How Christians Will be Judged

The Bible passage below seems to be ignored by many conservative Christians and Republicans as evidenced by their support of the sequester that shreds many services for the hungry, poor, homeless and ill.  If the United States were truly a Christian nation, the government would embody those that ministered to Jesus in Matthew 25:41-45.

On the day of judgment, Jesus will ask "Why did you not care for me when I was  hungry, poor, homeless, disabled, and sick?  Conservative Christians will answer, "We did not see you suffering like that in our neighborhoods."  Then Jesus will answer, "I am everywhere in the world with the least of my people.  In your nation, you elected representatives to cut all the programs funded by the federal government that would feed the hungry, aid the poor, help the handicapped, and provide medical care for the sick."  Conservatives will answer, "The help would have come from the government, not us personally.  We would help those next door."  Jesus will answer,  "Do you think I only want you to care for the person next door?  Do I care if you help with your own hands or through the hands of others?  I care for the least of these my brothers and sisters.  When these least were hungry, struggled in despair with no money, wandered the streets of your great cities, and died alone in your parks; I starved, had no money to care for myself, slept under the bridges in your cities, and died alone in a homeless camp. 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' "

Matthew 25:31-45

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Judgment

³¹ “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; ³³ and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; ³⁶  naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ³⁸ And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ³⁹ When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰  The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘ Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴² for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not ^[a]take care of You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

A Christian Response to the Conservative Mantra, No Help Through Government

The Bible passage below seems to be ignored by many conservative Christians, and Republicans in the House as evidenced by their vote for the Ryan budget that shreds services for the hungry, poor, homeless and ill.  I fear this is the budget that Romney will inflict on this nation if elected.  I would offer my own updated version of  Matthew 25:41-45.

On the day of judgment, Jesus will ask "Why did you not care for me when I was  hungry, poor, homeless, disabled, and sick?  Conservative Christians will answer, "We did not see you suffering like that in our neighborhoods."  Then Jesus will answer, "I am everywhere in the world with the least of my people.  In your nation, you elected representatives to cut all the programs funded by the federal government that would feed the hungry, aid the poor, help the handicapped, and provide medical care for the sick.  Conservatives will answer, "The help would have come from the government, not us personally.  We would help those next door."  Jesus will answer,  "Do you think I only want you to care for the person next door?  Do I care if you help with your own hands or through the hands of others?  I care for the least of these my brothers and sisters.  When these least were hungry, struggled in despair with no money, wandered the streets of your great cities, and died alone in your parks, I starved, had no money to care for myself or my family, slept under the bridges in your cities, and died alone in a homeless camp. 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' "

photo by kkirugi

Matthew 25:31-45

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Judgment

³¹ “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; ³³ and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; ³⁶  naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ³⁸ And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ³⁹ When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰  The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘ Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴² for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not ^[a]take care of You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

 

Draw a Line in the Sand

For if we hit the debt ceiling, the government will be forced to stop paying roughly a third of its bills, because that’s the share of spending currently financed by borrowing. So will it stop sending out Social Security checks? Will it stop paying doctors and hospitals that treat Medicare patients? Will it stop paying the contractors supplying fuel and munitions to our military? Or will it stop paying interest on the debt?     Paul Krugman

I have supported President Obama despite my belief that he values compromise above principal.  I voted for him in 2008.  Whether I vote for him again depends on whether he takes a stand against the
Republican goats( goats as in Matthew 25:31-46).

If President Obama does not stand up to Republicans over the debt ceiling and allows massive spending cuts, I will not vote for him because we might as well have a Republican in the White House.  Obama on the campaign trail talked a good show.  (I admit I preferred Hillary because I thought she was tougher and Obama had a habit of being condescending to women..)  I have been disappointed in his capitulation while in the White House to Republican grandstanding.

President Obama is wealthy and will not suffer from whatever he does.  I, on the other hand, am on a limited, fixed income, and because of a childhood illness (pre-existing condition) cannot get insurance.  The federal and state health risk pools are a farce:one would take more than 1/2 my income and one would take all of it to cover my monthly insurance premium.  The reality is that the health care reform has done absolutely nothing to help me.  My hope was to survive to 65, but the Republicans plan to destroy Medicare and, at  this point, I fear President Obama will aid and abet them.

 Draw a line in the sand, Mr.President.

True Texans

Photo by Paul Lowry

My ancestors came to Texas when it was still part of Mexico.  They settled on the frontier in what is now Caldwell County, Texas.  The area had sandy soil and tall pine trees.  Making a living from that country was no easy task, but they did it.   They did it as a community. Helping each other when needed. They were not conservatives, they were individualists who knew when to depend on their neighbors.  Some went to war when Texas declared its independence from Mexico.  One ancestor rode with Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto where Texas won its independence.  Another fought in the Mexican-American War and died in Mexico.

These men and women looked forward to Texas becoming part of the United States and were proud when that happened.  Later, when the southern states began to secede, votes were taken on whether Texas should secede.  Sam Houston was against secession.   So was one of my ancestors living in Gonzales County.  He voted against secession even though he was the only voter in his precinct and everyone would know his vote.  Indeed, he was the only vote against secession in the whole county.

Another ancestor joined the Confederate Army and fought for Texas.  He refused to surrender when his unit was surrounded and escaped to rejoin other of his comrades.  At the end of the war, he walked home from Louisiana to Central Texas.  He believed that the war was a mistake or as he said to his children and grandchildren (one grandchild was my grandmother): "A rich man's war, but a poor man's fight."  He helped build the courthouse pictured above.

World War I saw more family members fight for the United States.  They saw the United States as their country.  World War II came, uncles joined the army and so did my mother.  She met my father at Fort Hood before he headed for the Pacific and an island hopping war. Korea found my youngest uncle in uniform.  Viet Nam saw my oldest cousin off to fight.  He came back permanently damaged, never the same person again.  He and I are only six months apart.  Now in these wars, another cousin flies huge transport planes in support of the troops.  Sometimes landing in then midst of enemy rockets.

Do we all believe the same?  By no means.  We are a mixed bag of conservatives, liberals, independents, and contrarians.  The contrarians just vote any way the majority doesn't.  We are city slickers and cowboys, truck drivers and writers, but we still get together in memory of the men and women who settled Texas and were our ancestors.

Texas is not conservative and it is not liberal.  True Texans are individuals who chart their own paths and make up their own minds.  Sadly. many that carry on about being from Texas are pale images of real Texans.  Many act tough and brag about their deeds, real or mostly imaginary.

The one image passed from generation to generation in my family is that of the individual that never bragged nor acted tough ("shut-mouthed" my grandmother would say).  Quiet men that impressed many with their even temper.  Beneath that facade though lay the person unafraid to take a stand no matter what his/her neighbors thought.  A person that was slow to anger, but who was willing to risk all to right a wrong.  No one told them what opinions to have, and they saw no need to impose their views on others.

Today, too many people living in Texas do not think on their own.  They are simply sheep being led by the goats.  They do not stop to think of the consequences of reducing an already lean budget.  Texas ranks 48th to 50th in the help it provides to the least among us.  My ancestors would be ashamed as I am.  It is time for those living in Texas to stop following the herd, to stand up for the elderly, the mentally ill and handicapped, and the physically handicapped.  People living in Texas need to stop being selfish and remember those that settled this state, men and women who stood together and helped one another, fought for one another and died for one another. 

People who claim to be Texans need to break from the herd and be independent.  Honor Texas by caring for "the least of these brothers of mine".