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This morning I read in Acts 3 about the early Christians taking care of each other. Not one of their number (and it was over 5000) was in need of anything, because they all shared what they had. Those who had much liquified some of their holdings in order to help provide for those who had little.
It’s not a coincidence that after reading that story I had the idea to take stock of my closet. It’s the BermudaTriangle of my house and desperately needs organizing. There are nineteen pairs of shoes and 125 shirts and sweaters. Not including my pants and dresses. Not including my husband’s clothing.
What in heaven’s name am I doing with 125 tops? Yikes! To be fair to myself, I admit that at least three quarters of them are probably ten years old or older. But that doesn’t eliminate the fact that there they sit, collecting dust and other closet grubbies, while another Christian somewhere halfway across the world makes do with one or two shirts and one pair of shoes mended with cardboard.
I am just one person. How can I make a difference? How can I change my life so that I resemble those first Christians who realized that nothing they owned was really theirs and shared with each other, seemingly without a second thought? I feel so insignificant in the face of the world’s woes.
Our nation is Lost, with a capital L. The Muslim countries who vilify us and call us the Great Satan may only be labeling what they see as our consummate greed. Even those of us who claim to be Christians often live sequestered lives, turning a blind eye and refusing to see, to really see, the world as our God sees it. Instead, we think of judgmental excuses:
- That homeless man with one arm holding a sign is really just a con artist.
- That one over there is just gonna go buy some dope, so why give him anything?
- What kind of woman with three kids ends up homeless? She must be on drugs or something.
- Why should I give money to the food bank? Isn’t that what food stamps are for?
- Those people want to live on the streets.
In this tight economy, we find ourselves holding on to what we have with a death grip, forgetting that everything material is temporary, except the love that we show to each other. Maybe one reason Christianity is losing ground in our country is that we have stopped taking care of our own…or, at the very least, is because the media has stopped reporting about us taking care of our own. There is a new religion rising up in the USA. It’s called Government. People everywhere are turning to the Government to save them
…from foreclosure
…from unemployment
…from hunger
Why Government? If there were no needy among us, would the government still feel compelled to step in?
The old song, They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love, rings hollow today when we spend 105 percent of what we earn (a statistic from 2007, before the recession). How can we give to others when we are so wrapped up in ourselves?
Oh, that the Lord would just wipe the smudges off our lenses so we could see ourselves as we really are…and then so we’d do something about it. Repent. Turn away from materialism. Reach out a helping hand.
There are many avenues to explore, starting with our churches. Local food banks. Leftover food from restaurant often gets thrown out. Discarded clothing ends up in landfills all over the country. Homeless shelters have many needs.
One of those needs is a family headed by a single mom named Irene. I don’t know her situation, but whatever it was, she had to leave everything behind her. Maybe it was spousal abuse. Maybe her husband became very ill and died, leaving immense medical expenses. For whatever reason, Irene and her three young children found themselves without a home. Can you imagine not having a place to lay your head at night? Can you fathom what it is like to not know where your four year old girl will get her next meal?
A local homeless shelter took her in, and the shelter has been their only home for awhile now while Irene gets back up on her feet. She has a good job and is about to move into the shelter’s transitional housing program with a twist: she and her children will move into the furnished apartment with the knowledge that everything they see around them: the furniture, the clothing, the food, the dishes, the beds — is now theirs. When she graduates from the program in eighteen months, she’ll be able to secure her own apartment, or even home, based on the good credit she’s earned, without having to start over.
I have had the immense blessing of partnering with the homeless shelter in this endeavor for Irene. I’ve used my church and homeschooling contacts to completely furnish Irene’s apartment. I tell you this not to toot my own horn but to encourage you to follow your own nudgings. This has all been possible because of God’s blessing and leading and design. He planted the idea when I saw a newspaper article about the program years ago. It took several years of desire on my part to do something before enough doors opened to allow me to act. Words just can’t express the true joy I have experienced through this process. I scrubbed someone else’s shower and toilet with such vigor (the job required it!) that my muscles shook from exertion. I wanted it to be clean for Irene, you see. As I labored, though, I sang, just from the pure joy of using my time to serve someone in need. This is clearly a new beginning for Irene. But it is also a new beginning for me! I am proud of what God has done through my hands and the hands of those of my friends who have pitched in to help. My utmost hope is that Irene will walk into her new apartment and feel the love her heavenly father has for her.
