Lord, Have Mercy!

Written by Justin Neil Gaynor

The New Year is getting of to a roaring start and I am excited. Gentlemen, we are at the 100-year anniversary of America’s roaring Twenties and in this century we have a lot more experience under our belts. As gentlemen, we have an obligation to be statesmen, men who are aware of what is going on and engage with our communities in a way that makes everything better for as many people as possible. Last century, the roaring twenties led into a complete collapse of the financial system, the Great Depression, and some really nasty wars. People who learn from the past are not doomed to repeat it, but can repent towards better choices and policies and systems and structures. The ability to learn and grow is a mercy that God extends to us, and mercy is a powerful thing.

Webster’s dictionary (1828 version) defines mercy as “that benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves; the disposition that tempers justice and induces an injured person to forgive trespasses and injuries, and to forbear punishment, or inflict less than law or justice will warrant. In this sense, there is perhaps no word in our language precisely synonymous with mercy That which comes nearest to it is grace. It implies benevolence, tenderness, mildness, pity or compassion, and clemency, but exercised only towards offenders. mercy is a distinguishing attribute of the Supreme Being (aka the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus).”

Knowing what mercy means, and that it is a defining characteristic of our God, He is merciful, we then should expect the working of the Word and Spirit in our lives to move our own characters in the direction of being wisely and generously merciful. This is, of course, not easy. Justice looks at a situation and demands that it be set right, and that equivalent harm be brought to the offender in the situation in order to satisfy the claim of the offended. “life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.,” as the Law of Moses instructs. The purpose in this approach is to provide satisfaction to the offended party and to warn others in the community that they should be very intentional about doing unto others as they would have done unto themselves.

The problem with this approach is that as the proverb most often attributed to M.K. Gandhi, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” Here Gandhi is echoing the teaching of Jesus that there is a choice when someone is offended, or wronged in some way. They can demand justice in the form of “an eye for an eye”, but a person with a heart after God’s own heart would choose to forgive as fully as they were able to, and with the help of the Spirit of God, to forgive fully. This is what it is like to be merciful, but it is painful.

“Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until he has something to forgive.” When someone sins against you, a debt is created and a person’s sense of, and desire for, justice springs into effect. That is a Godly attribute, and it is not to be diminished. If a neighbor has sex with your wife while you are at work earning a living for your household, it is right and just to desire his life be taken from him publicly, and possibly the life of your wife as well, depending on the circumstances. That is what the Law of Moses prescribes as an appropriate punishment for that particular offense. However, I have known men of God who have chosen to not only forgive the offending neighbor, but also to forgive their wife and not put her away, but rather to stay faithful to his covenant relationship, despite the blatant unfaithfulness of his wife. Looking at their life now, some twenty plus years since that scenario, the wife has never violated her husband’s trust again since that time, the husband has continued in faithfulness, and they are happily married. Some may argue that they are stronger for having endured that season together, no that anyone should sin intentionally thinking that the same kind of mercy and grace will come to their relationship over the long term. That would be presuming the grace of God, and that would be quite unwise and unloving.

So, may we become wiser, more merciful gentlemen, knowing that Jesus has said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they themselves will receive mercy.”