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Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. –Romans 12:21
On Election Day 2019, I was on my way to a regional retreat with our pastors and deacons serving in the first three years of their ordained ministries. As I came through downtown Taneytown headed towards the retreat center in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, by way of Emmitsburg, I lost my radio station and began to pick up two others. As the radio cut in and out, I was bombarded by live election coverage on one station and serenaded by an all Christmas music station on the other (really, all Christmas music on November 5!). The juxtaposition was not lost on me in those moments. In Jesus Christ, God gives us the power to overcome evil with good. Christmas marks the birth of such a promise, such a hope.
In what promises to be one of the most bruising election cycles in modernity, in a time when households and families are set against each other, in this world where the divide between justice and mercy seems most fragile, in a church that feels like we teeter between death and resurrection, we celebrate the birth of Jesus and cling to the hope such a gift brings. Again. For this world God still so loves.
How that power manifests is a rich tapestry. Loving genuinely. Telling the truth – sometimes hard truths – out of love for God and neighbor. Persevering in prayer. Showing up. Being intentional. Seeing someone whom others don’t see. Clothing the cold. Listening to someone who goes unheard. Passing the proverbial microphone and amplifying the voices of others. Feeding the hungry. Supporting those who mourn. Visiting the sick and imprisoned. Encouraging one another. Being Christ for one another.
At Christmas, God’s love in Jesus Christ gives us power anew, overcoming evil with good.
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