Well, it's the day after Canada's 40th election since confederation. And while I can speculate with some certainty who the Prime Minister will be before I hear any election results, it still doesn't change where I will continue to place my hope. Regardless of whether or not I like the person who has emerged today as the Prime Minister of this country, my hope rests elsewhere.
As we all watched the election campaigns unfold, we each saw leaders who were extremely interested in how they were doing in the polls along the way. Each of them wanted and needed to know if their popularity amongst voters was on the rise, and they all would have viewed their campaigns as failures if their popularity was shrinking.
But today, despite who won this election, I still worship and only pledge allegiance to Jesus, who is still the King of kings and whose politics never change. He didn't seem to care about approval ratings. In fact, in his first public address (Luke 4:18, 19) he spoke truth that enraged his audience.
According to his first ever speech, his campaign was simple: to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, to make the blind to see, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.
This campaign had very little mention of the poor, talked a lot about getting 'tough on crime' as opposed to finding redemptive ways to set captives free, was blinded by the so-called economic crises as opposed to helping the blind to see the real reasons for our economic situation (greed?), had almost no mention of the oppressed (like aboriginal folks) and didn't feel much like the proclamation of the year of the Lord's favour.
Thankfully, I bend my knee to the King, whose election campaign isn't a popularity contest and who doesn't really need my vote. So whether I like the person or his/her politics as Prime Minister, it doesn't affect my hope, as it rests in a ruler who has always been and always will be King.
Dion Oxford, along with his wife, Erinn, and daughter, Cate, live in Toronto and are committed to journeying alongside people in the margins of society. Dion and Erinn have spent a combined 30 years working amongst folks who are living on the streets of Toronto. Dion is the director of Gateway, a Salvation Army shelter for men experiencing homelessness. He and his wife see the solution to homelessness as the church taking seriously the two great commandments of loving God and loving our neighbours. He likes to read, write, fly kites, cycle long distances, watch TV, play in his band and hang out with his friends.
As we all watched the election campaigns unfold, we each saw leaders who were extremely interested in how they were doing in the polls along the way. Each of them wanted and needed to know if their popularity amongst voters was on the rise, and they all would have viewed their campaigns as failures if their popularity was shrinking.
But today, despite who won this election, I still worship and only pledge allegiance to Jesus, who is still the King of kings and whose politics never change. He didn't seem to care about approval ratings. In fact, in his first public address (Luke 4:18, 19) he spoke truth that enraged his audience.
According to his first ever speech, his campaign was simple: to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, to make the blind to see, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.
This campaign had very little mention of the poor, talked a lot about getting 'tough on crime' as opposed to finding redemptive ways to set captives free, was blinded by the so-called economic crises as opposed to helping the blind to see the real reasons for our economic situation (greed?), had almost no mention of the oppressed (like aboriginal folks) and didn't feel much like the proclamation of the year of the Lord's favour.
Thankfully, I bend my knee to the King, whose election campaign isn't a popularity contest and who doesn't really need my vote. So whether I like the person or his/her politics as Prime Minister, it doesn't affect my hope, as it rests in a ruler who has always been and always will be King.
Dion Oxford, along with his wife, Erinn, and daughter, Cate, live in Toronto and are committed to journeying alongside people in the margins of society. Dion and Erinn have spent a combined 30 years working amongst folks who are living on the streets of Toronto. Dion is the director of Gateway, a Salvation Army shelter for men experiencing homelessness. He and his wife see the solution to homelessness as the church taking seriously the two great commandments of loving God and loving our neighbours. He likes to read, write, fly kites, cycle long distances, watch TV, play in his band and hang out with his friends.
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