GOP Gospel: Judgment of the Nations

Day 16 of my Lent project. For background, please read this.

A reading from the Gospel according to the GOP:

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for you have proven your righteousness upon earth. By your industry, you have created jobs, so those who are hungry, thirsty, and unclothed can work to feed and hydrate and clothe themselves. You have secured the borders of your nation and protected it from those who would take advantage of its wealth, so those resources can prosper your own people. You have established the finest health care system in the world, and reserved it for those who have worked hard and earned access to it, discouraging indolence with the threat of bankruptcy or death. You have imprisoned evildoers, rightly preserving society from their malign influence, and putting them to work so they can learn to make an honest living and thereby be saved. You have passed laws under which even the unbeliever is compelled to follow my way. And you did all this in my name, and so glorified me to the world.'

"Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for you fed those who did not work, you clothed those who spent their wages irresponsibly, you wasted the produce of your people's labour on foreigners and sinners, you offered health care to those who made poor life choices and diluted its energies by sharing it amongst too many, and you spoiled prisoners instead of punishing them. In so doing, you have taken from the deserving and given to the undeserving, to the lazy, the weak, and the criminal, and you are no better than thieves. You have undermined God's plans for his chosen ones, robbing them of the comfort and fruitfulness and power that was due them. And you have denied me and dishonoured my name to the world.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

( Matthew 25:31-46 )

( Discussion )