How do we heal from partisan divide?

(I preached the following sermon yesterday during our mid-week Lenten worship. It was in response to Ezekiel 47:6–12, Revelation 22:1–5, and Psalm 103:19–22.)

I have a long, long history in politics. You name it, I’ve done it before discerning a call into ministry. My first job out of college was working for a Member of Congress on Capitol Hill., in DC. Turns out that it would be during a Presidential Impeachment trial in the late 90’s. Remember those days? Partisanship was pretty divisive back then. And I didn’t think it could get worse, back in those days. And yet, here we are. It’s far worse.

And the question for this evening is — How do we heal in the midst of such division?

We’ve got families that are torn apart by partisanship — parents and children who don’t talk to each other any longer because of political beliefs. Fights over health recommendations that have been coopted by ideologies. And social media is less about seeing what your friends and family are up to now and instead are being used as partisan spin machines proclaiming whatever talking points a people is aligned with. Partisanship has become all consuming — demanding our very identity. Being right has become very important for so many people. Being right is the idol that we worship, and our relationships with friends and loved ones are what we sacrifice to this false god that is never satisfied and demands more, more, more.

How do we heal in the midst of such division?