The president himself states that we are “partners with God” over these grave issues.  I would not say that I am God’s partner, but I am certainly His servant, and I am both humbled and delighted to serve.  Being a follower of Christ, among the general commands articulated by The Master himself are these:  Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless and visit those in prison.  Pure religion is that widows and orphans receive care and mercy.  Anything that I have done to the least of these His brethren, I have done for Him. 

This may seem alien to my secular readers, but the Judeo-Christian tradition of charity is obedience to God’s call on our lives.  Giving and mercy are both spiritual gifts that scripture teaches must be exercised to do the work of the Church, which is to glorify God and make him known in the world.   Charity is an act of worship, expected of the believer as an exercise of faith.

The point that I am spooling up to is this:  The power to tax is the power to send a man with handcuffs someone’s home and exact money.  How can I as a Christian demand that the tax man go to my non-believing neighbor and exact resources to do God’s work?  When I write a check to support a clinic, I am drawing upon the resources of the Most High, who gives me all things I need to do His work in this world.  The non-believer may not make this claim (though God may still provide).

Christians who agitate for government-funded charity like health care are well motivated, but whatever appeal to my conscience they are trying to make is on shaky ground.  Forcing a charitable enterprise upon the unredeemed upon pain of law is not materially different than sending a cop to drag a man to church.

The very foundation of the health care system we enjoy in the US was built out of the pockets of Christian and Jewish congregations uniting to bring mercy to their friends and neighbors without regard to their creed, and for the most part without regard to their ability to pay.  The faithful, and those inspired by the faithful did this voluntarily and found great joy in the work.

If my Christian brothers and sisters wish to provide clinics and hospitals for the poor over and above what is offered now, I encourage them to join with the charitable institutions already in place and help.  Christian Charity is rewarding and commanded. We can’t relieve ourselves of our obligation by subcontracting this work to a bureaucrat.  Perhaps that’s why it’s been such a dismal failure.

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And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

In the old testament, Isaiah has a similar reaction in the presence of the Lord.

Isaiah 6:5 -- And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Many who are familiar with this passage in Luke know that the Angels tell the shepherds to not be afraid, that they bring good tidings of great joy. Linus, in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” gives what I think is the sweetest version of this event in our culture. Sweet news though it is, I grew up thinking that the shepherds were freaking out simply because the faced the unknown.

I now believe that the fear these men felt was the fear an employee who had been embezzling funds would feel if an FBI agent appeared unexpectedly in his office, only multiplied by an infinite amount. In Isaiah’s encounter, the prophet -- who had dedicated his whole life to serving God -- recognized instantaneously his wretched, sinful condition once exposed to the glory of God.

God’s glory exposes the hidden crevices where our wickedness is hidden. God’s angelic messengers bring with them that penetrating power. Like an enemy combatant who sits in a ruined fortification with an empty rifle, the sudden sight of Marines freezes his blood. Doom crushes his heart.

Mankind knows that it is at war with God. We fool ourselves for a while as we busy ourselves with daily living. We do our deeds both kind and cruel and somehow deceive ourselves into thinking our kindness is counted and cruelties forgotten. Because of the nature of the warfare, we do not recognize the whistling of the artillery overhead, though hospitals, battlefields, and cemeteries are constant reminders of sin’s curse. We turn our face away, but our false oblivion changes nothing.

Then God’s glory appears, and whether a prophet or a shepherd the Glory of God pierces you and you know you are unspeakably wicked by contrast. Doom is here. All you can do is tremble and await.

“Do not be afraid” His agent says. “I bring you tidings of Great Joy” His herald proclaims. God’s justice will be satisfied, but not by your doom, but by His son, who lies in a manger just a few miles away. Just as the old prophet’s sins were taken away by the burning coal, God’s Son has come to take away the sin of the world. God’s Glory will still illuminate the heart, but instead of doomful wickedness it will only reveal the perfect cleanliness of His Son if we will only surrender to Him.

Glory to God in the Highest indeed.

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