Monday, September 26, 2011

God's Great Name and Budget Cuts!

Tell me this; why is it you don't hear these passages from the so called "Evangelical Right Wing?" Could it be they don't know these parts of the Bible. When I took this picture earlier this evening I thought of the Greatness of God.
But then I remembered that the Greatness of God is measured by how well we treat the poor. After all God is high above the nations. Nations come, and then they go. If they lift up the poor out of the dust, such a nation will be great in God's eyes.
If such a nation grinds the poor into the dust, that nation will be in great danger.
Warning! We are treading on thin ice if we think we can avoid God's attention. The budget cuts we are making in this nation are a threat to national security; they are economically unsound, they are immoral.
Three examples; from the Psalms of David, from the Song of Mary, and from the Final Judgment of the Nations as Jesus envisioned it.


Psalm 113 Laudate, pueri
1Hallelujah!
Give praise, you servants of the LORD; *
praise the Name of the LORD.
2Let the Name of the LORD be blessed, *
from this time forth for evermore.
3From the rising of the sun to its going down *
let the Name of the LORD be praised.
4The LORD is high above all nations, *
and his glory above the heavens.
5Who is like the LORD our God, who sits enthroned on high, *
but stoops to behold the heavens and the earth?
6He takes up the weak out of the dust *
and lifts up the poor from the ashes.
7He sets them with the princes, *
with the princes of his people.
8He makes the woman of a childless house *
to be a joyful mother of children.

The Song of Mary Magnificat

Luke 1:46-55


My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *

the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *

in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *

and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *

and the rich he has sent away empty.

The Judgment of the Nations

‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal lif

1 comment:

Donald W. Krickbaum said...

This is such a vitally important message to the world and to our nation, especially in these troubled, angry, and out of control political times that has taken on such a hateful and immoral rhetoric. I have taken the liberty to send this to others.