I profess that I have no right to ever judge you for any thing you do. I am not judging anyone. Only you can answer whether I even have a right to say or write what I write. But I feel so strong about what I write I have no choice but to write it. I am concerned for us.
At age 16 I believe with all my heart I was called to be God’s minister. I have tried to be faithful to that calling. If I continue to be faithful would it not seem appropriate to be concerned about the souls of others? If I felt that I had knowledge that your soul is in danger should I risk offending you or do I quietly keep my mouth shut? On this Sunday Morning the question lays heavy on me. The reason is I have a deep concern for our souls. Yours and mine. I want you to consider what I believe is the most sobering scripture I know. It is also one of the most political. I already know it will offend some of you. But I must risk it because I care. Because for more than 50 years I have had a call. Here is the scripture:
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation 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 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit 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 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire 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, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Brothers and sisters all the law hinges on how we are loving one another and how we love God. How we love one another IS how we love God. The scripture asks the question," How do you love God who you have not seen, if you don’t love one another who you have seen?"
Can we grasp brothers and sisters, when you tell me, you refuse to give up your gun, even if it might save another’s life, then I suggest you may be placing a higher value on a possession than on another child of God. Let me be clear, I am not asking you to do this. You please keep your gun. What I am asking is, please help pass some reasonable laws on gun safety and use.
This is very personal to me. My dad had a horrible illness of the mind. He was bipolar. He held almost an army of people off while his family frantically tried to talk him down. He used a 12 gage shot gun. Thank God, no one was hurt and thank God, no one killed my father.
As a family we made certain he never had access to guns again. My dad was the hardest working man I have ever known. He was a good Christian and had deep beliefs. But when he had those dark moments he struggled terribly. I am very proud of the man he was. But as a family, we all know the potential was always before us for tragedy. The rest of the story is he lived to be 97 years old. Many of those years were wonderful. He was hospitalized for 8 years off and on. Please understand. I am not trying to hurt or offend any one.
As a family we made certain he never had access to guns again. My dad was the hardest working man I have ever known. He was a good Christian and had deep beliefs. But when he had those dark moments he struggled terribly. I am very proud of the man he was. But as a family, we all know the potential was always before us for tragedy. The rest of the story is he lived to be 97 years old. Many of those years were wonderful. He was hospitalized for 8 years off and on. Please understand. I am not trying to hurt or offend any one.
The scripture i quote above has much more meaning than one issue. I could write a ton more about it. I am pretty sure, I would offend more, than I already have. I will say, it also has meaning in regard to how we treat all people and how God wishes Government to function as well. To say that it does not apply, we miss what the Pilgrim parents believed. Why William Penn established the government he did in Penn. please read it carefully. It applies to our individual lives as well. Please try to understand my heart here my friends. If I’m wrong ok. But know this I have not written the above lightly.
I am deeply concerned for our souls. Please forgive me. I have to prayerfully ask you to consider what I write.
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