Post-2024 Election Letter

The Eve of the 25th Sunday after the Festival of Pentecost

Siblings in Christ,

Grace and peace to you in the name of our risen Sovereign, Jesus Christ.

In the wake of Tuesday’s election, I turned to Augsburg’s Prayer Book for the Armed Services and read these prayers for the nation:

“Make us, who come from many nations with many languages, a united people that delight in our many different gifts. Defend our liberties, and give those whom we have entrusted with authority the spirit of wisdom, that there may be justice and peace in our land.”

“Bless our land with honesty in the workplace, truth in education, and honor in daily life. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance; and from every evil course of action.”

These prayers did not offer me the comfort or reassurance I might have been seeking—that all will somehow be well. Instead, they struck me with their aspirational tone and reminded me that the tensions and struggles of our shared life together might someday yield something better for all. I heard in them a summons—a call to keep working toward that day and to find our next faithful steps forward together.

For many, this moment feels fraught with uncertainty, marked by hope for some and fear for others. You may not share the same response to the election as your neighbor in the pews. You are not required to share the same political commitments to be part of the body of Christ. Thanks be to God for that!

Do not let partisan differences obscure the unity we share in Jesus Christ or the mission to which we are called. This is not the time to retreat or fade into resignation. It is a moment for radical solidarity and discipleship. Jesus Christ, not partisan allegiance, is sovereign among us. And Christ’s commandment to love one another must guide what we do together next.

Called To Be The Church For Others

As Lutherans, our common confession reminds us that, in Christ, we do not belong to ourselves; we belong to one another. Dietrich Bonhoeer said it well:

“The church is the church only when it exists for others.” (Letters and Papers from Prison, DBWE 8, p. 382)

The church is not a fortress or a place of self-preservation. It is a community called to serve, to identify with Christ in the suering neighbor, and to bear one another’s burdens.

Bonhoeer also reminds us:

“We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.” (Life Together, DBWE 5, p. 48)

Radical empathy does not avoid, exploit, or dismiss suffering. Instead, it demands solidarity with those who experience it. Following Jesus means setting aside personal ambition, comfort, or security and re-orienting our lives around the needs of others.

I invite you to reflect: What does it mean for us as a church to exist for others at this moment?

Faithful Steps for the Days Ahead

In the weeks, months, and years ahead, if our newly elected leaders act on the agenda they have promised, we will experience dramatic and unsettling changes. Many among us will endure heartbreaking suffering and face frightening disruptions to their lives. As Christ’s disciples, we must respond—with action, organizing, compassion, and solidarity.

During a call with rostered leaders this week, we brainstormed several faithful steps forward as we prepare together:

● Resist hate and violence and stand visibly with those who are targeted

●  Strengthen our connections across the synod. Don’t isolate or silo; help build relationships of trust and support.

●  Stand with those at risk—DACA recipients, undocumented members, and mixed-status families. Ask them what they need, make a plan, and build solidarity.

●  Engage locally: participate in bystander training, rapid response efforts, or sanctuary networks.

●  Screen investments and endowments to ensure they do not support industries tied to detention, deportation, or oppression (e.g., GEO Group, CoreCivic, CSI Aviation).

●  Reject Christian nationalism.

Christian nationalism is antithetical to the gospel of Jesus Christ. As the ELCA’s Draft Social Statement on Civic Life and Faith states:

“Christian nationalism does not reflect Christlike values or other values found throughout the Scriptures. It fuses a particular form of human government and a nation (and sometimes a race) with a vision of God’s ultimate will, something Jesus explicitly rejects (John 18:36). It perverts the Christian message in cherry-picking texts that interpret the Scriptures in ways that connect it to domination, even coercion.” (Article 37: ELCA’s Draft Social Statement on Civic Life and Faith.)

As Bishop Eaton reminds us, “Lutherans teach that government should be held accountable to God, but never dictated as God’s will.” (ELCA’s Statement We Are Christians Against Christian Nationalism.)

Let us resist this distortion of our faith and remain committed to the gospel we know in Jesus Christ.

Call to Discipleship and Baptismal Promises

Now is not the time to give up, step back, or fade away. Now is the time for solidarity, for being the church, and for standing with our neighbors.

This is the time for discipleship, rooted in the promises of our baptism—where we die with Christ and rise for the sake of others. Baptism calls us into a life of love and service, where the needs of our neighbors become our own. Jesus showed us radical love through his life, death, and resurrection—a love that calls us to sacrifice personal interests and preferences for the sake of the most vulnerable among us.

When we arm baptism in liturgy, we ask one another to renew our commitment to discipleship. And so, I ask you now:

Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in holy baptism?

●  To live among God’s faithful people.

●  To hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper.

●  To proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed.

● To serve all people, following the example of Jesus.

●  To strive for justice and peace in all the earth.

Let us find our unity in Christ as we navigate the days ahead. Let us root ourselves in these promises, identify with the suffering other as we would with Christ, listen deeply to one another, and serve the world with courage and compassion.

I invite you to pray for our nation, our leaders, and especially our neighbors. Thank you for your faithfulness and witness, particularly in these uncertain and challenging times. I trust that God is at work among us and through us, renewing the church and equipping us for the ministry to which we are called in this moment.

Yours in Christ,

+Jeff

The Rev. Jeff R. Johnson, (he/him/his)

Bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

bishopjeff@spselca.org | 510-559-2770