MERCY ME
Greetings church family!
This week I was inspired to look up some quotes on mercy. Here are a few of my favorite!
"I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice."
- Abraham Lincoln
“Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge.”
- William Shakespeare
“Cowards are cruel, but the brave love mercy, and delight to save.”
- John Gay
There is a wonderful story on mercy involving our 30th US president, Calvin Coolidge. This story came to light years after President Coolidge's death.
In the early days of his presidency, Coolidge awoke one morning in his hotel room to find a burglar going through his pockets. Coolidge spoke up, asking the burglar not to take his watch chain because it contained an engraved charm he wanted to keep. Coolidge then engaged the thief in quiet conversation and discovered he was a college student who had no money to pay his hotel bill or buy a ticket back to campus. Coolidge counted $32 out of his wallet-which he had also persuaded the dazed young man to give back! Coolidge declared it to be a loan, and advised the young man to leave the way he had come so as to avoid the Secret Service! (Yes, the loan was paid back.)
How many of us can recall a time in our lives where someone, out of the kindness of their heart, treated us like Coolidge did that burglar? I know I sure can.
I was living in San Diego twenty years ago, and working as an academy math teacher. It was very early in the morning one weekday, and the sun had yet to come up. I was on my way to school to do some lesson planning. Halfway to school, I was pulled over by a policeman. I couldn’t figure out why I was being pulled over. I wasn’t speeding, I wasn’t swerving, and I know my tail lights were functional. The policeman asked to see my license and registration, and then told me that my headlights weren’t on. Oh my goodness, he was right. I had been driving for 15 minutes on a dark morning without my headlights on. After showing him the paperwork, he just gave me a warning and sent me on my way. I was so thrilled, since I really could not afford a traffic ticket at that time. I thanked him (and God) for his mercy!
At times, mercy is something we love to receive, but aren’t always willing to give. This is why self-awareness is so important. How aware are we in the moments where we are reluctant to show mercy to someone who has wronged us, that we, too, have wronged people before? Not only that, but we have wronged God. Yet, Ephesians 2:4 says God is rich in mercy towards us.
Church family, my prayer this week is twofold. First, that we take time to meditate on the specific ways God has shown us mercy. Second, that we choose to be the conduits of mercy we are designed to be and that Jesus invites us to live out in Matthew 5:7 - Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
And finally, may the truth always live in your minds and hearts that God is for you, God is with you, and God loves you!
Pastor Chris
