Undeserved Mercy

God of every blessing, I invite You to shape my soul with Your words and inspire my life through Your works. Teach me to walk in the way of blessing.

Pause and pray

Jesus has been blessing the hungry, those dissatisfied with the status quo of their broken hearts and a broken world. Next, He turns to the merciful.

Read: Matthew 5:1-7

The Downtown Eastside is by far the most devastated community I have ever seen in a first-world country. This neighbourhood in Vancouver, Canada is six blocks by six blocks and inhabited by 10,000 drug addicts. My friend Aaron White and his family have lived, loved, and served there for a decade and a half. They were inspired by the tradition of the Salvation Army, and its founder, William Booth, who has famously said:

‘You don’t demand a certificate of virtue before you drag drowning people out of the water, or the assurance that the man has paid his rent before you deliver him from the burning building.’*

In his book, Recovering, Aaron says:

Mercy is scandalous... We all like to think we are merciful, but we also tend to have well-developed moral screens to separate the “worthy” from the “unworthy.” People threatened to boycott the Salvation Army one year for sending Christmas care packages...to people in prison. The vitriol that was poured out on prisoners, and on those who dared to spend any resources on them, was bone-chilling.**

Do I separate out those who are worthy to receive mercy and those who are not? Am I unconsciously categorizing those who I believe deserve God’s help and those who don’t?

Lord I repent. May I see the way that You see and love the way that you love. For my own arrogance and judgemental spirit, I pray:

Lord have mercy

Pause and pray

In the quiet, I think about those who I have thought beyond God’s reach, His saving love and help. Maybe pimps and pedophiles. Agents of genocide. Corrupt politicians.

I name them before you now and over each one, I quietly pray:

Lord have mercy

Pause and pray

Aaron White goes on: “God does not just tolerate us. We all come to God in our mess, in need of mercy, and he does not just hold his nose and refrain from destroying us. Mercy is not our defence against God’s anger; it is Jesus actively pouring out his life and hope for us...God does not hate us, and he does not leave us to founder in our trouble.”***

Jesus’ death on the cross is the ultimate expression of both his hunger for righteousness and his love of mercy. Jesus did not leave us alone in our trouble - He actively poured out his life for us, even though we didn’t deserve it.

Pause and pray

God, may I be an agent of your scandalous love and mercy toward all who don’t deserve it - which includes me. I receive your mercy. I yield myself to your grace, and I am blessed.

Amen.

* William Booth, “Original Speech by Salvation Army Founder William Booth,” Salvation Army North, YouTube video, June 27, 2016, 2. Brad Jersak, “Our glorification”.

**White, Aaron. Recovering (Pastoring for Life: Theological Wisdom for Ministering Well) (p. 117). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

*** White, Aaron. Recovering (Pastoring for Life: Theological Wisdom for Ministering Well) (p. 119). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.