But this blog isn’t about me, or even about Irene. It’s about you, Christian.
Somewhere you have seen something about helping others that resonates with your soul: maybe it was something in church or a direct mail advertisement. Maybe you felt a twinge as you walked past a panhandler downtown or feel drawn to help secure clean drinking water for the millions in the world who have none. If you are a Christian, then be assured that the Holy Spirit is gently prompting you to action, whatever that may be.
We will never reflect Christ as we should until we step out in faith and love others. We will never reflect our Lord until we put the welfare of others above ourselves. That kind of love is attractive. As Toby Mac aptly puts it,
Love is in the house and the house is packed
So much so I left the back door cracked
Mama always said it’s a matter of fact
that when love is in the house the house is packed…”
I pray we will each take a moment to reflect that our lives aren’t about us. He created each one of us for purposes beyond ourselves. Even Jesus, the Lord we love, existed for a purpose beyond his status as God’s Only Son: he existed for God’s Glory. He constantly looked for ways to glorify God, whether it was by restoring someone’s sight, turning water into wine, or raising a person from the dead. He told us that we would do GREATER things than those miracles, for God’s glory.
Do you believe Him?
Like Jesus, you exist for God’s Glory. How will you reflect the Glory this week?
Today’s blog is a confession. I have been battling writer’s block. Carpal tunnel is making my writing jaunts fewer and far between, but I compose blogs in my head all day long! I read something in the newspaper….or hear something in a sermon….or read something in the Bible…or observe something beautiful and want to share it. But then when I sit down to write, all words stop. I think this has a lot to do with the state of my relationship with my God. You see, I am walking in the desert place. I have unresolved health issues and am striving with a medical culture that thinks nothing of over-testing and under-reporting and that places no credence of the Power and Reality of God. I have real struggles with phobias that pull me down in the quagmire, leaving me physically exhausted and emotionally drained. My Bible reading seems forced. My worship — which used to be bubbly and joyful with outstretched arms — now feels subdued.
Today’s sermon, in part, dealt with having joy in all circumstances.
Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice. (Phil 4:4)
I think the preposition “in the Lord” must be the key to being able to have joy while walking through the wilderness. 
Truthfully, as I sit and write here today, there is no joy in me. Joy is not to be mistaken with happiness. Happiness is fleeting — but joy is much bigger. It is a framework through which we can look at life…like God-colored glasses. When I am trudging through this desert, how do I perceive the sand swirling around me?
Have I been blinded? Or do I use my God-colored glasses to see the true reality in the spiritual realm — that the Lord himself is watching over me?
I sobbed my way through the song Amazing Love today because I really can’t get my mind around the fact that God wants me.
Amazing love, how can it be? That you my King would die for me? Amazing love, I know it’s true…and it’s my joy to honor you…
The Lord redeemed me…so why do I still feel like damaged goods? Why do I feel worthless and unlovable?
Cause I took off my God-colored glasses and have been wallowing in the sand, that’s why!
A joyful response to the desert in my spiritual life would be…what? To keep walking. To stand firm. To refuse to allow the enemy to convince me that I am beyond saving and worthless. To focus my inward eyes on the Lord who takes me by the hand and guides me, trusting that these words still hold true, over 2000 years since they were first written:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4)
Now if only I could remember where I put those glasses….
Today was one of those days when the sun seemed too bright. The bird songs outside my window were irritating, and I felt a strong inclination to drop kick the bunnies into next week when I discovered — again — that they had resumed setting up housekeeping right underneath the strawberry patch. Piano lessons today were sour, not sweet, as I stumbled and fretted over Amazing Grace. I feel guilty that my husband still has a job and we have a house compared to those who don’t, I want to help the poor but don’t know how, and I’m madder than a wet hen that my attempts to be self-sufficient failed when last night’s freeze totally wiped out the sweetly green seedlings in our garden . I spied my old dog’s collar tucked away in our closet and lost it as I caught a whiff of his Shiner smell. I’m out of trash bags and paper towels, desperately need a haircut, and my husband has been gone on a business trip since Saturday. (cue the violin, please)
Whine, whine, whine, right?
I actually started a post earlier today that compared the state of my heavy heart with King David’s in Psalm 68, but the LORD must have had mercy on me and allowed the computer to freeze up and erase my 650 words before I had a chance to post them. David was a King who had real enemies pursuing him, ridiculing him, gunning for him…um, quite a bit more than the silly stuff on my plate.
