In 1861, England and America were squabbling over the capture of the British vessel Trent because the ship had two Confederate commissioners on board. President Abraham Lincoln told a story about his understanding of what was going to happen between England and the US.

“I remember when I was a lad, there were two fields behind our house separated by a fence. In each field, there was a big bulldog, and these dogs spent the whole day racing up and down, snarling and yelping at each other through that fence. One day they both came at the same moment to a hole in the fence, big enough to let either of them through. Well, gentlemen, what do you think they did? They turned tail, and scampered away as fast as they could in opposite directions. Now England and America are like those bulldogs.”[1]

We are seeing two bulldogs snarling at each other. All day long on cable news, Democrat and Republican talking heads are snarling and yelping at each other on either side of the fence. Yet when a hole appears… a chance to either make good on the promise and bite, or to make up, compromise and get something done in a bipartisan fashion… they turn tail and scamper away.

It is happening at the federal level, but it affects our everyday lives.

Our amazing associate pastor, the Rev. Meghan Malone is trying to buy a house. She and Logan are dual-income, gainfully employed, hardworking, community-minded folks. Watching the saga of them trying to buy a house has been infuriating. And I’m just watching it, not actually doing the thing that I’m frustrated about. Meghan is dealing with it all with surprising grace, more than I would.

It is our policies that have made it harder to afford housing. It is our policies around housing and pay and interest rates and such that is making this such an issue. This is not a technical fix. There’s no silver bullet. This is an adaptive challenge. This means that there will be many little fixes needed to address this problem that may never be fully solved.

I will be speaking politically yet not partisan today. If you’re feeling guilty right now, don’t. I’m not blaming you. If you’re feeling smug that it’s not your party’s fault… let me dissuade you of that.

The Democratic party has affordable housing in their platform. They voted on it at the last convention, it’s baked right in. Yet the least affordable place to live is California. The Democrats have a majority in the state house and senate as well as the governor in California. Blue states lead the pack in unaffordable housing. If they wanted to do something, they could. But they don’t.

Republicans do not have affordable housing in their platform. They don’t really have a platform to speak of. It is good to note that the second least affordable state to live in is Texas. The Republicans have a majority in the state house and senate as well as the governor in Texas. If they wanted to do something, they could. But they don’t.[2]

This is just housing. I won’t go into other political divides. I’m seeing how both major political parties are failing us. And I expect better.

I expect better because my faith compels me to expect better. We pray the Lord’s prayer… “As on Earth as it is in Heaven.” Jesus tells us that in his father’s house there are many rooms, and he goes to prepare a place for us. I take that to mean that in heaven, everyone has a house. No one is without shelter.

I would expect that both Democrats and Republicans enjoy living in their homes. I would expect that no one likes to see people living on the street. I would expect that we could work together. Housing is something we all could have in common, a cause we could unite around and further. Both politically as well as spiritually.

In my work with MICAH, Medina Interfaith Coalition for Affordable Housing, I’m getting to know other pastors better. Heartland Community Church especially. We were at the Habitat for Humanity fundraising dinner this spring, and Dave Ambrose, lead pastor at Heartland turns to me and asks, “Are you getting any flack for being a part of MICAH?”

Not quite understanding his question, but never one to turn down offering my opinion, I said, “No, but that will probably change when we try to build our buildings…”

“No, no…” Dave said. “Like from other pastors.”

He had been getting flack from other pastors because we didn’t have a faith statement. Dave told them, “Our faith statement is ‘We build affordable housing.’ How’s that?” I think that’s the right answer. We are finding unity in the doing, not in the believing or writing of faith statements.

Ephesians is about unity. Paul writes to the church in Ephesus that unity, harmony, and mutual love transcend cultural, ethnic, and social barriers. What God has done in Christ has joined people together who aren’t used to being together. “There are apostles, prophets, evangelists, the pastors and teachers to equip Jesus’ people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”[3] All temperaments. All types of folks with different spiritual gifts to build up the body. The work of service of building affordable housing is giving me unity with Heartland and six other churches that are part of MICAH. We are finding a surprising unity in our works of service around affordable housing.

