Grace Givers Among Mercy Scorners

Discussing the War
In a Paris Coffee House

Gratefully, no one took polls at the time of Jesus’ birth. We know the word made the rounds among shepherds, but it was nothing to warrant an “approval rating.” Had the angels done their flash mob in Jerusalem instead of a pasture that might have been another matter. It certainly would have galvanized Herod to action sooner. Herod understood – babies grow up to be adults, and adults can be irritating. Had the populace realized what this infant was going to become his soldiers might not have been necessary. There could have been a community riot demanding that God go back where he came from, much like we see emerging today.

Consider the reception Jesus’ followers have received when they have “invaded” communities with the message of God’s mercy. I refer to those who offered that mercy in a context of grace ministries to the needs of the people around them. They started hospitals and schools; they dug wells and brought relief from disasters among people who lived by the rule of survival of the fittest. And, in the process, they were harassed, persecuted and murdered.

Jesus himself demonstrated that the gospel of God’s mercy in salvation is proclaimed by walking grace-full-ly among those who that reject mercy. He knew most people wanted nothing to do with mercy; but he was alert to those who did – the one leper in ten, the woman in the crowd, the man in the tree, and many who heard him say, “Your sins are forgiven.” And so we must be. 

Like the people of Jesus’ day, the rabble majority eventually will be displeased with those who follow him and offer mercy on his terms. They will call them names and maybe even do a theme-and-variation on “Crucify Him!” But those followers will have succeeded in God’s mission. Because of them, mercy needers will have become mercy finders and a new generation of grace givers. 

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF ALL FIRST-ROAD ARTICLES

SERIES INDEX

PREVIOUS: A Second Look at "Peace On Earth"

NEXT:  Ugly Boxes