Real Politics: The Work of the People

Novemeber 2022

Ever attended a Fort Collins City Council meeting?

It's booooorrrriiiiiing.

You may have gone because of a hot issue, and there may have been a lot of other people there. But that's unusual. Most of the time, most seats are empty, and the meeting is long, interminably long, and so so boring. Last Tuesday they met for five and half hours.

It's crucial to understand this in light of today's election.

When we think of politics, we think of power, corruption, money, influence, the future. We think of voices and freedoms. It's all very lofty, and we hear about it in speech after speech. But the bulk of the politics in America is land development code and utility rates, easements and curb cuts.

You think that blue booklet is dry. Try revising land use code section A-3, sub-section U, paragraph 1,319.

It's kind of a miracle that there are people willing to understand all the stuff we don't think about in order to seek the welfare of all citizens in a community. They don't do it perfectly and must be held to account. But those folks show up--and stay long into the night on our behalf.

What does this mean on Election Day? Three ideas:

1. Anyone who wins an election is not bestowed with unlimited power. They are initiated into this universe of rules, ordinances, laws, codes, and statutes. Rules rule the nation -- not people and their speeches.

2. Every elected official will tell you the City is more than its codes and statutes. Maybe you can't show up to a City Council meeting. But can you show up to something else? Certainly voting. But think also of your job. Your neighbors. Maybe it's a room in your house that could be offered as a guest room. Maybe it's a school bake sale, or a community clothing swap.

3. The way every Christian worships is called liturgy. It's an ancient word that means "work of the people," and it originated in government, not church. It suggests that what we do on Sunday resembles what happens in in local politics. Not that church is boring (although, there may be times ... I know!) but that, just as City Council meets to hammer out the details of a practical, tangible common good, so we gather on Sundays to articulate the vision of that common good: the Rule of Jesus Christ and the hope of God's Kingdom.

- Pastor Eddy