There Are Two Sides to the Coin of Favor and Rightness With God
By Norman Franklin
And the LORD said to Abram, go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on the earth will be blessed through you,” Genesis 12:1-3 (CSB).
Abram, whom God renamed Abraham, is the central patriarch of faith for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. If there is one thing, one biblical principle, one theological precept that America, as a nation, and the Christian community believes, it is that we must be a friend and supporter of Israel.
But like the priest and the Levite in the parable of Luke 10:31-35, Christians, and Christian politicians in particular, have such a myopic focus on demonstrating loyalty to Israel that they leave the poor, the immigrants, war refugees and third world humanitarian needs lying wounded in roadside ditches.
Conservative evangelicals wave the banner of America’s rightness with God, but the righteous eye of God looks at both sides of the coin; He looks at what we are doing, and He looks at what we are not doing.
Christianity is never more Janus-faced than when conservative evangelical politicians cloak their callous maneuvers of political expedience in the love of God and country, of concern for the next generation, and for doing the will of the people; they are led by principles of their faith.
There is a great ideological divide in the Republican led House. Christian Nationalism ferments in the ranks. Florida Republican Matt Gaetz orchestrated the power grab that ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Obstructionist and election denier, Jim Jordon, (R.Oh), made his bid for the gavel, but lacked caucus support to secure the required votes. In a closed-door meeting of the Republican caucus, a consensus was reached; they committed to support whoever was nominated.
The strategic maneuvering placed the gavel in the hands of Rep. Mike Johnson, a Louisiana constitutional lawyer. Johnson was one of the chief architects of the strategy to overturn the 2020 election. He proclaims, “I am a Christian.”
I cast no aspersions on his proclamation of faith; Jesus said his fruits, his works, his deeds will bear witness to the character of the tree. Spoiled fruit litters his political landscape.
Liz Cheney, Fmr. Wyoming Rep., tweeted last week, “Speaker Johnson suggested Trump could ignore rulings by 61 courts and defy our Constitution because Trump supposedly “believed” he won. Mike knows the election was not stolen and that a President who defies the rulings of our courts and attempts to seize power is a tyrant.”
The government was in the perils of another shutdown; foreign aid was one point of division. In October, President Biden called for supplemental funding of $105 billion; $61.4 billion for Ukraine and $14.3 billion for Israel. Only fifty percent of Republican support continued aid to Ukraine.
Speaker Johnson, a religious conservative, in his first move as Speaker, introduced a bill that included $14.5 in aid for Israel and zero for Ukraine.
Both nations are embroiled in war; both existential; carnage, destruction of property and infrastructure, and the death of thousands of the innocent – elderly men, women, and children, are common in both wars. America has been a support to Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression, and America has always been a supporter of Israel. Speaker Johnson proposes to negotiate aid for the two warring countries separately, giving priority to Israel.
Ukraine has neither the national appeal of a religious ally nor the geopolitical significance of Israel. Lives are perishing by the thousands in both nations, but a contingent of the Republican caucus favors delaying or withholding aid for Ukraine.
God will not curse the cold shoulder to their humanitarian needs; showing loyal support to Israel is paramount.
Ukraine is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of wheat, barley and maize; tons of grain sit in the country’s Black Sea ports. World food prices increased exponentially since the start of Russia’s war for regional dominance, and the threat of food shortages looms in the Middle East and in drought-stricken countries in Africa. God does consider the poor and oppressed.
The Governors of Florida and Texas have exploited immigrants who have come to our southern borders in droves of thousands. Granted they have entered illegally; poverty, squalor, violence and hopelessness can lead to drastic measures to seize the hope; America offers the hope of a better life, families can dream. The governors bused or flew thousands of immigrants to Washington DC, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia. They gave them false expectations, false hope. Their humanity was subjective, they were political ponds. Most are sleeping on the streets. No room in the inn.
Scripture provides many admonishments about maltreatment of the poor and oppressed. Here are a couple: Proverb 14:31 warns, “The one who oppresses the poor person insults his Maker, but one who is kind to the needy honors Him.” And Hebrew 13:1-2 seems a gravely fitted lens to view our pious pretentions, “Let brotherly love continue. Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.”
The theological zeal of America is appended with a socioeconomic and political context. Israel has divine protection according to the Abrahamic covenant; America is coat tailing - loyal support appended with the need for a stable region rich with oil reserves.
It’s a political chess game that the nations play. Israel is strategic as a stabilizing force in the Middle East. America is dependent on Arab oil; conflict that threatens Israel threatens our economy.
Matthew 25:31-46 gives us cause to consider that we may be missing the mark; there is more to basking in the favor of God than being a supporter of Israel. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus speaks of the time when He will come in His glory and sit on His throne. The nations will be gathered before Him. He will judge them. He will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats: sheep on the right, goats on the left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 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 took me in; I was naked and you clothed me; I was in prison and you visited 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? When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or without clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you? “ “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
To those on the left, the King said, “Depart from Me.” His words caught those in the goat pins totally off guard. They were justified in their own righteousness, but it was not pleasing to the King.
The other side of the coin of favor and rightness with God.