The Journey

“For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy;
Mercy triumphs over judgment.” Excerpt from James 2:1-13

Have you ever thought about mercy? About how it sounds or how it should be employed? Some believe that mercy sounds like a word for bigger-deal people than I am. If I were the king, I could be merciful. If I held a loan that someone was having trouble paying off, I could be merciful. If I were holding a sword and standing over a fallen foe, I could show mercy then, too. It’s hard to imagine li’l ole me being in any position to show mercy in day-to-day life, though.

James thinks differently. He thinks it’s a day-to-day kind of thing. He looks at each of us saying that mercy is a gift for us to offer each and every day to the big and little, the large and the small people and circumstances of life.

Maybe I didn’t have to have such a big sigh when Shirley forgot to bring home my favorite ice cream (that I don’t need), even though she totally said she’d do it, and then totally didn’t. Like totally???

Maybe, after a long, tiring day, I didn’t have to lay on my horn quite so harshly when that lady cut me off out on I-Crazy, even though she was obviously in the wrong.

Maybe mercy is about self-control, about choosing not to use power to convict someone (even tiny power, like a disappointed sigh or an angry horn blast), choosing not to vent just because it feels good.

So today, perhaps I need to try to be self-controlled. I will focus more on relationships than being right, more on building others up than pointing out the ways they’ve wronged me. Today, I will try to show the world the mercy I hope to one day receive when I find myself kneeling before the One with all the power. Isn’t that the James mercy?

Dear God, please be merciful. And let me be, too.  Amen.

Grace and Peace
Steve

Filed under: Faith |