Christ is the head of this body and from him, the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love. Paul uses this image in many of his letters. I like how Paul states in 1 Corinthians 12:21, “The eye can never say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you.’ The head can’t say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you.’”… concluding in 25-26, “There should be no division in the body but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

It seems as though we have forgotten that we belong to one another. Church exists in part to remind us that we are all connected. One to another. To God and to our neighbor and that we shall love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Upon that hang all our traditions, law, and prophets. And who is our neighbor? Even our enemy, for Christ says to pray for our enemies and do good to those who harm you. He was killed for saying that. But he returned on Easter Sunday, to his disciples. He returned not in wrath and vengeance but restore and remind us of the covenant for the forgiveness of sins.

In our country, we have forgotten that we are joined together. Our two major political parties are like the two bulldogs running up and down the fence. When there’s a hole in the fence, they turn tail and run. This snarling and yapping is affecting all of us. We have a limited view of who our neighbors are. We only want to help out those who look and act and think like us.

That is not the kingdom of God. That is not the body of Christ. We must start with those neighbors close by, but as we grow in faith “and in the knowledge of the son of God we become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”[4]

Patrick Acurio told me a story recently. He was dismayed by those in our country who are calling for a civil war, who no longer see themselves as joined to their fellow citizens. He was driving his mom around the country roads of Medina County. His mom asked him if he was scared. He was puzzled and said no. He was confident he could keep the car out of the ditch, and he could get back home. She then said, “No. I’m not talking about that. I’m wondering if you’re afraid of bandits.”

Bandits. In countries like Colombia or Ecuador in the ‘70s and ‘80s and other countries today who are experiencing unrest, there would be bandits. You couldn’t go very far from home or you’d meet bandits. They would question you. You had better say what they wanted to hear, or you would become desaparecidos or the missing, the disappeared. Patrick lamented that those who no longer see how great a country we are, who are frustrated and asking for civil war don’t know what they’re asking about.

I pray for the day that Paul talks about in our text today. A day when “we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.”

Friends, I hope this word is both pastoral and prophetic. I know I have just 15-20 minutes a week to talk about unity and love of our neighbor compared to the talking heads who have hours and paid advertisers assisting them in their cunning and craftiness to keep dividing us. Maybe I’m being an idealist. I don’t think I am. I can say that my years in the church have exposed me to so many people. I’ve come across so many folks in Christ. Different races, creeds, gender expressions, and LGBTQ+ folk. All political persuasions and folks from Egypt, Syria, and Costa Rica and more. People with multiple houses and folks with no houses. So many types of people. In being the church, I get to hang out with you. That’s pretty cool.

I have faith that we will see that day that we’re not tossed about by our whims. That one day we will all be tired of the barking and the scapegoating of our neighbor and instead seek unity. We are better together. Beautiful together. God has woven us together for a purpose: to welcome, love, and serve. A more just and compassionate world for all.

What am I asking you to do in all of this? First is to be open to this message. Many dismiss this type of preaching as being “too political.” I hope that you see that my desire for unity stems directly from our Ephesians passage. This is a biblical concern. It’s not a Luke concern. Luke is more than fine writing people off and ignoring them, but my faith and my reading of the bible keeps me from doing that.

The second thing I wish for us is to try to interrupt us vs. them talk. When someone starts in on “all democrats do this…” or “all republicans are whatever…” to remind them… and maybe ourselves… that the right wing and the left wing are connected to the same bird. And it takes both wings to fly. Amen.

Works Cited

[1] Donald T. Philips, Lincoln on Leadership, Executive strategies for tough times. Page 35.

[2] Sources: NYT Opinion, Liberal Hypocrisy is Fueling American Inequality. https://youtu.be/hNDgcjVGHIw?si=x77k6vDAAOtkvmIX Vox, How the US Made Affordable Homes Illegal: https://youtu.be/0Flsg_mzG-M?si=bgsknJ6ald4JqyUg and Vice News, Renters in America are Running out of Options: https://youtu.be/KgTxzCe490Q?si=G1EYMIWfPjVPxoDX

[3] Ephesians 4:11-12

[4] Eph 4:13