It's interesting that verse 32 says, 'all the nations." I realize it could also be translated as "people," but could it not be suggested that if God judges positively those who, as a nation, care for the naked, hungry, and homeless, He could also provide for that nation's temporal needs as well?
And on the micro level, my board was once discussing the readiness of a baptismal candidate and an elder said something that's stuck with me through years of ministry. He said, "When I get to heaven I'd rather have Jesus tell me I let someone in who wasn't quite ready than that I kept someone out who was."
Really appreciate this column. The issue of immigration has been on my mind a lot over the last couple of days—especially as I listened to the former Prime Minister of Australia make the argument (on the podcast Political Gabfest) that democrats should always have been for a sealed border. I considered his arguments—and how he seemed to make sense—at first. But as I thought about why this sounded sensible, I realized that I had fallen into a “scarcity mindset,” which always engenders holding on tight to what I/my community/my nation have—resources, etc. Like you, Shawn, I don’t have any answers for all of this. But I do think it’s important for me to step back from that scarcity mindset and see if I can look at situations without fear—which is really at the heart of scarcity concerns. Faith over fear.
Hear hear... 🙏 Speaking of Martin Luther, I recently came across a beautiful quote by him: "God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does!" ❤️🙏
Thanks, Horatio! I recently shared that Luther quote as well. It's powerful - though I've come to recently discover that it wasn't originally shared by Luther, but a theologian summarizing his views in the 20th century.
Two things:
It's interesting that verse 32 says, 'all the nations." I realize it could also be translated as "people," but could it not be suggested that if God judges positively those who, as a nation, care for the naked, hungry, and homeless, He could also provide for that nation's temporal needs as well?
And on the micro level, my board was once discussing the readiness of a baptismal candidate and an elder said something that's stuck with me through years of ministry. He said, "When I get to heaven I'd rather have Jesus tell me I let someone in who wasn't quite ready than that I kept someone out who was."
Thanks, Greg! I love those thoughts.
Really appreciate this column. The issue of immigration has been on my mind a lot over the last couple of days—especially as I listened to the former Prime Minister of Australia make the argument (on the podcast Political Gabfest) that democrats should always have been for a sealed border. I considered his arguments—and how he seemed to make sense—at first. But as I thought about why this sounded sensible, I realized that I had fallen into a “scarcity mindset,” which always engenders holding on tight to what I/my community/my nation have—resources, etc. Like you, Shawn, I don’t have any answers for all of this. But I do think it’s important for me to step back from that scarcity mindset and see if I can look at situations without fear—which is really at the heart of scarcity concerns. Faith over fear.
Thank you, Helen! Such wonderful words.
Hear hear... 🙏 Speaking of Martin Luther, I recently came across a beautiful quote by him: "God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does!" ❤️🙏
Thanks, Horatio! I recently shared that Luther quote as well. It's powerful - though I've come to recently discover that it wasn't originally shared by Luther, but a theologian summarizing his views in the 20th century.
Well said!! The right wing "Christian" segment has a lot to answer for in misrepresenting Christ and his message.
Thank you, Shawn, for this!
Beautiful. Also one of my favorites passages from the Bible is that section of Matthew.
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Not sure what you hoped to accomplish with this but l love your work.
Thank you, Paul!
Not sure what you hoped to accomplish with