A glimmer of sunshine kept the darkness at bay, though. That’s one of the blessings of my inheritance with the Lord. I might be in a funk, but He is still there, still the same, steady rock. So as I wallered in self pity today, the old hymn, It is Well With My Soul kept springing to mind, in between my fusty ruminations. I have only the Holy Spirit to thank for that! So tonight I did a search on YouTube and found a version of the song that I absolutely love by The Newsboys!
If you are going through a rough patch and are a child of THE King, drink in this song and let its truths fill your soul.
Man! After listening to that reminder, it really IS well with my soul, thanks to Jesus…(cue the sunshine, bird songs, and bunnies, please!)
It is with great joy that I introduce the newest member of our “family.” Zulma is a beautiful ten year old girl who lives in Guatemala. She has two brothers and two sisters and lives with her mom and her dad. Her dad is an agriculture worker, and her mom stays home to take care of the family.
Recently our family took the step of sponsoring a child — Zulma — through World Vision. Those who have been following this blog know of our trouble to have more children and our struggles with should we or shouldn’t we adopt (me wanting to, my husband not ready yet). Zulma is one answer to our prayer! We will be supporting her financially each month, but more importantly, we’ll be establishing a relationship with her through emails, letters, photos, and prayers. My daughter has always wanted a sister; now she has one. My husband and daughter are already dreaming up a time when we can go visit her.
Why World Vision? Well, for starters, our church partners with them. For another, 87% of all donations go directly to the children. One of my dear friends, Holly, told me about child sponsorship over a year ago. I never forgot her shining eyes as she described the children she and her family support — and a little voice inside my head told me to get off my hind end and do something.
But what to do? When I mentioned it to my husband, he sort-of brushed off the idea. There are stories he’s heard of sponsorship companies that use most of their money to pay their executives and very little to the children. And then there are all the needy children in America. Wouldn’t it better to support “one of our own?”
In the end, it was our daughter’s curiosity and desire to help a child her age in need that turned the tide of our indecision. She and I looked at the website together. She picked Guatemala as the country because we have a dear friend who is originally from that country, and then we searched for a girl around ten years old. It was heartbreaking to see photos of so many children in need who fit our search criteria! I wished I could have selected every last one of them. But we prayed that God would show us the one girl he wanted us to love. As soon as we saw her picture, we both knew. Zulma is in our hearts forever. Just look at her smile!
It wasn’t until this weekend, however, that any of us understood the true need behind our sponsorship. Saturday there was a welcome packet from World Vision in our mailbox. Included in the packet was a DVD that did a great job explaining what it is exactly that World Vision does to support needy children and their communities.
Seeing the conditions in which others in our world live takes my breath away. Literally.
In Zulma’s part of the world, homes are made of clay bricks and tin sheets or with bamboo cane and straw roofs. Her entire house would probably fit inside one of the bedrooms of my house. The whole village shares a water faucet. Just yesterday at church I fussed at my daughter for drinking out of the water fountain at church. (My obsession with germs, you know. There’s a bug floating around at church that just won’t leave. I’m convinced it’s the kids putting their mouths around the fountains. But that’s another story.) My face burned last night as I watched a woman in Africa dipping water from a muddy seep hole in the ground into a large bucket. She came for water like this three times a day. Somehow, that tiny three-foot in diameter puddle provided water for six families…water that often gave them diarrhea, or worse. My germophobic tendencies are stopped in their tracks when I consider the way of life so many people across the world face every day. My standard of “clean” is something they would never even imagine.
So we began today with a different outlook on our lives and a new appreciation for what we have been given…and a new appreciation for the words in 1 John 3:
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
I will post updates as I hear from Zulma. If our story is touching your heart and you’d like to learn more about how you can help, visit World Vision for yourself.
“Who did it?”
Those were my dad’s famous words every time my brother or I got ourselves into a mess. It was his way of forcing us to fess up and take responsibility for our actions, whether they were intentional or accidents. I am so grateful for his and for my mom’s leadership in this because it shaped me into the person I am today.
Unfortunately, many in our American culture don’t ascribe to the same philosophy. When bad things happen, it’s somebody else’s fault. I saw this over and over when I taught in both public and private schools. Little Johnny reached over and pestered Little Roscoe, poking him in the arm with a pencil…over and over. Roscoe finally got fed up, grabbed Johnny’s pencil out of his hand, and broke it in two. Both boys got angry and red-faced, blaming the other. “He started it!” was a common refrain (and is just another reason why I homeschool instead of allowing my daughter to ‘learn’ how to behave from other kids!).
