judgment day

Good evening friends,
This passage is not the only thing the Bible says about the judgment day, but it is a clear and compelling reminder that how we treat our neighbors really matters to God. This passage always pulls me up short because I know there are times I care for those in need and other times I ignore them. How is God calling you to make a difference?

God bless,
Sam

Matthew 25:31-46

³¹“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. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

³⁴Then 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; ³⁵for 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, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

³⁷Then 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? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And 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.’

⁴¹Then 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; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I 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.’

⁴⁴Then 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?’ ⁴⁵Then 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.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

judgment day

Good afternoon friends,
This passage from Matthew always haunts me because it reminds me how far short I fall in following Jesus. The sermon today wrestled with this some, but the passage truly speaks for itself.

God bless,
Sam

Matthew 25:31-46

³¹“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. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

³⁴Then 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; ³⁵for 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, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

³⁷Then 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? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And 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.’

⁴¹Then 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; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I 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.’ ⁴⁴Then 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?’ ⁴⁵Then 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.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

faith and justice

Hi Friends,
I'm sorry I didn't send out the reading yesterday; I'll add it to today's reading and talk briefly about both. The Prophet Amos is one of the clearest voices against injustice in Israel and Judah. In his day the two kingdoms were separate: Israel was the Northern Kingdom with its capital at Samaria and Judah was the Southern Kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital. For Judah things were going pretty well in a lot of ways and the people thought of themselves as the faithful half of God's people. They apparently prided themselves on their worship life.

Amos addresses the rich and powerful in both kingdoms and accuses them of taking advantage of the poor. He talks about living in luxury while others go hungry. He also talks about commercial injustice: getting rich by selling poor quality grain and by using dishonest weights and measures. Amos warns them not to put so much confidence in their religious connection to God: they are chosen but they throw away God's favor by allowing and supporting injustice. What word does Amos have for us today?

God bless,
Sam

Amos 6:1-9

Alas for those who are at ease in Zion, and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria, the notables of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel resorts! ²Cross over to Calneh, and see; from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is your territory greater than their territory,

³O you that put far away the evil day, and bring near a reign of violence? ⁴Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory, and lounge on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the stall; ⁵who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and like David improvise on instruments of music; ⁶who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! ⁷Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile, and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away. ⁸The Lord God has sworn by himself (says the Lord, the God of hosts): I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds; and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.

Amos 8:4-10

⁴Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, ⁵saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, ⁶buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” ⁷The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.

⁸Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who lives in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? ⁹On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. ¹⁰I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.

new year, new challenges

Good morning and Happy New Year,
I have a love/hate relationship with this passage. I love it because it speaks truth about how God values justice more than worship or sacrifice or church attendance. I fear it because by this yardstick I always come up short. So for the new year God gives us a challenge to strive for. Let us feed the hungry more this year. Let us give water to the thirsty more this year. Let us welcome strangers and visit the sick. Let us visit those in prison and seek Christ in those people society sees as least. Let's make this year a better reflection of our love for God and for others. The Laurelton Cafe is a good start, especially since we expect to find new ways to minister to the community through it. Let's listen for God's calling and serve the children of our heavenly father/mother.

God bless,
Sam

Matthew 25:31-46

31"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. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then 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; 35for 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, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.'


37Then 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? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' 40And 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.'


41Then 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; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I 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.' 44Then 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?' 45Then 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.' 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

sin and righteousness

Good morning everyone,
Today Amos's warnings get closer to home and he certainly doesn't pull any punches. He moves from the oracles against the nations to oracles against Judah and Israel. Notice the formula he uses is the same because even though God has a special relationship with Israel he rules all nations, so all of us face God as judge in the same way. Judah's sin is abandoning God's law, and their punishment will be fire, which probably means being burned by a conquering army. Amos is more specific in speaking against Israel: their sin has more to do with oppression of the poor and abuses by the powerful. The image of selling the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of sandals is powerful and fitting for the way powerful people sometimes think of others, especially others without power, purely in terms of "profit centers."

Let me add two pieces of background that will help explain some of Amos's language. First, as God's special people Israel (and also Christians) are called to "be holy as I am holy." The book of Leviticus spells out in painstaking detail what it means to be holy like God, but the point is that people with a special relationship with God represent him, so when they act in ways that are wrong it desecrates God as well. Second, it was common practice when making a loan to take a piece of property belonging to the borrower as collateral. Scripture put limits on what could be taken and how it could be taken to protect the borrower, since they were probably in a vulnerable situation already. What do you think Amos's words here have to say to our society today?

God bless,
Sam


Amos 2:4-8
4Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept his statutes, but they have been led astray by the same lies after which their ancestors walked. 5So I will send a fire on Judah, and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.

6Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals— 7they who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth, and push the afflicted out of the way; father and son go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned; 8they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink wine bought with fines they imposed.