So it’s that day again. That day when Australians are encouraged to gather around TVs, radios and livestreams and await the result of the race of races. Which of the thoroughbred contenders will make it over the finish line first? The “Race that Stops the Nation“? My observation would be that this is less and less true. At 3pm I suspect there will be relatively few people actually concerned to know who won. For those that are, it’s either an excuse to stop work for a bit or the possibility of winning something in the office sweepstake.

And then tomorrow we’ll do it all over again…

Now here’s a race that I’m far more interested in but I do wonder if I need to keep reminding myself that perhaps I am making too much of it. Hear me out for a moment.

We look at the Melbourne Cup and perhaps roll our eyes. What real difference will it make? It’s all over in a moment. Why do people get so caught up in something that, in the long run, doesn’t make a difference? Then 24 hours later lots of us will get far more animated about the result from the US Presidential Election. In the long run will it also make any real difference? Well that depends on what race you think is most important.

What am I not saying? I’m certainly not saying that the US Election doesn’t matter. Trump and Harris represent starkly different views of how the USA should be run. One might even say polar opposites. What happens in the USA does have ripples all over the world. I’m with those, for example, who look at war in the Ukraine, the room Iran thought they had to push much harder on Israel and China’s ramped-up pressure on Taiwan and don’t think it’s a coincidence that Biden’s (or whoever is actually running the show there) foreign policy has been far less robust than what came before. There are others, of course, who look at Trump’s manner on the international stage and have deep concerns about what that will lead to. I think they’re wrong (obviously) but my point here is not to debate the relative merits, rather to point out that whoever is elected there are global implications.

I’m also certainly not saying that the US Election isn’t more important than the Melbourne Cup. Quite obviously it is.

What I am saying is that there is another race that’s even more important and there is a consistent danger that we get our priorities wrong. One thing can be very important but another thing more important yet. A little perspective is helpful here.

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.

Eccl. 9:11-12

We all die. One of the things that getting older does to you is confront you more and more with death. Years ago I remember reading these other words of Qoheleth, the author of Ecclesiastes,

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”

Eccl. 12:1

They made sense in my head. A day will come when old age makes life hard and I need to make sure that my pleasure is not dependent upon things that so rapidly pass away – things that old age will steal from me. But, if I’m honest, it never really percolated to my heart. And why would it? When you’re in your 20s it’s all hypothetical. Now as I stumble into the second half of a century of living it makes a lot more sense. More people die around us and it’s more people that we know and love. Our own bodies no longer perform as they did before.

Qoheleth is eager that we understand this, even that it presses in on us. He wants us to see that death makes a mockery of everything that we think is important if this life is all that there is. But, there is more.

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Eccl. 12:13-14

This is, of course, the great crisis that the Bible presents us with. There is something beyond this life. And that something includes a day of judgement where, because of our sin, “dying you shall die” (Gen. 2:17). The judgement of God is not something we can out-run. Here is a race we can never win…

“Behold, I will press you down in your place, as a cart full of sheaves presses down. Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not retain his strength, nor shall the mighty save his life; he who handles the bow shall not stand, and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself, nor shall he who rides the horse save his life; and he who is stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day,” declares the LORD.

Amos 2:13-16

This is a race where the goal is simply to outrun what is chasing us. But the greyhound always gets the fluffy stuffed rabbit in the end; it’s fate is sealed.

Thank God for Jesus! He takes our place and moves us to a completely different race track where now we don’t have to constantly look behind us in growing terror but instead press on for the finish line – a certain prize that Jesus has already secured for us (Phil. 3:13-14). Maturity, says Paul, is to understand this (Phil. 3:15).

Maturity is therefore to also understand that this is the most important race. It ought to define how I view all other races I am either participating in or merely spectating. Some of those races are more important than others – their consequences may be far greater. The U.S. Presidential Election is one of those very important races. The Melbourne Cup obviously is not. Our danger is that we elevate any to the same level as the gospel itself.

Here, therefore, is my unsolicited advice:

1. If you’re in the U.S. then vote whichever way you think is best. You’re there and we’re not. But remember that neither Harris nor Trump are the Messiah. I know which box I would fill on the ballot (and I’m sure most of my readers know what it would be). You work it out for yourself; I’m sure you have more than enough information by now to weigh it all up.
2. If we’re not in the U.S. then let’s pray for wisdom for our U.S. brethren. Many are feeling very conflicted even as others around them are sure. It could be that we don’t understand the decisions that some of them will make. If it interests you here is an interview I conducted with 2 American friends after the last election that explains different reasons they voted for Trump. We don’t have to be persuaded but we could all seek to understand.
3. Pray! Amongst all the many prayers we see in the Scriptures there is only one directed specifically for our pagan governments:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

1Tim. 2:1-6

We pray for good government so that the gospel can go out. Or, put another way, whoever wins Tuesday’s race we ought to be praying that they allow Americans to speak about that other more important race.

And while you’re praying, back to the Melbourne Cup. Here’s an organisation that loves the races but knows which race is most important:

And how about we pray for Harris and Trump themselves? As far as I can tell neither of them has worked out yet how to win in the most important race any of us will ever run.

By all means, enjoy your day at the races. I know I will. But don’t make too much of it. There’s a far more pressing race that concerns us far more. Or at least it ought to.