Today’s Scripture Reading (October 29, 2016): 2 Chronicles 19
The 1960 Presidential election was a disaster. We seem to have recently focused our attention on the media savvy John F. Kennedy versus the more traditional, and less personable, Richard Nixon. But the reality was that the election was won by the narrowest of terms. In the popular vote, the difference between the two candidates was only 0.02%. But Kennedy won, and Nixon graciously conceded the Kennedy victory in a telegram the next morning.
And then the allegations of voter fraud began. In an opinion piece written by Mark K. Updegrove for the New York Times, Updegrove writes “In Chicago, in one instance, 121 votes were counted after only 43 people voted, and 6,138 ballots were cast in a Texas county with just 4,895 registered voters.” The Republican Party was up in arms. They began legal proceedings and started a process that could have led to a recount. What they did not do was allege that the whole system was rigged. They trusted the system, and instead focused on local and specific charges of voter fraud, hoping that if they won in these local problem areas that a nationwide recount would be demanded by the authorities. But, maybe the most surprising move was that Nixon refused to be personally involved in the process. It wasn’t that Richard Nixon was a saint. Nixon had committed himself to some questionable acts during the campaign. But here he drew the line. This election was now in the hands of the Republican Party. He had moved on.
In retrospect, Nixon’s decision to leave the allegations in the hand of the party probably saved his political career. Nixon would live to fight another day. He refused to burn the bridges behind him. And eventually, Nixon won Presidency (twice). Unfortunately, he also fell hard; a fall that many attribute to his defects of character. But those flaws in character could have easily led him to end his political career in 1960 rather than in the mid-1970’s. Updegrove’s opinion piece ponders what lessons Donald Trump, the current Republican Candidate, could and should learn from his predecessor.
When we are reading Chronicles, it is important to remember when these words were written. Chronicles was written at a point in Jewish history when the people were beginning to return home from the Babylonian exile. Chronicles is essentially a “learn from what has happened before” manual. Much of what it includes we already know from the books of Samuel and Kings. But some of it is new, and to those new passages, we might want to pay attention. 2 Chronicles 19 is new material. And it is not a surprise that the author of Chronicles would want to include these words. In the process of rebuilding the nation, this would seem to be advice that many of their ancestors had missed. “Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for mere mortals but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict.” If you want to have a future in the land, remember who is really in charge. When you give advice, or when you judge, remember that it is God’s judgment that matters. Don’t disqualify yourself from what comes next. There are going to be a lot of significant decisions in the months ahead, but they need to be “God decisions.”
It is good advice for all of us. Whatever we do now in the heat of the moment, make sure that it does not disqualify ourselves from what comes next – because in just a moment, the next act will begin.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 20
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