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“and sent Nathan to David. Nathan said to him, “There were two men in the same city—one rich, the other poor. The rich man had huge flocks of sheep, herds of cattle. The poor man had nothing but one little female lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up with him and his children as a member of the family. It ate off his plate and drank from his cup and slept on his bed. It was like a daughter to him.
“One day a traveler dropped in on the rich man. He was too stingy to take an animal from his own herds or flocks to make a meal for his visitor, so he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared a meal to set before his guest.” David exploded in anger. “As surely as GOD lives,” he said to Nathan, “the man who did this ought to be lynched! He must repay for the lamb four times over for his crime and his stinginess!”
“You’re the man!” said Nathan. “And here’s what GOD, the God of Israel, has to say to you: I made you king over Israel. I freed you from the fist of Saul. I gave you your master’s daughter and other wives to have and to hold. I gave you both Israel and Judah. And if that hadn’t been enough, I’d have gladly thrown in much more. So why have you treated the word of GOD with brazen contempt, doing this great evil? You murdered Uriah the Hittite, then took his wife as your wife. Worse, you killed him with an Ammonite sword! And now, because you treated God with such contempt and took Uriah the Hittite’s wife as your wife, killing and murder will continually plague your family. This is GOD speaking, remember! I’ll make trouble for you out of your own family. I’ll take your wives from right out in front of you. I’ll give them to some neighbor, and he’ll go to bed with them openly. You did your deed in secret; I’m doing mine with the whole country watching!””
2 Samuel 12:1-12 MSG
http://bible.com/97/2sa.12.1-12.msg
Every since the bible time there has been a real interaction between the rich and the poor as a matter of face poverty has always been a leading cause of war battles murder and destruction. Look at South Carolina right Now.
We have something called “Working Poor” folks with
– A full-time job isn’t always enough to live on, according to up-to-date statistics. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports that nearly 25 percent, of 46.5 million poor in the U.S., are considered “working poor,” as of 2012. “Working poor,” are people who spend 27 weeks or more per year in the labor force working or looking for work and whose incomes are below the poverty level.
Let me break it down Anita Jackson, 35, also a single mother, has had to seek help from Harvest Hope Food Bank to provide for her three children. She works full-time as a scheduler in a local hospital. The past two years, her hours have been cut back in the summer.
“I have a good full-time job and I think it’s a coveted position,” she said. “I feel that if I do have a full-time job, I should be able to provide everything. I’m not living extravagantly. I pay for gas, rent and child care, nothing extra.”
Understand now a typical family of four, two working adults and two children, needs to work three full-time minimum wage jobs to earn a living wage. The Calculator estimates that the living wage in South Carolina is $18.06 an hour, for two working adults supporting two children.
Yet we have leaders who don't seem to recognize that folks are hurting. If one person lives in a run down apartment and their children don't have enough to eat and they have to decide between food and back to school supplies, while another person lives in a Mac Mansion and their major decision is what type of BMW to buy for their 16year older something is wrong.
Especially when the rich person is so supposed to be a public servant. You see sometimes our leaders need to be reminded of what it means to mistreat persons because of perceived power.
And I think the church needs to get back to the job of reminding the leadership of how it is treating the people.
Now don't get it twisted I don't thing the politician should have less money (I would want a BMW if I could fit in one) I think the mother with three Children and a decent job should make More. I don't think the leadership in the hospital should be cutting her hours in the summer to make the company/Cooperation more money. But I know folks right here is South Carolina folks in power can do more for the poor then they are doing.
Leadership has to stop playing Games.
OH! We needs some folks with some Nathan Spirits to stop playing with leadership and Speak truth to power.
• We need some folks with some Nathan tack who can bring the story down to the level of us verse evil and let folks see who real enemy is!
• We need so folks who can call are leaders to task and point out that real folks don't have but one lamb in there house and they can't afford any more cut backs in services like Medicare and social security and education.
• We need folks like Nathan that can say that even if you bring down the flag today and keep, the taxes high on the poorest folks in the state you haven't helped anyone.
• We need folks like Nathan that can say Even if you cry at senator Pickney’s funeral but don't help the poor kids in Charleston, Williamsburg and Lexington county go to college or a trade school and get real jobs with living wages you have done nothing.
Oh I wish I had time to tell you that maybe we need some folks with enough Nathan spirit to tell you that some of the stuff we as leaders and Especially clergy have approved ain't right and when we truly herd from God we had to take back our blessing.
David thought he had the power to do what ever he wanted to do, be very very careful when you think you have the power to do what ever. You might want to take in to account that God has the only real power.
One of the things that really kinda get me about the story is that David's troops where winning the wars but when Joab sent Uriah to the front line they not only lost Uriah they started to, lose the fight.
• When you start playing games with God and the people that God has around all kind of things can happen.
• When you decided that some folks are expendable.
• When you decide some folks aren't real people, when you decide that young Black males don't have the same worth as other young males.
• When you decide that all of one group are thugs and need to be place on the from lines in the war on drugs and then pull the rest of their support back from them when the fighting gets bad so they will truly die, be careful you might be setting your self up to lose the real war. War of salvation!
1) In other words when God is not happy you can’t win!
Whenever you turn away form God, you can literally go ahead and Throw in the towel. Whenever you start to deal in flesh and become a peddler in the things against God, you are not gonna win.
2) Be careful when you blow up!
My son has a problem with blowing up, he is starting to feel him self these days and he has some control issues and from time to time when things aren't going his way he will start to huff and puff and literally you can see him getting ready to blow up, but he has me, I remember when I was younger I spent a lot of time trying also to blow up, but how many folks in here today relies there are some times when no matter how much you might want to blow up and get some folks told you might want to cheek your self first. Nathan told he story of the rich man that took from the poor and David was ready to have this other man killed, he blew up but than Nathan told Him David you are the Rich Man in the story.
3) What you do in secret God is about to make public!
Gods word told David what you did might have been secret but I'm about to make it well know. I'll let you all go home this communion Sunday after you understand this right here the stuff you been plotting and hiding and doing under cover God has seen it, the call and the back biting and the tearing folks reputation down and the God hasn't missed any of it. And One of the reasons A lot of you in here this morning are living in such hell is You don’t realize you cant be forgiven of the sins while you are still committing then. God is not fooled David Laying up here in the bed playing with Bashibas belly and roling around with the baby you are going to be held accountable for what you thourgh you got away with. I wish I could tell some church fokes there is no way they are going to get away with some of the dirt they are doing right now.
Some of yawl David’s need to cut it out and Some of Yawl Davida’s The Sneaking around the robing God the hate speech and the racism God is Not fooled.
