The scene is the Vatican in Rome. A cardinal rushes in to see the Pope. “Your Holiness,” he says, “I have some good news and some bad news.”
The Pope replied, “Well, give me the good news first.”
“We’ve just received word Christ has returned to earth.”
“That’s wonderful,” the Pope responded. “But what’s the bad news?”
“The cardinal answered dejectedly, “The call came from Salt Lake City.”
That joke comes gift wrapped in profound theology. What if Christ should return today? Would it be good news for the Baptists? For Methodists? For Catholics? Lutherans? Good news for the poor or rich? For the blue collar worker or the intellectual elite?
In Amos day the people of Israel were piously looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. But Amos warned them the Christ might be bad news for some. When Christ comes there will be surprises.
A man died and approached the gates of heaven to seek admission. The Gatekeeper asked what he’d done to deserve admission. “Well, I went to church at Christmas and Easter.”
The Gatekeeper laughed.
“I gave money to religious causes.”
The Gatekeeper asked him what money was.
“I took care of my family.”
The Gatekeeper informed him plenty of sinners in hell did the same thing.
The poor man gave up. He realized he’d done little for God or others during his time on earth. He was about to turn away when the gatekeeper cried out, “Wait! I know you! You’re the man who used to feed the sparrows in that little city park.”
The man acknowledged it was he.
“Come on in!” said the gatekeeper. “The Lord of the Sparrows said when you arrived to bring you straight to him so he could thank you.”
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