Looking for a Leader

For some reason this year is a little easier to embrace. In years past, writing down the new year (such as in a date) was hard for me, but not so this year.  Maybe I write less physical checks, or maybe there are just some things that happened in 2015 that made it easier to let go of.

No matter how you shake it, 2016 is here and we move forward. For us in the United States, 2016 means a presidential election year. Eight years ago history was changed when President Obama brought diversity into the presidential office, and this time it looks like there is a chance of that happening again.

This election will be a big deal for our country. There will be many presidential debates to help us determine who is the best candidate. I have to admit, debates don’t help me much. I never understand all the ideas and policies they are talking about. I also don’t know who is telling me the truth. I know I am thankful for America and I want good leaders, and I believe, as I pray on Sundays, that God can give wisdom to whoever those leaders might be. Sure, there is a question of if they’ll listen or not, but honestly, the same question can be said of me.

A long time ago God’s people wanted kings instead of His leadership. Hard to imagine that ever being true, but we have moments like that.  We, too, forget that leaders are sinful, and that we’ll have challenges with them. We get captivated by their great speeches and their promises, and soon we dream of what a better place this would be if they took the lead.

This week’s reading is one we often forget. Jesus reads the scroll in the temple, the proclamation that He will come. He is in His hometown of Nazareth, where the people have watched him grow up, so it creates many questions. Can you imagine if Jesus stood up at one of the presidential debates, walked up to the microphone and started reading Isaiah? Basically He would be saying to the audience, “God said I would come, so here I am to rescue the world.” How many votes would He get? That is a challenge for us, and we know the truth, right? The one true leader who came to bring change and peace was not embraced. And we spend our days trying to proclaim His truth to broken people who keep hoping the next leader will save them. We take time to look at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus and the challenge humanity had trying to understand their God who came to earth to rescue them.