Sheep, fed and feeding.Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 100; Ephesians 1:15-23; Matthew 25:31-46 Matthew 25:31-46 is "the Great Judgment," the place where Jesus spells out clearly what God's ultimate judgment looks like. There is nothing about belief or doctrine. No mention of whether one has had a personal, emotional conversion experience. Nor even any reference to homosexuality, "alcohol, swearing, or forms of worship. It's frighteningly simple. "Nations" who feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, take care of the sick, and visit the imprisoned im·pris·on tr.v. im·pris·oned, im·pris·on·ing, im·pris·ons To put in or as if in prison; confine. [Middle English emprisonen, from Old French emprisoner : en- are the sheep. They're in. Peoples who don't are the goats. They're out. Isn't this "works righteousness?" What about my individual, autonomous redemption--where it matters not if I'm in with the sheep or the goats? Can't we look to traditions that wrest wrest tr.v. wrest·ed, wrest·ing, wrests 1. To obtain by or as if by pulling with violent twisting movements: wrested the book out of his hands; wrested the islands from the settlers. back the dignity of the individual, free of social connections, in communion with God? Not this week. The Lord God speaks through Ezekiel to the Israelites in Babylonian exile Babylonian Exile or Babylonian Captivity Forced detention of Jews in Babylonia following Babylonian conquest of Judah in 598/597 and 587/586 BC. The first deportation may have occurred after King Jehoiachin was deposed in 597 BC or after Nebuchadrezzar : "I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.... I will judge between sheep and sheep" (Ezekiel 34:11, 22). Then there is Psalm 100:3: "We are his people and the sheep of his pasture." The oddness of Ezekiel and his stories sometimes gives us the cover of competing poetic interpretations. Not here. Witness his straightforward metaphor in which the Lord God "will feed [the sheep] with good pasture" and feed "the fat and the strong ... with justice." God judges between sheep and other sheep, some fat and some lean. The oppressor OPPRESSOR. One who having public authority uses it unlawfully to tyrannize over another; as, if he keep him in prison until he shall do something which he is not lawfully bound to do. 2. To charge a magistrate with being an oppressor, is therefore actionable. and the oppressed op·press tr.v. op·pressed, op·press·ing, op·press·es 1. To keep down by severe and unjust use of force or authority: a people who were oppressed by tyranny. 2. . Sometimes it's just that simple. At this moment, 800,000 children in Niger are threatened by malnutrition. Too complex? Only until The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times reported on August 8 that French scientist Andre Briend invented "Plumpy'nut," a nutrition-fortified peanut butter in a packet that doesn't spoil. A clear answer for most of those kids in Niger. Real simple, says Dr. Milton Tectonidis of Doctors Without Borders Doctors Without Borders, Fr. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), international organization that provides emergency medical assistance to people suffering from a natural or societal disaster, such as an earthquake or war. . "It's just the will that's lacking.'" |
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