I wasn’t surprised at their behavior. After all, they were just seven years old and learning how to resolve conflict. What did startle me, though, was the attitude of many of my students’ parents. It gave me a window to their thinking, and what I saw was frightening.
In one circumstance I’ll never forget, a mom was incensed because her son kept getting into trouble. Rather than having her son take responsibility for his behavior, she shook her finger in my face and told me that I was “expecting too much” to make an eight year old stay seated in his seat. The child in question frequently got up out of his seat and wandered around the classroom — behavior that I might be able to overlook for a kinesthetic learner — except that he went around badgering other students while they tried to get their work done. In her view, it was my fault that her son was failing despite the fact that his failing grades were the result of not completing his classwork or his homework. It was my fault because I expected him to get his work done. No matter that twenty other students got their work done! She was unwilling to allow the school to get him some extra help and held a grudge against me because I had the audacity to give her child an “N” (for needs improvement) in behavior. This happened in a public school setting.
In another instance, a student with emotional difficulties was mainstreamed into my classroom. He was prone to physical outbursts like throwing chairs, overturning desks, and kicking teachers and other students when in the midst of a meltdown. My job was to recognize when a meltdown was coming on and attempt to diffuse it. The school district trained me in non-violent conflict resolution — which essentially means I was trained to put a child into a non-violent “hold” until help arrived. Remember, this is in a regular classroom! (Now do you see why I homeschool? How much learning went on for the other kids who were constantly walking on eggshells, wondering if Greg (not his real name) would have a good day or not.) Greg wanted to attend a field trip to the circus with the rest of the class. As a condition of his behavior modification, he had to meet several goals, set and agreed upon by me, his special ed teacher, and his parents. Greg did not meet those goals. Rather than holding him responsible, his parents appealed and asked that he be allowed to go on the field trip even though they themselves could not go with him.
The administration allowed him to go despite my objections. I feared for his own safety, for good reason. The sensory-rich atmosphere was too much for him to handle. He climbed up on top of the movie-theater-style seats and began running. His foot slipped and got caught where the seat met the back. Most children would allow an adult to help them remove a shoe and get untangled from the seat…but Greg had emotional issues and would not let anyone touch him. He kicked, he screamed, he totally lost control. The special ed teacher had to be found in the midst of the crowd because she was stronger than I was; I could not physically restrain him when he lost control in that way.
Who was responsible for this horrible event? I hold his parents responsible and the school administration for giving in to the parents. Where is Greg today? What did he learn? He learned that he didn’t have to meet his goals in order to get his reward. And he got put into an environment that was really too much for his senses to handle.
I saw an article in today’s newspaper about a local business that refuses the hire what are now called “Millennials.” These are the youngest generation now entering the workforce. Advertising executive Owen Hannay fired more than a dozen millennials over the course of the year 2006; subsequently, he stopped hiring them and turned to a consultant to help him and his staff understand how to work better with the younger set.
Their orientation is so different from Gen Xers, who were the latchkey kids and are self-starters. These kids are fabulous at building teams, but they’re challenged by responsibility and accountability.
There is a real problem in our country when our future leaders — those entering the workforce today — don’t have an internal sense of responsibility or accountability. Why did they get that way? They didn’t have parents who said, “Who did it?”
We are now a nation dealing with record numbers of murders, embezzlement, abortions, pornography, sexual assaults, identity theft, and fraud. Our culture lusts after news of Brittany Spear’s latest tale of woe. Third graders discuss whether or not a judge will give Brittany custody of her kids. Our elected officials are made up of drug offenders, DUI offenders, thieves, liars, and worse…and we keep electing them! Voter turn-out is dismal. We the people have no one to blame for the state of our nation than ourselves.
I can’t take responsibility for someone else’s mistake, but I can own up to my own. I can insist that my child own up to her own mistakes. As Christians, we can do much more to help heal our country. Hosea lamented over and over about Israel’s sins and the coming judgment on the people. We can learn much from him about how we can be restored:
In just a short time he will restore us,
so that we may live in his presence.
Oh, that we might know the LORD!
Let us press on to know him.
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
or the coming of the rains in early spring.
