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Today is a major day in the United States as our neighbours seek to elect their 44th president. The ripple effects of this campaign and the election have been felt globally. It is easy for us to wring our hands and get caught up worry about the results.

As citizens we should have concern about the direction our world is taking, but as followers of Jesus we are not, first and foremost, citizens of any nation. Jesus invites us to find our identity and hope in a greater kingdom.

Jesus stood on trial. Betrayed by the religious leaders and in the hands of the political leaders. Like what is so often true today, they were in cahoots. But instead of trying to appease the religious leaders or to gain favours from the political leaders, Jesus modeled for us a third way. He said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place." (John 18:36)

Christians throughout history have watched their earthly nations rise and fall. Those who have put their hope in politics, policies, and policing have repeatedly been let down. Those who have put their hope in Jesus have not always had the easiest way forward (it was never promised to be easy!), but it has proven to be the best way forward.

So today we pray for our American brothers and sisters, but let us not be fretful. I'm not suggesting we don't worry because I know that God will make everything okay for the United States regardless of the result. We don't have that guarantee for any nation. For millenia nations have risen and fallen. But as citizens of the Jesus kingdom we have a hope that transcends the result of any election. We belong to a kingdom that will not end and can sleep in peace regardless of election results tonight.