Holy Trinity Lutheran Church - Ankeny, IA

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​BIG? YES. BEAUTIFUL? NOT SO MUCH. JUST? NOT EVEN CLOSE.

6/12/2025

4 Comments

 
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Some of you may be upset, even angered, by this little article. I am willfully and wantonly referring to a bill now before the US Congress. You may assume that this means a pastor is taking up politics, which is forbidden in the minds of many. Others may think I am being partisan for opposing something supported by one party more than the other. I reject both accusations. 

​A pastor makes promises to the Church, to the congregation, to themselves, and to, most importantly, Jesus Christ to speak and act in accordance with the gospel. I must be able to look at myself in the mirror each day and not be revulsed by my cowardice or unfaithfulness.

The bill under consideration is indeed big. Too big. This will add $3 Trillion to the deficit over the ten years following passage of the current bill. This burden will be laid upon the lives of our children who have no voice but will pay the bill. This is not justice. It is a modern example of the sins of the parents being visited upon future generations. Debt is akin to captivity and the never-ending growth in debt will finally lead to the day when all the revenue will pay just interest to nations, corporations, and people who will hold our future as slaves. Jesus announced in Luke 4 that he came to release the captives, not enslave them even more.

The bill under consideration is not beautiful in any way. Justice is beautiful. Love is beautiful. Empathy and compassion are beautiful. The beauty of God’s reign is revealed in scripture:

6 Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. (Isaiah 58:6-9)

The beauty of God is expressed in the divine compassion and grace showered upon the least and the lost: For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, 18 who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. 19 You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:17-19)
(See also: Jeremiah 7:6-7; Ezekiel 22:6-7; Deuteronomy 24:17-22; Amos 5:11-15; Matthew 25; James 2:2-8, to name a few.)

The truth of the matter is that this big, ugly, bill is an embrace of all that is wrong with our world. A summary article in USA Today, which I cross checked with various moderate sources reveals the following:
  • “More than two-thirds of the total (tax) cuts would go to those with annual incomes of about $217,000 or more…  Those with incomes of $1.1 million or more would get nearly a fourth of the cuts.”
  • “Americans making about $17,000 to $51,000 would lose about $700. Those with an income of less than $17,000 would lose more than $1,000 on average.”
  • The measure would cut $267 billion in federal spending for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP or food stamps, CBO said.
  • (The bill) could result in as many as 7.6 million Americans losing health insurance over the next 10 years, according to initial estimates by the CBO.
  • The bill's provisions would increase the federal deficit by $3.8 trillion from 2026 to 2034, according to the CBO.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2025/05/21/winners-losers-trump-big-tax-bill/83744635007/

The bill also continues to fund a military industrial complex that long ago surpassed the limits of common sense. The current defense spending is $916 billion (more than $1 trillion is proposed in the bill). We spend more than the next 9 countries on the planet combined – including China and Russia. https://www.newsweek.com/countries-defense-spending-us-russia-china-pete-hegseth-2034182

The reason I am speaking up is because the passage of this bill will produce a train wreck for our mission partners like Mosaic and LSI who serve the most vulnerable of our society and will lose millions in funding. Passage of this bill will make hungry people hungrier and shift overwhelming burdens on food pantries (like ours) and food programs forced to do much more with much less. I am speaking up because the passage of this bill will be a moral failure that drives us more deeply into a culture that runs on greed, selfishness, and self-preservation. We will cement the “culture of the middle finger” more firmly in place.

Archbishop John Wester of the Santa Fe Diocese of the Roman Church says”
“Moreover, the church… should lead the way in speaking against this bill and calling… on (Christians) to work for its defeat. Because of its overall effects on those who are most in need, passing this budget would be a moral failure for American society as a whole. Unless the church opposes it in the clearest possible terms, we will squander the credibility of our witness to the Gospel and Christ’s command to care for the “least of these.”” – Archbishop John Wester https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/a-u-s-archbishop-shreds-trump-s-budget-bill-the-cruelty-of-this-bill-is-historic/ar-AA1GoxgP?ocid=socialshare

Wester continues, “There is another factor for the church to consider in this debate, as well—its moral authority. Unless the church stands up for the poor and marginalized of the nation… its moral voice will be diminished in the future. There are times when the church needs to forsake political considerations and take a stand, even if that effort is unsuccessful. This is one of those times.”

My sisters and brothers, if our faith matters, if our witness to the veracity of the gospel means anything, we will fight tooth and nail against the moral bankruptcy this bill and so many current actions threaten to rob us of our humanity and bind us to death.

In Christ,
Tim Olson – A Brother in Christ
4 Comments
Dan Ellett
6/12/2025 11:32:07 am

I agree!

Reply
Peggy Orosco
6/13/2025 07:31:12 pm

Completely agree!

Reply
James Scharff
6/12/2025 12:00:29 pm

If we fail to actively resist the negative influence of a mis-guided government we may repeating what happened in Germany a century ago.

Reply
Debra Harrison
6/30/2025 08:25:26 am

Amen and Amen

Reply



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Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
A congregation of the Southeastern Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
517 SW Des Moines St.
Ankeny, IA 50023
Phone: 515-964-4348
Office hours: M-Th 9:00 am-3:00 pm

Worship Schedule:
Sundays at 8:30 and 10:00 am
Livestream on Sundays at 10:00 am on YouTube

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