Wolves in Sheeps clothing

“Thus says the Lord of host: This people says: “Not now has the time come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” (Then the word came to Haggai, the prophet:) IS it time for you to dwell in your own panelled house while this house lies in ruins?
Now thus says the Lord of hosts:
Consider your ways!
You have sown much, but have brought in little;
you have eaten much, but have not been satisfied;
you have drunk, but have not been exhilarated;
have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed;
And he who earns wages earned them for a bag with holes in it” Haggai 1:2-6Haggai was talking to the Jews as they had returned from exile. They had faced many things (including real economic distress) and as a result has lost faith in there ever being a better day. But Haggai listened to the word of the Lord and was given five oracles. The rebuilding of the temple began. The rest is history.I am not generally in the habit of bringing attention to people or things that I consider unworthy of my time. But I have heard too much from people who think we don’t have the means to help in Haiti because we are in an economic crisis of our own. I am appalled at the lack of compassion that I hear from people like Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh who accuse everyone else of having an agenda when theirs is so evident. So I am willing today to have them and thier words sully my blog…hopefully just for today.Who would have imagined that by seeing pictures of helpless human beings it would be an opportunity for Robertson to clarify for us that Haiti made a pact with the devil. John Stewart said it well on Thursday when he pulled out the Bible and started quoting the Psalms, “have you even read this book?” John Stewart was more of a godly man the other day than Pat Robertson because instead of sitting there and relying on “urban legend” he used the Word of God to expose the falsehood that God has no time for Haiti. Rush Limbaugh who also holds himself as a paragon of morality decided to consider this earthquake an act of political positioning for Obama. WHAT??Yesterday, I mentioned that 80% of Haitians were Roman Catholic. If, in fact, Robertson were right does that mean that we are representatives of the same “pact.” How does one go from A to Q so easily? My friend Amy suggested they both go help with the rescue efforts to learn a thing or two but in reality people like Limbaugh and Robertson are so comfortable they have “sown so much but brought in little”. Really, why go there when they can do far more damage here to the people of God and to the word of God? Afterall, who will give money to people who clearly are of the devil?? I sit here and ask what would Jesus’s response to this be…yet, I don’t really have to ask, do I? It is already illustrated in the compassion that I see from the rest of society.Our world is not so different from when Haggai heard these words, except as Christians we carry the temple with us. As Christians we believe in the resurrection of the spirit that embraces all people. God has not abandoned the Haitians, Pat Robertson and the people who believe him have. Then go, the rest of the world who does not subscribe to your foolishness can and will do it without you. Rush Limbaugh should consider his ways as should we all. We should remember that when we choose to not expose such sin as this represents we become culpable in some way.So today I pray: Lord, open my heart and help me to open the heart of others. Help me not to rest on my own understanding but on your word as it walks through the world. Please let the people of Haiti know we are with them in prayer.

PS: to see the clip from http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-january-14-2010/haiti-earthquake-reactions