Hosea 6:2-3
Then God says, in Hosea 7:
I want to heal Israel, but its sins are too great. Samaria is filled with liars. Thieves are on the inside and bandits on the outside! It’s people don’t realize that I am watching them. Their sinful deeds are all around them, and I see them all.
Can you see God saying that about America? Casting Crowns has a great song called “While You Were Sleeping” that addresses our current American state of mind:
United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we’re sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we’re lying in the dark
There’s a shout heard ‘cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the nightAmerica, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King
Will we be sleeping
Will we be sleepingUnited States of America
Looks like another silent night
But there is hope! God has provided a way for healing. Take a look at 2 Chronicles 7:14:
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Though not an Israelite, I am a Gentile grafted onto the family tree…so yes, I am called by God’s name. Will you join me? Let’s humble ourselves and pray, seeking the Lord’s face, turning from everything wicked? If we do these as a nation, then we are promised that God will heal our land.
One thing’s for sure: we are definitely a land in need of healing. We are so sick with sin that most people can’t even see it! Wrong has become a “right.” Free speech is elevated above all other rights, unless you’re talking about speech that glorifies the Lord and his commands. We’re losing the freedom to speak about our Lord because we aren’t using it. We have dropped the ball and allowed our religious freedoms to be taken away, inch by inch.
Who did it?
Again, there is hope! Not only does the Lord promise to heal our land…but he loves us. His compassion for us and mercy towards us overflows if we will just reach out and accept it! From Hosea 11:
8 “Oh, how can I give you up, Israel?
How can I let you go?
How can I destroy you like Admah
or demolish you like Zeboiim?
My heart is torn within me,
and my compassion overflows.
9 No, I will not unleash my fierce anger.
I will not completely destroy Israel,
for I am God and not a mere mortal.
I am the Holy One living among you,
and I will not come to destroy.
10 For someday the people will follow me.
I, the Lord, will roar like a lion.
And when I roar,
my people will return trembling from the west.
Yesterday I began musing about the difference between condemnation and conviction. I’d just read a wonderful news article about a woman who single-handedly began a Christmas party for the homeless. I was so glad that she had been so successful, but I also felt a twinge of guilt. After all, I haven’t organized a party for the homeless. I don’t frequent downtown shelters. I don’t personally know anyone who is homeless; in fact, we don’t even have people standing on street corners holding “Help, Please” signs in our corner of small town Texas. These thoughts flew through my head as I drove to church. I’m not good enough. I don’t do enough. I’m feeling guilty because I have a warm coat, a full belly, and a family that loves me.
Why is that?
Condemnation is the act of finding someone guilty, wrong, or evil, usually after weighing the evidence (thank you, m-w.com!) In comparing myself to the Christians working in the shelters, to the Mother Theresas of this world, I am, in fact, condemning myself. I hold myself guilty. Sinner that I am, I do not deserve the blessings the Lord has showered down on me. So I feel guilty. I berate myself internally, telling myself that I should have stepped up to help my church with the gift-hand-outs or the women’s outreach. I should have rescheduled a doctor’s appointment so I could go with the church and deliver toys to a women and children’s shelter. I should offer my time and teach English to those who don’t know any. I should, I should, I should.
It’s been a common refrain in my mind for as long as I can remember. No matter how much I do, I feel like it isn’t enough for God. And if I spend my time on doing things that are for me, I feel guilty about it. No wonder I’ve had a month-long headache! The Christmas season fills my head with so many “I shoulds” that I end up feeling stressed and angry.
But…….
It’s amazing how God uses something so simple as a blog to shake some sense into me. My last post ended with some thoughts about there being no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and that’s what popped in my mind as I drove to church on Sunday. If the Lord himself sat in the passenger seat I could not have heard his message any clearer. It was as if I heard him speaking in my head, saying, “Stop It!” God brought to my mind how Paul experienced much of what I am going through — “what I want to do, I don’t do, and what I don’t want to do, I do…” and this is what he concluded in his letter to the Romans, chapters 7 and 8:
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power[e] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power[a] of the life-giving Spirit has freed you[b] from the power of sin that leads to death. 12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters,[e] you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together[m] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Who am I to condemn myself? Through Christ, God himself has given us right standing with himself!
Now conviction, on the other hand, is not the same thing as condemnation. I have been blurring the lines. A conviction can be handed down, such as a thief being “convicted” and “found guilty.” A conviction is actually the state of being convinced of something, whether of guilt, such as the case of the thief, or of a belief, such as a belief in Christ. Take a look at this verse from 1 Thessalonians 4:
4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.
