The Horror of Mercy

Sometimes mercy seems an absurd and horrifying thing.

Christians do not have the luxury of looking at the world and pretending all's well. We must see the evil in us, the evil prompting our nasty words and selfish deeds. We must face the fact that sometimes people and situations are rank. Jesus asks us to look that rankness in the face and to believe that he was punished for it and that justice has been fully served. That is why he asks us to be merciful.

Still mercy can feel absurd – utterly inappropriate, a madman's conjuring. It can seem horrifying – as wrongs appear to be overlooked and accomodated. The prospect of showing mercy can be enough to bring us to despair.

It is okay to despair. Righteous men do sometimes despair and when they do, they cry out to God. A righteous man remembers his God is a sovereign God who loves to answer his children's prayers. Our God is a God who will help us bear up, who will teach us how great is the mercy and love we have been shown, and how wholly sin has been understood and how fully it has been punished. He will teach us that there is no thing that can take us away, nothing that can separate us from his love.

I pray that he will give you his mercy, that thing so holy that it at first appears horrifying and absurd. When mercy stems from a heart that is grateful, generous and warm even in the midst of hurt, it is in truth a thing amazing and lovely.