Finding Hope in Christ After the Election
Please read and share my new piece, “Finding Hope in Christ After the Election” for Good Faith Media.
Finding Hope in Christ After the Election
In the wake of the recent U.S. elections, many of us may find ourselves grappling with a range of emotions—disappointment, frustration, fear, and perhaps even despair.
The political climate feels fraught, with deep divisions and uncertainty about the future. Yet, the lectionary readings following the election offer profound lessons about trust, resilience and the enduring hope we find in Christ. These passages challenge us to reframe our struggles in light of God’s promises and to ground ourselves not in worldly outcomes but in divine faithfulness.
The unlikely story of two women who became an essential part of the Israelite and Christian history appeared in the lectionary the Sunday after the election.
The story of Ruth and Naomi begins in a place of immense loss.
Ruth is a Moabite and Naomi’s daughter-in-law. She becomes a widow without children, and Naomi tells her to return to her people.
Ruth is insistent that she will stay with Naomi, telling Naomi, “Do not press me to leave you, to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16).
Ruth says she will give up her people, family and God to be with Naomi’s people and God. She put her whole trust and faithfulness in God.
We know the rest of the story well.
Naomi tells Ruth to go to Boaz. Ruth bears a son with him and names the baby Obed, an important person in Jesus’s lineage. Obed’s son, Jesse, was the father of David, the most important King of Israel.
Jesus was born out of the lineage of King David.
This story speaks powerfully to our current moment. Ruth, an outsider and foreigner, became part of God’s unfolding plan for redemption. Her faithfulness reminds us that in times of uncertainty and loss, our trust in God can open the door to unexpected renewal and purpose.
In our divided communities, where political allegiances often threaten to separate us, Ruth’s story invites us to transcend our differences and seek unity grounded in love and faith.
Two Sundays after the election, the lectionary passage from Mark 13:1-8 regards Jesus foretelling the temple’s destruction.
It is an apocalyptic passage about the destruction of the world through natural disasters, as well as through fake leaders who pretend to be Jesus. It is a stark warning from Jesus that these things will happen before the temple is destroyed.
Mark was probably written in 70 AD, when the Romans came to destroy the second temple. The Jewish people were being persecuted and having a very difficult time. The passage ends with, “This is but the beginning of the birth pangs” (Mark 13: 8).
The image of childbirth is striking. Interestingly, the image is feminine, that of a woman giving birth. We know that most births are painful and can be the most painful thing a woman goes through.
But the hope lies that at the end of the painful delivery, a miraculous baby will be born.
The baby comes into the world and gives the parents and family high hopes. In the same way, the upheaval and turmoil described in the passage are not the end but a precursor to something transformative.
For us, this metaphor reminds us that our current struggles—political, social, or personal—are not the conclusion of the story. Although they may feel like the end, they are part of the process through which God brings about renewal and hope.
These passages are about trusting only in God and finding hope in Christ.
Some of us may feel we are in a world of turmoil after the elections didn’t turn out how we had hoped. Many may feel that the election results signify a loss of direction or justice. Others may sense an apocalyptic unraveling in our polarized communities and volatile world.
These feelings are valid.
It is natural to grieve when we face disappointments and when our hopes for societal progress or reconciliation seem thwarted.
But Scripture reminds us that our ultimate hope is not in human systems, leaders or institutions—it is in Christ.
Ruth and Naomi teach us the power of faithfulness and the courage to move forward in the face of loss. Mark 13 encourages us to endure birth pangs with the assurance that God is working to bring new life and justice–even when we cannot see it yet.
Many feel despair, pain, anguish, and a deep sense of loss after the election. Those are valid feelings.
Only after you experience that pain will you make a difference in the world.
From pain, difficulty, and hardships, we rise above it and work towards justice. We cry out to God to help us overcome what is before us. As people of faith, our faith is only in God and not in this world.
Hope in Christ is not mere optimism.
It is not a passive expectation that things will eventually improve. Instead, it is an anchor—a deep, abiding trust that holds us steady through life’s storms.
This hope equips us to engage in the hard, often painful work of justice, healing and reconciliation. It calls us to rise above despair and actively participate in God’s redemptive work in the world.
In divided and hurting communities, hope propels us to listen, love our neighbors (even those we disagree with), and build bridges where walls have been erected. This past Sunday’s readings invite us to root our identities not in political ideologies but in the kin-dom of God, where Christ reigns as King—a King who transcends earthly powers and ushers in a vision of peace and unity.
This is not a time to fall into despair and hopelessness but to be renewed in our hope in Christ.
Let us be renewed in this season by the knowledge that Christ is our hope. As Ruth did, let us trust God’s faithfulness, even when the way forward feels uncertain.
With Advent approaching, we prepare our hearts to celebrate the coming of Christ into the world—a world as broken and divided then as it is now.
Jesus’ birth is the ultimate fulfillment of hope, a testament that God enters into our messiness and pain to bring redemption.
Christ is king, but not of this world. Christ is King of God’s kin-dom here on earth.
*** Read also my substack post, The Day After: Faith & Democracy.
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