I used to think that word conviction had the “guilty” connotation to it. I used to think that these brothers were convicted in their hearts of their guilt, so they changed their behavior. I have listened to sermons and felt at times as if the Holy Spirit was convicting me of a sin I needed to confess. But I need to remember the other meaning of conviction: being convinced. In fact, the Greek word used in the verse above is plerophoria, and it means full assurance, most certain confidence. When we have full assurance and full confidence, we act in a certain way.
When I let the Guilt Monster occupy my thoughts, I am not being convinced of my “right standing” with God. I am relying on my works, not on his unfailing, beautiful, incomprehensible grace, mercy and love. I am comparing myself to other Christians. Have you ever tried to “out-Christian” another Christian? Why do I think I “should” do a certain kind of work just because someone else does it? We are all parts of the same body.
12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,[e] some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.[f]
14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
Those words from 1 Corinthians 12 are like rain to my parched spirit! Especially…”God has put each part just where he wants it.” In this season of my life, he has appointed me to be my daughter’s teacher. What an awesome and scary part to fulfill! He has me reaching out to the community through this blog. He has me volunteering as editor of a homeschool group’s monthly newsletter. He has me volunteering in a Sunday school classroom with a terrific group of second graders. He has given me my excellent husband to support, encourage, and lift up.
Rather than beat myself up with the “I shoulds,” this Christmas season I will trust and rejoice…trust in Emmanuel to convict (convince) me about which tasks he wishes to use me for…and rejoice in the birth of my Savior who has called me and given me “right standing” with him.
In a roundabout, had-to-be-Spirit-led way, God has me pondering words again. This time he caught my surprise when I read Psalm 4:1. Just eight small verses, yet somehow they are capturing my interest this week:
1 Answer me when I call to you,
O God who declares me innocent.
Free me from my troubles.
Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.
I began thinking about what it means for God to have mercy on us. What is mercy, really? The Miriam-Webster dictionary defines it this way: Mercy is compassion shown especially to an offender; it can also mean a blessing or divine favor. Mercy implies compassion that abstains from punishment even when justice demands it. Another meaning is compassionate treatment on those who are in distress.
The Bible uses several different words that are translated as mercy in English. Let’s dig in and see what treasures the Lord has for us today as we learn more about mercy in God’s plan for us.
In Genesis 19, we see a big picture of God’s mercy towards Lot in the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The angels came to the city to warn Lot and remove him and his family to safety. Abraham had asked the Lord to spare him, and spare him is exactly what the Lord did.
16 When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful.
The Hebrew word for merciful is chemla, from chamal, which literally means “to spare.” So one way God shows us his mercy is by sparing us. What is the Lord sparing you from today? He spared Lot from the utter destruction that rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah.
Another use of the word mercy is found in the same story. The angels want Lot to go to the mountains, but for some reason he thinks they would be the death of him. So he asks them:
“You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great kindness. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die. “
The word we read as kindness in English is the word checed in Hebrew. It means mercy, kindness, favor, or good deed.
But mercy doesn’t just mean to spare or show kindness. The Hebrew words racham and the related word racham(with an accent over the first a) wraps up an entire connotation of intense love — specifically, the love a mother has for her child that is still in the womb. It’s a tender love that shows compassion. With that in mind, look at these verses from Isaiah 49:
9 I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’
They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures
and on hills that were previously bare.
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst.
The searing sun will not reach them anymore.
For the Lord in his mercy will lead them;
he will lead them beside cool waters.
11 And I will make my mountains into level paths for them.
The highways will be raised above the valleys.
12 See, my people will return from far away,
from lands to the north and west,
and from as far south as Egypt.
Wow. I am nearly speechless with emotion at the thought of this kind of tender mercy the Lord has for us…that the Lord has for me! And then look at this treasure from Isaiah 54:
10 For the mountains may move
and the hills disappear,
but even then my faithful love for you will remain.
My covenant of blessing will never be broken,”
says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
It is hard to get my mind to wrap around the BIGNESS of the love that is expressed in racham — mercy.
So far I’ve learned that God spares me (from the destruction I deserve). He shows me kindness. And this kind of mercy, the racham kind of mercy, means that He cherishes and loves me with the same kind of love and compassion (and, shall I say expectation?) that I felt for my child as she was growing in my womb.
