Before the Vote, a Black Pastor Warns Against Fruitless Leaders

A thorn bush promised shade to a forest it could never shelter—and threatened to set the trees ablaze if denied the crown. 

On Sunday, Nov. 1, two days before Election Day, the Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley used that biblical parable to warn voters headed to the polls tomorrow: judge candidates by the good they have done, scrutinize their promises and beware leaders who answer rejection with violence.

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Preaching Sunday, Nov. 1, at Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va., where he is senior pastor, Wesley drew on Jotham’s parable in Judges 9. In the story, the olive tree, fig tree and grapevine decline the offer to rule. The trees then turn to a thorn bush, which offers shade it cannot give and threatens to burn the forest if it is not chosen.

Written in Scripture

As Wesley moved from the biblical forest to the ballot box, the sanctuary answered in the familiar rhythm of call-and-response, applause and cheers. Applause followed his indictment of a leader with no fruit to offer; cheers rose when he warned against choosing someone simply to hurt others. He repeatedly reminded the congregation that he was preaching a parable. The refrain gave the warning a prophetic edge: it let him name the danger plainly without naming a politician.

Wesley did not name any political figure. But his warnings about hollow promises, threats to overturn elections and leaders who wield fear made the present-day parallels unmistakable.

The sermon’s first warning was about fruitless leadership. The point, Wesley said, was not simply that the thorn bush produced no fruit; it was that the other trees chose a leader with no record of blessing anyone beyond himself. Voters, he urged, should examine candidates’ records of service and ask whether their concern reaches the broader public or protects only a privileged few.

‘Voting for Their Tomorrow’

The second warning was against single-issue voting and promises that conceal harm. Wesley recalled overhearing four young Black men discussing the election while he was in Houston. One said he was not registered; another planned to sit out because he believed politicians were corrupt and neither party served Black people. A third was focused on a candidate’s opposition to transgender athletes, Wesley said, while overlooking the candidate’s positions on issues including health care, the economy and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Wesley said he wished he could have told the young men that voting is not necessarily an expression of love for a candidate. It is a way to choose lawmakers and shape decisions that affect people’s lives. “You are voting for their tomorrow,” he said.

The third warning concerned leaders who use vengeance and violence to hold power. In Jotham’s parable, the thorn bush threatens to set the forest on fire if it is rejected. Wesley used that image to caution against leaders who threaten to overturn election results, incite unrest, or invoke claims of voter fraud to frighten people and preserve power. He warned that a leader’s conduct can shape the character of a nation.

Past Lessons for the Present

His final appeal was to remember those who fought for the right to vote. He named Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, John Lewis and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As he urged the congregation to carry that history to the polls, the sanctuary answered with cheers and applause.

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No election, Wesley acknowledged, will deliver everything a voter wants. But staying home carries its own cost, he said, especially when generations before today’s voters marched, risked arrest and sacrificed to secure the ballot.

To watch Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley’s sermon, “No Kings,” click here.

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