What is Mercy?
Good Morning Friends,
Yesterday afternoon at Immokalee High School and last night at Ave Maria University One by One hosted with our iCOArts dancers Eric Genuis Concerts of Hope. They were expressions of our organization’s mission of engaging those of good faith and good will to develop joint initiatives to build the capacity of others. Through music and relationships it was designed to evoke change, empower youth and engage communities. One of the selections asked us to explore whether we are humble enough to truly forgive. It asked today’s question. What is Mercy?
Scriptures: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NRSV)
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.
Isaiah 43:1-4 (NRSV)
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'”
Luke 13:6-9 (NRSV)
Message: Friends, God’s mercy means forgiveness and sometimes suffering pain so another person might have the dignity of love. And the opportunity comes without limits from God. And is available to all. For we are all debtors for the life we have been given, but the reality is that we must be willing to receive love before we can love others. Still there is something fearful about falling into the hands of God and a heavenly mercy. There is something both disturbing and divine about choice. The music is both sweet and dissonant. We do so like to walk past our opportunities to love. Brothers and sisters in Christ. Our sin is great. But God’s mercy is greater. Our sin is enormous, yet God’s mercy is boundless. Our sin drives a wedge between ourselves and God, yet God’s mercy is freely available to all who call on him and comes with a solid, lifetime guarantee. So call on Jesus for help believing in the assurance of this mercy, so mercy might flow from each of us as well. Therefor understand that there is a challenge of conviction and commitment we each must overcome. Understand that we all feel unsure from time to time…maybe even threatened. But friends, God’s mercy is guaranteed and we need to believe in it. So let our doubts be relieved. When it comes to our relationship to God as an individuals, to our relationship with God as a community we must understand the importance of mercy. Here we need to understand that mercy is to be looked upon by God, not as we deserve, but to be looked upon with favor collectively. That is what mercy is. It is a greater need than most imagine. Because without it, we can never ever come close to God – we can never ever see God’s face in another person. Friends, mercy is at the heart of the Christian faith and God is rich in mercy. And over our life time God gives us opportunities to make amends, to try harder and to change our attitudes. But eventually we will be held accountable and hopefully we forgive and bear fruit before it is too late. For eventually we have to learn that it is a sin not to bear fruit….and that one day … in fact each day… we must give account. So get this, God wants us to be humble and expectant when we cry out for His mercy… mercy that we might not get what we deserve. But there is more, here mercy is the obligation of the covenant promise…the obligation of the stronger to the weaker, of the insider to the outsider. It is here that we pray and lay claim to Jesus’ victory over sin…our sin. Here mercy is sacrifice… the sacrifice of the cross.
Pray we see our need for God’s mercy and its importance at the heart of our Christian faith. Pray we ask for mercy. Pray we proclaim God’s mercy to the world.
Pray we bear the fruit of repentance now. Pray we not absorb all the precious resources from the earth and give nothing back. Pray we do not rob nutrients from other trees without producing ourselves. Pray because we have been spared another day that we rejoice in it. Pray we not drift away from God or have hardened hearts when someone else receives mercy. Pray we turn away from our sin and not repeat it. Pray it is not too late for any of us. Pray that Jesus looks on us with pity and in that suffering looks on us as one of God’s children. Pray we be fruitful Christians. Pray we realize that one day mercy must agree with justice like the resolution of a chord.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 