MERCIFUL LIKE THE FATHER

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. – Matthew 5:43-48

A world on fire. That is how these days seem. But the world has always been on fire since the beginning of time. And that is because it’s the natural state of the human condition to bring folly and strife down upon ourselves. But in these days it seems especially so. Tribalism has rooted itself in among us and the brotherly love of man grown cold. The very quickness to pick up hands and to point fingers in one another’s direction sits thick and saturates our social media and air waves. How should one who professes to be a believer conduct him or herself in these trying times? How should a person justly live in this mire? Have we really considered the rubber meets the road teachings of the Gospel? Or do we just talk about these teachings and wax poetic about them and do we live this on our own terms when it is convenient for us, self-satisfied that we have done our duty?

We say we are about the kingdom and have done our daily diligence in our faith, but have we really gotten the meaning of the love for others? Even if they don’t share our beliefs or what they stand for? It’s an easy thing to love people you know. This is nothing special. The radical thing is that Jesus challenges us to love those who are not like us.

Those who don’t agree with us, those who are at odds with us. He challenges us to be radical by calling us to be merciful like the Father. We are quick to strike and be on the offense because of this lack of mercy. Social media and networks lather us up about our enemies machinations and work us up to go fight them. And we run with that without considering the damages to not only our “adversary’ but what toll it exacts on our spirits as well. And it exacts a heavy one.

This can be seen in the recent controversy surrounding the Olympics. Specifically a young Algerian boxer whose gender was heavily disputed. Politicians and leaders were quick to denounce this, slandering her and a worldly system. And we in turn denounced this as well without a thought to stop and think. When in reality, the truth is that this young lady was born a female and raised a female. But in our zeal we neglected her as an image bearer of God and we didn’t search out the truth for ourselves. The tongue is a powerful tool. It can raise up and bring life or it can be used for evil and to tear down and destroy.

Even as believers, what we call right and what the Lord calls right are sometimes diametrically opposed. We can lean on our own righteousness heavily just as the Pharisees did. Justice sought, an eye for an eye. But the heart of Christ is not about this. He is about mercy. The heart can be a deceptively brutal thing. A little rot within will spread like a cancer to the flesh of the whole. The words in the Sermon On The Mount challenges us in its simplicity and forces us to truly see the state of our hearts. We can say the right words and sing the right songs and talk about the justice of God til the sun sets but if we lack love and mercy we are just a tinny echo of the truth. Unfortunately we have become known for who we are fighting against, instead of the one who we love most. Those who claim the heart of Christ can speak from hearts inspired by the Father. We can speak words as refreshing as fresh fruit from the vine (Luke 6:44), and instead of words full of accusation and rife with judgement our words should be full of mercy (Luke 6:36,37) for we are to be mirrors of the work of Christ.

But we should also remember what Jesus said about our bitter words, "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" - Matthew 12:36,37

This reveals whether our hearts are hardened or whether our hearts rest in the Life. There can be no middle ground to this. And it would seem as if everything is horrible all around, but that my friend is not the case. Whether you realize it or not, whether you accept it or doubt all of this, there is always hope to be had. He is more than capable of making things new. The question is are we willing to?

The news media has an agenda and listening to the talking heads will set us into anger and frustration. Perhaps we don’t give them our energies and we remember the radical message of the Beatitudes and focus on that. The people marveled at His words for a reason. They were never taught this.Things haven’t changed much since that day long ago. But maybe, for such a time as this you were born into this place and quite possibly you were born where you are at and quite possibly you were called to this. We have the opportunity to balance justice with mercy. To be about the true heart of the Father. There is opportunity to reflect the heart of Christ in these challenging days. Our first century forebears did this. And so can we. I believe in you friend.