Exactly, Joe!

I'm sorry to hear of the demise of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. And the "curse" on it, i.e., that it strove to work for social and economic justice, is just plain bizarre in relation to what I consider to be the very core of Christianity. I've posted this a number of times before, but it bears repeating as many times as it takes for the message to get through:

Matthew 25:35-41 (New American Standard Bible)

"'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; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'

"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?

'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?

'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'

The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these my brothers, even to the least of them, you did it to Me.'

This message has been out there for the better part of two millennia, and there are still a lot of people—a lot of self-styled "Christians"—who still haven't gotten it!

And for those folks, and for Glenn Beck and his ilk, in the following verse, Jesus added:

"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.'" [For you did none of these things.]

The church I attend (Central Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity) is one of those that strongly advocates, and works for, social and economic justice, and on numerous occasions, have laid it on the line—to the extend that one of our retired pastors has "done time" because of his dedication to peace and social justice—with the support, backing, and active support of the congregation.

Interesting to note, Joe (and something I find quite hopeful, in spite of the Glenn Beck's of the world), is that when Central Lutheran became a socially active church, the congregation expanded from a small, neighborhood church attended by a handful of elderly folks, to a vibrant and active church with a congregation that still includes many elderly, but has been swelled greatly by young people, including young married couples with children. Almost tripled in size and is still on its way up!

This, it seems, is what a lot of these younger folks were (and are) looking for.

Don Firth