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Pastoral Points
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone … ” (1 Timothy 2:1).
Next month will be bookended by two big events — a significant election and an annual day of giving thanks.
It is good to have a national day to express gratitude to God for the many blessings he showers upon us. Day after day, year after year, God provides what we need. So we give thanks. I imagine most of us can come up with a long list of things to be thankful for in our personal lives. Even in the most difficult times, we probably have family and/or friends, home and food, perhaps some kind of income, maybe some activities we enjoy.
St. Paul urges us in his first letter to Timothy that we also give thanks for “kings and all who are in high positions” (1 Timothy 2:2). People in every age have recognized that when government doesn’t function well, life gets a lot more difficult. That’s why St. Paul explicitly connects our prayers for leaders with the possibility “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Timothy 2:2).
When we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we are praying for all the needs of earthly life, including good government. Martin Luther, in his Small Catechism, tells us, “Daily bread includes everything needed for this life, such as food and clothing, home and property, work and income, a devoted family, an orderly community, good government, favorable weather, peace and health, a good name, and true friends and neighbors.”
There are as many opinions on government (in general, and American government in particular) as there are individuals. News media spends gobs of time and money making sure we focus relentlessly on the problems of our government (which indeed are many, at any given time). Nevertheless, the fact remains: For all its faults and flaws, our nation thus far has enjoyed much better government than many people throughout history and around the world today. So we give thanks.
And we pray for our current and future leaders — national, state, and local — as God commands us to do. We thank God that there are people willing to respond to the call to lead at all levels, and we pray that God would support them in their various offices and direct them according to his will.
When things are not as they should be, we pray for God’s guidance and intervention, that we would enjoy continual reform and improvement. Our prayers are efficacious — God graciously hears and responds to his people.
