“I don’t think the Lord Jesus himself could manage this group,” Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Tex.) told NBC News last week.
Rep. Nehls was referring, of course, to the U.S House of Representatives. He added that he would pray for the new Speaker, Mike Johnson, as the House adjourned for a long weekend.
I find that to be an intriguing proposition. What is the Lord Jesus were to return, this week, and show up in Washington DC? And what if he walked into the Capitol Building… into the House Chambers… and offered to take over from poor Mike Johnson, as Speaker of the House?
Yes, poor Mike Johnson. As Speaker of the House, he’s apparently now in charge of fundraising for the Republican Party, and he sent out a fundraising email recently that stated:
I refuse to put people over politics.
I can’t imagine Lord Jesus sending out that kind of message to potential donors. But then, I can’t imagine Lord Jesus being a Republican. Or a Democrat, either, for that matter.
As I understand the stories about Lord Jesus, he seemed to put people over politics. He even taught his followers to love their neighbor as themselves. Reportedly, when asked who he meant by “neighbor”, he told a story about a Samaritan who was more compassionate than a Jewish priest. An interesting story, considering that, back in those days, Jews and Samaritans mostly hated each other. Some Samaritans had recently desecrated the Jewish Temple with human bones, during Passover. Not a great way to win friends.
Reminds me, somehow, of the House of Representatives, lately. Except maybe not the human bones during Passover.
Would Lord Jesus allow the federal government to shut down? A potential shutdown seems to be a concern… again. The media is suggesting that a shutdown could occur on November 17. So, like, in a few days.
Reportedly, the U.S. Senate — controlled by the Democrats, just barely — is passing bipartisan bills to keep the government running. The House is passing Republicans-only bills that probably have no chance of getting approved in the Senate, or signed by the President.
So I guess the question is, if you’re a Democrat, are you supposed to love your Republican neighbor as yourself? And vice versa?
Here in my poor attempt to bring the Good Samaritan story up-to-date, for anyone who might be refusing to put people over politics.
Lord Jesus is holding the Speaker’s gavel, and a certain member of Congress (who will remain nameless) stands up and poses a question, hoping to make Lord Jesus look silly.
“Mr. Speaker, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Lord Jesus says him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
The Congressman had not actually read the law because it was, like, 7,000 pages long, but —pretending he hadrtead it — he answers, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbors as yourself.”
Lord Jesus says to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will be re-elected.”
But the Congressman, wanting to justify himself, says to Jesus, “And who are my neighbors?”
Lord Jesus answers with a story.
“A certain Republican voter went down from Nazareth (Pennsylvania) to Jericho (New York), and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
Now, by chance, a certain Trump supporter came down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
Likewise a DeSantis supporter, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.
But a certain Democrat — who happened also to be an illegal immigrant, and a follower of Islam — came where the Republican was lying, wounded. And when he saw him, he had compassion.
So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He hailed an Uber, brought him to a nice motel — probably a Marriott — and took care of him.
On the next day, when the Democrat departed, he took out an American Express card, gave it to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of this poor Republican; and whatever more you spend, just put it on my card. But it has a $2,000 limit.”
Lord Jesus asks the member of Congress: “Which of these three do you think was ‘neighbor’ to the Republican voter who fell among the thieves?”
And the Congressman says, “He who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus says to him, “Go and do likewise. And in a bipartisan manner, if you don’t mind.”
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.