Mercy for All?

Some of my colleagues have articulated this moment of Covid, economy, and racial tension as a moment in which it appears that the world is falling apart. Others have voiced hope that things will be made new so that all can live and prosper in this land of the free.

Perspective is an interesting thing and it appears that picking sides is quite in vogue and has been for a long while (maybe forever, wasn’t that what Adam and Eve did in the Garden?).  We are either for or against all kinds of things that are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Further, disputable details (did the can say “tear gas” on the side or was it just a chemical that functioned like tear gas?) are the commodity we use to count oneself as more correct or righteous than others.  I have found it to be far too easy to be pulled into this milieu, and I can share that it is not life giving. 

I wonder what this would look like when we consider Jesus dying for our sins.  Do I look for technicalities?  Do I say to myself, “Well, maybe it wasn’t a spear that pierced his side, but instead a sharp stick?” or, “I do a lot of things well, so maybe I’m not so sinful that I need to be completely saved, but just need a little hand to pull me up to the worthiness necessary for heaven.”  Neither, of course, are the point.  The point is the comfort of having been saved for eternity by the God who made us and loves us infinitely.

I offer this reflection because the lure of missing the point for the sake of keeping our worldly alliances intact keeps us from allowing the balm that is the love and forgiveness of Jesus to be manifest to us in our suffering, fear, confusion, and need.  And thus, it prevents us from seeing others through the lens of that love and treating others in light of that love.  Jesus sunk to the lowest common denominator and in doing so assured us that he came for all people, even those on the other side of an ideological chasm (Samaritans?! Really?!).  Our God entered the world as a lowly human to ensure that we know He came to save every person. His favorite people to eat with and associate with were sinners and tax collectors. He undermined the idea that any are able to call themselves more worthy or important than others.”

I pray that we can stop asking who is right.  In the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37, a teacher of the Law of Moses asks Jesus “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus finishes his parable with the reframed question, “[Who] was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”  The answer was “The one who showed him mercy.”  Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.” The answer is mercy.  Love your enemy.  Care for people different than you in spite of yourself.  There is beauty in the difficult call to care for those we don’t like, don’t agree with, and who are on the other side.  This is a time to hear this Good News and receive this blessed call.

I am praying for all of you and I am here for you.  I pray that God will set our hearts towards mercy and give us the grace, strength, and courage to love everyone, but especially those we disagree with or don’t like.  God bless us all in this time.

See you in virtual church.