Turn down the heat!

But woe to you who are rich,

for you have already received your comfort.

25 Woe to you who are well fed now,

for you will go hungry.

Woe to you who laugh now,

for you will mourn and weep.

Luke 6:24-25

These are the "reverse" Beatitudes spoken by Jesus following on from the "blessed are" pronouncements in the Sermon on the Mount.

In that light, let's look at our Government's actions:

The Chancellor instructed us, as would a stern headmaster: "turn down the heat", "learn to pay more for energy", "tighten your belts"!

Then he announced, at a slap up banquet for Tories recently: "I have to cancel my skiing holiday!"

Oh! The pain of it - how inconvenient for you!

The disgustingly rich and callous leaders live it up, while the poor get poorer.

Little kids die in mouldy, damp housing, the homeless are turfed out on the streets whilst illegal migrants live in hotels.

We are living in times as when Jesus addressed the crowds in Galilee.

The harsh Romans taxed them to the hilt, the religious leaders offered no hope, while both were living in luxury.

Nothing but "woe" is being stored up for these leaders.

God stands up for the poor and oppressed.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

Luke 4:18-19

Our confidence should be firmly in Jesus and His promises in the midst of the economic gloom.