Blessed Are The Merciful

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”

This beatitude is recorded in Matthew’s gospel at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Jonathan Pennington explains how the Beatitudes provide us with an understanding of “the true way of being that will result in happiness and human flourishing.” He continues saying, “They are Jesus’ answer to the universal philosophical and religious question, how can one be truly happy? Mercy is a trait for the follower of Jesus to embrace.”

That seems to me to be good theology in line with the historic teaching of the church. So you would think that a sermon that expands on what mercy might look like when directed to one of the most powerful people in the world would be celebrated by followers of Jesus. And it was. All over the globe Christians were celebrating the courage of Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde as she spoke truth to power inviting the President to show mercy.

Until that moment on Tuesday of this week I would never have thought that speaking to the truth of this beatitude inside a place of Christian worship could be so controversial. 

I was so very wrong.

It turns out these words can send people into a full blown rage. In retrospect I shouldn’t have been surprised. When power, arrogance, and pride meet mercy there will be a reaction. It may be that mercy makes her way into a life through the tiny cracks and brings light to the darkness. Sadly, sometimes mercy collides with the hardness of the heart sending an adrenaline rush that explodes in a fit of rage and rejection and that’s what we saw on Tuesday.

The President rejected the invitation to show mercy and then all his acolytes jumped in to criticise these words of Christ spoken in a place of worship. One of the strangest accusations was that of bringing religion into politics, the very thing that Chrsitian nationalists are craving.

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde did not bring religion into politics, she preached a sermon in a church and invited the President, who chose to come to worship, to hear the words of Jesus and be merciful to the most vulnerable people in our society. 

It’s hard to imagine people who say they are Christians rejecting the teaching of Jesus. Yet over the last 72 hours I have seen it over and over again as people who say they are Christians have defended the President's position on immigration while mocking and chastising Bishop Budde and her call for mercy.

How can this be? 

I went to Scripture and was reminded that “The rich are wise in their own eyes; one who is poor and discerning sees how deluded they are” (Prov. 28:11). Wealthy white people, protecting themselves from immigrants by creating false narratives designed to breed fear into the population and to justify their lack of mercy. As Scripture teaches, they are deluded, no wonder mercy feels like a threat to them.

And then we remember, “The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly” (Prov. 18:23). This is beginning to make sense to me now. Then I come to Jesus and he tells us, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Matt. 19:24). The rich are caught up protecting what they have, while the poor refugee fleeing for her life will cross any border if she thinks it might be safer in that other place.

It can be hard for those of us who have so much to really care for and welcome the most vulnerable. We have too much to lose. So Jesus warns us, “Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry” (‭‭Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭24‬-‭25). ‬

Sadly, over the last couple of days I’ve heard Christians reject the teaching of Jesus to welcome the stranger. One of the very things Jesus says we’ll be judged on.

I have to wonder if these folks have never sat with the poor and the vulnerable, let alone have friends who are threatened by the President’s executive orders. Maybe they just believe that America comes ahead of the call of Jesus. It could be that their hearts are just hard. 

I want to be known as merciful. I want to welcome the stranger. I want to love my neighbour. I want to be known to show others the same grace that Christ has shown me.

Tonight I left a meeting with the leadership of an Hispanic congregation, I sat in my car and wept. Before the election they shared with me that they were fine under the first four years of Trump and weren’t concerned about the future. Now they are sharing the fears and anxiety of the people who worship in their church. This is not like last time.

They are afraid for the children who may get deported to countries they have no knowledge of. They are afraid for the families that might be torn apart. They are afraid that they may be unjustly targeted and harassed. If I believe the Scriptures then these folks are my family. I am glad our church leadership has said we will stand with and support this part of our family with anything they need.

In a couple of months time I will be in Sierra Leone where I have friends who fled civil war, were forced by the army to move dead bodies off the side of the road, conscripted as child soldiers, and had loved ones assassinated. Do the folks who don’t like the idea of the President being asked to show mercy have any comprehension of the lives some people are living and in many cases being forced to flee from? Do they know anyone who has fled for their lives? Maybe they’d still say “Sure, become a refugee, just don’t try and come to America.”

My friend Simon, was arrested in Cameroon because he spoke out against the government. His family paid a bribe to get him out of jail before he disappeared. He fled for his life. Sneaking across the border into Nigeria, he then fled to Ecuador before taking the journey through South America and the deadly Darien Gap. Crossing Mexico he entered the United States and was detained by ICE for six months. He was one of the fortunate ones who was granted asylum. As of today no asylum seekers are allowed to enter the United States to make that claim. 

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” 

As R.T. France states in his commentary on Matthew’s gospel, “The disciple’s lifestyle is to be different from other people’s in that it draws its inspiration not from the norms of society but from the character of God.” That’s right, it’s not the norms, or even the laws of a society that determine faithful discipleship, it’s adherence to the life of God as displayed to us in the person of Jesus.

“If you do not act like a Christian, you are not a Christian. … There is no such thing as an identity that does not act.” Klyne R. Snodgrass