us remember that our call is to accept God’s grace, to love Him with all that we have, and to go out into the world letting people know about the only one election that has ever mattered.

Let them see what it means to love freely and securely in the deepness of Jesus.

The name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Amen.

God has called us to in East Nashville.

And join us on Wednesday evenings at 5.30 as we live into what Jesus has called His church to be.

Everyone is welcome.