But there is another meaning for mercy. Remember Psalm 4 I quoted earlier? David asks God to “have mercy on me and hear my prayer.” Mercy in this case is the Hebrew word chanan, which means to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior, or to favor or bestow.
So now we get a picture of mercy as our God bending low to us, stooping down to our level to show us kindness. I know who I see in my mind’s eye — the Lord Jesus, taking on the form of a servant even though he was one with God! I see Him stooping down, washing his disciples feet. I see him mercifully scooping me up when I fall down and make yet another mistake.
Speaking of Jesus, the New Testament is also full of references to mercy. We encounter the Greek word eleeo in Matthew 5:
7 God blesses those who are merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Mercy in this case means to be compassionate by word or deed. It also means by divine grace. So…God blesses those who are compassionate by their words and their deeds. Moving along in Matthew, I see that showing mercy is something that the Lord specifically calls us to do. Jesus called Matthew to be a disciple. But Matthew was a tax collector — someone the Jews considered to be scum-of-the-earth. They would never consider associating themselves with “tax collectors.” I imagine they whispered the words, not wanting to dirty themselves with speaking even the words “tax collector.” Sort of like we might whisper “look at that prostitute” or “that guy is just a crackhead.” So they were extremely taken aback when Jesus had dinner with Matthew and other “disreputable sinners.” Would there be consternation in your house if you brought home a transient to dinner tonight?
After Jesus called Matthew to be his disciple, here’s what happened:
10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?[d]”
12 When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” 13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’[Hosea 6:6] For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
The word Jesus used in this case is eleos, and it has a special meaning to me. It doesn’t just mean compassion and tender mercy — it is an active tense. It means showing active compassion and tenderness. In Hosea 6:6, God said he didn’t want our sacrifices — he wanted us to show love, to show mercy. Jesus said that he didn’t come for those who are healthy, but for those who need a doctor. I don’t know about you, but I sure need His kind of healing to take away my ‘holier than thou’ attitude at times!
The Pharisees were not showing love at all when they wondered why Jesus would eat with “scum.” They were also in need of a doctor, but they were so full of themselves that they didn’t realize their own sin. But is that much different from the way we behave? Seriously, if you were at a McDonald’s with your kids and an odiferous homeless person slid right next to you on the bench and struck up a conversation, what would be your reaction? Would you sit and chat, ask him about his faith? Find out what he needed? Or would you tell your kids that they could finish eating in the car and hightail it out of there? Or sit there and talk while carrying on an internal, fearful conversation with yourself about the safety of what you were doing? What would be mine?
To wrap up today’s musings about mercy, let’s look in the book of James. James 2:13 mentions mercy several times using different Greek words. James writes about the danger of playing favorites — giving the “best” seats to the well-dressed and making the poor sit on the floor (ever been to a restaurant like that?).
5 Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? 6 But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name[c] you bear?
8 Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[d] 9 But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.
10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. 11 For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.”[e] So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.
12 So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. 13 There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.
The first mercy we see in verse 13 is from the Greek word anileos. It is the negative of the Greek hileos, which means propitious, cheerful, or God be gracious in averting calamity. So we see that God will NOT be gracious in averting calamity for those who have not shown mercy to others. What kind of mercy? The second word for mercy is that active word again — eleos, which means actively showing compassion.
I like the joyous connotation in the NIV translation for verse 13:
13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!
When we are actively merciful, we triumph over judgement! God WILL be gracious in averting calamity (ie, the judgement we deserve) when we ourselves show mercy to others.
What does that mean to you? Do you have any ideas on how to show eleos (active mercy) to those the Lord brings into your life?
I remember one day at McDonald’s a homeless person sat down with a cup of water across from us. I bought him a hamburger and gave it to him, but inside my heart was pounding and my mind was racing. What if he had a disease? Or what if he was a lunatic about to pounce on me and Cadi? He didn’t seem interested in talking, so I quickly gave him the burger and scooted out the door. On this side of heaven I’ll never know what that man thought about me giving him a hamburger. I cringe to think of what God thought about my thoughts. But in his great mercy, he protected us as we showed mercy. God is just like that, isn’t he?
My prayer this week will be that my eyes and yours will be opened to those around us who are on the fringes of our society…that we will see them as real people with real souls who the Lord desperately loves as a mother loves her unborn child. He just might use us to show them racham — cherishing, tender love.
