Hope springs eternal

All too often it seems as though we are in the same position as Linus in the pumpkin patch. We await something that will come only very rarely. Let Father Orthoduck mention that Linus never got to see the Great Pumpkin because he believed in something that did not exist. But, Father Orthoduck does believe that there have been statesmen (and women) in the history of the USA, though they have not been frequent. And, in today’s climate, Father Orthoduck has yet to perceive any such candidate.

Therefore, some people make the decision that they will neither vote nor participate in the current election. But, is that a wise decision? Father Orthoduck thinks not, and his reasoning comes from an interesting story in the Book of the Judges in the Old Testament. The story has to do with the sons of Gideon, after Gideon had already died.

Then Abimelech the son of Gideon went to Shechem, to his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, “Please speak in the hearing of all the men of Shechem: ‘Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Gideon reign over you, or that one reign over you?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and bone.”

And his mother’s brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of all the men of Shechem; and their heart was inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men; and they followed him. Then he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Gideon, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Gideon was left, because he hid himself. And all the men of Shechem gathered together, all of Beth Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king beside the terebinth tree at the pillar that was in Shechem.

Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and cried out. And he said to them:

“Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you! “The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I cease giving my oil, with which they honor God and men, and go to sway over trees?’

“Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us!’ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over trees?’

“Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us!’ But the vine said to them, ‘Should I cease my new wine, which cheers both God and men, and go to sway over trees?’

“Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us!’ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me as king over you, then come and take shelter in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon!’

“Now therefore, if you have acted in truth and sincerity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Gideon and his house, and have done to him as he deserves— for my father fought for you, risked his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian; but you have risen up against my father’s house this day, and killed his seventy sons on one stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother— if then you have acted in truth and sincerity with Gideon and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. But if not, let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Millo; and let fire come from the men of Shechem and from Beth Millo and devour Abimelech!” And Jotham ran away and fled; and he went to Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

When good men and women will not vote because of disgust, when good men and women will not run for office because of the humiliation and filth and slander they must endure, when these things happen, we end up with brambles in office. But, look at the Book of Judges again. It is not the bramble’s fault that the people ended up with the bramble. It is the people’s fault because they refused to participate in government by running for office. It is the people’s fault because they wanted someone else to run the government and decided that the bramble was better than no one.

When you hear a good person say to you that they will not get involved in politics because it is such a filthy business; when you hear someone arguing that maybe Christians need to stay away from politics because it corrupts them; when you hear a good person not want to run for office; when you hear a good Christian saying that maybe they will not vote this year, then tell them that they are part of the reason that we have brambles in office.