Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Day 15 Merciful
Our current events in Haiti have led the people of God to action. People are streaming from all over the world to give/show mercy to the people who are hurting. I believe we come across opportunities everyday to show mercy to people in our community. People are hurting not only physically but spiritually. Every week when the G-Team goes into the neighborhoods we see people who are hurting. They need mercy and as people of God we give it. Let's help our world with mercy by our giving and by our acts of kindness.
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Day 15 - Merciful
ReplyDeleteIn light of the tragedy of Haiti, it should be easy for us to feel merciful. Last week over 200,000 people lost their lives, over 1.5 million have been injured (many - severely) and misplaced from their homes. Many children were orphaned. The people are in desperate need of food and water. And they are still experiencing the after shock tremors causing more fear and more damage to this already impoverished nation.
Mercy is what you experience when your heart is deeply touched by another’s' tragedy or circumstances -- it is often what brings a tear to your eye. It is what drives you into action on behalf of what could be, a stranger.
Today's reading also happens to fall on the day that the USA has chosen to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. This man of God lived in a time where a man was openly and legally discriminated against because of the color of his skin (yes, I know this still happens... thankfully not to the degree it used to happen!). MLK, jr was a minister. He gave his time, energy, and ultimately his life to further the truth of the Word. He knew the injustices that people of color were living with. He had a choice. He could have continued to endure these injustices but basically live out his life without incident, or he could choose to make a stand against them. By making a stand, by going to action, many people who were with him were imprisoned, injured, and killed. He endangered the well-being of his family, friends, congregation, and himself because he knew the importance of changing an injustice.... he knew the possible benefits of change that would touch the lives of millions who walked behind him. Mercy has the potential of stirring us to similar action.
Mercy is POWERFUL! It has the ability to cause change that ripples throughout the world. It has been the seed that has led many to giving up their lives during great rescue attempts. Mercy (and grace) has been the initial force that has fed and clothed millions of children &/or impoverished around the globe. It is also power of mercy’s forgiveness that took me to the cross.
I looked up the difference between mercy and grace… they often seem to be used synonymously. http://www.otweb.com/phramework/pw/module/blog/index.php?id=488&t=Difference_between_grace_and_mercy gave a great example that I will use here. If a policeman pulls you over for speeding and does not give you a ticket, he has shown you mercy. If he pulls you over for speeding and gives you $100.00, he has shown you grace. We deserve punishment, if the punishment is withheld, it is mercy... it is NOT getting something you deserve. Getting something that you don’t deserve is grace.
Let’s share both with our family, our friends, our neighbors, our classmates, our co-workers, and our world! NJ