The Healing Power of Mercy

Have we reached the point in which the cultural, social, and political divides in our country have grown to be chasms that are too big to bridge?

Ill-sentiment against our fellow citizens who may hold different beliefs has grown from rare to marginal to sadly somewhat familiar. According to the Pew Research Center, in the 2020 election, roughly eight in ten registered voters, both republicans and democrats, said their differences with the other party were about fundamental American values. Approximately nine in ten worried that a victory by the other side would lead to "lasting harm" in our nation.

This level of polarization, starting with politics, has seemingly seeped into every aspect of our lives. To mask or not to mask – to read Dr. Seuss or not. Hostilities between ethnicities, differing views on the pandemic and how to recover from it, political strife and everything else that seems to require you to have contempt for anyone who has a differing view than yours. Our neighbors have become our enemies, our posture has become aggressive and our celebration of "sea to shining sea" have become impassible oceans of red and blue.

Day by day, it's becoming easier to say: our world is hurting, and it's "their" fault...

We all want justice and for things to be made right, but it seems like the harder we press, the farther we get away from true healing.

Throughout Christ's ministry, He was dedicated to the purpose of expanding the Gospel of the Kingdom in everything He did. Often this would look like Christ preaching on how we are meant to live towards others by representing the healing love of Christ through our character.

An example of this is the story of the good Samaritan. At the beginning of this story, we are introduced to a lawyer who poses the simple question to Jesus, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" As a lawyer, Jesus knew this man was not asking out of a genuine desire to learn how to be saved, but to instead challenge Jesus on the truth of His teaching.

Sensing this, Jesus asked him a legal question in return... "What is written in the law? How do you read it?" Showing his understanding of the Old Testament, he responds correctly with what we know as the Greatest Commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

The answer was correct, so Jesus tells him to go and do this, and he will receive eternal life.This somewhat interesting interaction seems to frustrate the man. Jesus' response was to go and do this continually, and he will be saved. So being filled with a self-righteous desire, he hopes to justify himself by asking Jesus... "So who is my neighbor?"

Here is where the story we are all familiar with comes in. Jesus tells of a Jewish man going about his business traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when he falls among robbers. Being beaten and left for dead, the man by chance (or we could read by providence) – is met by a Priest. This well-educated, morally equipped, potentially wealthy man sees him on the road. Instead of seeking to assist the man in his troubling state, he surprisingly passes him on the other side. Next, a similar occurrence happens, but this time it is a Levite. The listeners must have been sure that this is where the man would get help. However, the Levite follows suit and abandons the man by passing him by.

Then, when all hope was lost Jesus introduces a Samaritan. If you don't know your biblical history here, the very existence of Samaritans was seen as evil. They were known as a blight on the world, traitors, and some of the worst enemies of the Jews. Though they lived in the same place geographically, they were worlds apart personally, religiously, and culturally. So, this enemy of this half dead man takes compassion on him, binds up his wounds, takes him to an inn and waits 'til the man was healed and ready to continue his journey. In the face of what could have been an opportunity for retribution, the Samaritan instead showed mercy towards the individual he had nothing in common with and owed nothing to.

This incredible story of kindness demonstrated to the lawyer what it takes to truly fulfill the laws of God. Not only was he expected know the law, believe the law, and act it out perfectly – he needed to do this towards his most despised enemy in order to receive salvation.

Believers know from the Scripture that it is impossible to receive salvation apart from the gracious work of Christ. Like the lawyer learned, and we all know we can not fulfill the law of God perfectly on our own. However, how many of us still struggle to believe the Gospel in such a way that it affects how we extend grace to those around us?

When we read this story, we want to see ourselves in the shoes of the Samaritan. But, if we were honest, too often, we are the lawyer, the Priest, and the Levite. We know we are called to love. We know we are instructed to sacrifice and care, but making the connection between what we believe and how we act can be difficult when it does not fit our agenda.

Functionally when we do this, we are not delighting in the Gospel we have been given. If we were delighting in what we have been given, we would naturally want to extend that same mercy to others. C.S. Lewis said it this way, "I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed."

The story of the Samaritan teaches us that not only are we incapable of giving mercy to others on our own, but until we recognize the mercy we have been given, it will be impossible to extend that same type of mercy towards others.

How we view ourselves dictates how we view and engage with others.

Developing a Christian ethic of mercy takes a more complete understanding of the character and nature of God. Ephesians 2 reminds us that God is rich in mercy and that this mercy is at the core of our reconciliation to God. This mercy makes us alive to be His workmanship created for good works. These good works are not simple moralistic practices that we seek to complete, but the overflowing attributes of Jesus being demonstrated to others to point others back to the great giver of mercy. The story of the Samaritan teaches us that mercy leads to healing, and that healing leads to reconciliation, and reconciliation leads to eternal life in Christ.

White knuckled morality will not heal or fix our country. It is impossible to love our neighbors completely apart from the saving mercy of Christ. We cannot hope for true justice, unless that justice comes from the humble heart of mercy due to our understanding of what we truly deserved. Not only can we not do enough good works to earn our salvation, but we justly deserved to be passed by, beaten on the side of the road because of our sin.

But the Gospel we have received is one that sees us, binds us up, and sends us on a new way. To stare in the face of this mercy and not extend it to others is to walk away from the calling we have been given as citizens of God's kingdom. This Gospel fuels our ability to love the people we disagree with politically. The mercy of Christ enables the humility it takes to serve those who will hate the truth you stand for. And the grace of Christ sustains us to face whatever brokenness we may encounter along our journey homeward. That is why the prophet Micah calls us not simply to do justice, but to love mercy and walk in humble faithfulness to reflect a more perfect justice – one in which justice is satisfied through mercy that is given in Christ.

Our world is never too far from grace because God's mercy triumphs over sin. Spiritual reconciliation to God is the bridge through which cultural healing can take place. If we want to see our country change, for revival to come and for the Kingdom of God to be known, we need to dive deeply into the mercies that are new to us every morning. How can you start? Try today by extending mercy through praying for that one person you have grown to hate. To have that conversation with the person you have nothing in common with. And when you struggle to love others when they despise you, look to the rich mercy of Christ and know He will pilot you through.