James 5:1 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.
Beautiful. My father is an extremely greedy and empty rich man. He deals with money so single-mindedly that he has completely destroyed any dignity or respect anyone has ever had for him. I pray at least that he isn‘t alone on his death bed, because finding God just seems too impossible for such a person.
James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Boils down Christianity to its essence. Care for the downtrodden and most vulnerable, and don't let yourself become consumed by the petty concerns and pressures of the society you're in.
It really is difficult to remain unstained. Even worse is that people don't want to deal with the downtrodden so that they will not "stray" from their path. The parish priest gave a homily yesterday about the temple of the body, and, how it should be kept clean and neat for when God comes to meet us, just how we are to keep His Church clean and neat for when he takes it up into the heavens.
Basically the entire book of Jonah, it's hilarious, I don't know how it took until I was an adult to realize that it's intentionally written to be very funny.
But also I think it's very poignant, specifically I think it warns against the sort of behavior that leads religious people (and, I could venture to say, some lefties) into the arrogance that leaves you wishing for everyone else to get what they deserve.
It boils down in the last chapter, where Jonah realizes that God isn't going to exterminate the city:
But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning, for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.
He sits there and almost dies of exposure, but God saves him with a little plant that gives him shade for a day before it is killed by a pest.
When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left and also many animals?”
And that's how it ends, this pathetic little dude whining at God about how his bush was more important than all those people he hates. Whining at God because he knows God is merciful and wants to save these people, which is something he doesn't want, because it would make him a false prophet. I think it's really interesting for the Bible to have this story about how when your religion conflicts with loving other people, God wants you to abandon your religion.
I'll have to read this book. Sounds pretty interesting. It's pretty relevant to a situation my parents are in.
Seriously, reread it, it's hilarious. Everyone Jonah encounters is more godly than him, the sailors, the Assyrians, the FUCKING COWS put on sackloth and ashes.
Or if you're too busy to read, check out this Tom-Waits-esque dramatic musical reading of the book by one of the coolest Christian musicians I'm aware of.
I cried one time in church when the priest was reading the account of Jesus and the adulterous woman from the Gospel of John.
When he told her “neither do I condemn you” it felt like he was talking to me.I also like Paul’s description and talk of love in 1 Corinthians 13 and I’m quite fond of “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God stronger than men” from the same Epistle.
I can relate to this. I've been in 4 relationships and had 2 flings from ages 15 to 22. I finally found God and decided to turn my life around. However, I am ever grateful for the experiences I had with those women.
Matthew 18 21: Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22: Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 23: Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24: And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25: But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26: The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27: Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28: But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29: And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30: And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31: So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32: Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34: And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35: So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
(KJV1611)
Great one concerning forgiveness. We are often blind to what we are forgiven and what we are gifted with, that we don't know how to do the same to other people. Thank you for sharing.
Proverbs 13:3 He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
Matthew 24: For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect
I struggle to understand this thin line we walk of being deceived by false prophets. Could you share a real-life example that might help me understand better? I'm a newly converted Christian.
The heart of the message is that salvation is to be found only through following God, and not those who would claim to be god-like. The Lord, in this case, is making the distinction that, while the trappings of godhood are easily available and easy to mimic, any who would clothe themselves in such garb are false, and seek to deceive. It's a warning.
Jesus was pretty clear in his messaging: following his teachings, and walking his path are the only avenue to becoming one with God. And along the way there will be many tests of character and many who will try to dissuade from staying righteous (ie remaining true to Jesus' words).
The Catholic Church would like a word with you... Jokes aside, how does the Catholic Church fare with this line of reasoning? I am a born-again Catholic (baptised, had my confirmation as a kid, etc.) and the institutionality of the Church is sometimss worrying. In this way I respect reformed denominations who put more emphasis on the Holy Book.
You will know them by their fruit.
So I would say some of the US Catholic Bishops in tying themselves so heavily to the Republican party and in their silence when those figures like Vance do racist fear-mongering and other things directly contrary to the Gospel are acting as false prophets or at the very least assisting Vance and others in that capacity.
They dress up their hateful actions in the guise of the teachings of Christ even when they are the complete opposite.On the other hand I would say some of the stuff Pope Francis has done and what he is trying to do bears good fruit.
Although I do not think being a “false prophet” is a binary thing where you either are or you aren’t or an institution either is or isn’t necessarily.
I think it can be circumstantial.
