Readings
for Proper 19C
Ex. 32:1, 7-14; Ps. 51; 1Tim. 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10
September 12, 2004
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
Today's readings from the Holy Scriptures are about mercy. They are about different people in different situations who have screwed up and deserve to be punished for their transgressions. But instead of receiving punishment, rejection, and alienation, they are treated with mercy. In Christian theology, mercy refers to the unconditional, comprehensive, empowering love of God for the world. God's mercy is expressed as loving kindness, forgiveness, and grace. God's mercy serves as both a motive and a standard for human actions. God has a plan of justice, mercy, truth, cooperation and brotherhood which will bring peace upon this earth. As we worship God, these qualities become part of our nature and we become fit inhabitants of the world God created. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." [Mt. 5:7] "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." [Lk. 6:36] It is this subject of mercy that I would like to address in my sermon today.
In the first reading from the book of Exodus, we read about the Hebrew people who have grown impatient while waiting for Moses to return with a new and life-giving message from God. They make the decision to break their covenant with God, to go back to their old ways of operating, and to worship the golden calf. Yet God's mercy ultimately overrides God's righteous anger. In the epistle, St. Paul testifies that he had been a man of violence, one who aggressively pursued and persecuted those who followed Jesus. In spite of the pain that he had inflicted on others, Paul was shown mercy and ultimately became a dedicated apostle of Christ. In the gospel, the Pharisees and scribes criticize Jesus for hanging out with sinners and tax collectors. Tax collectors were seen as traitors since they made their living collecting revenues from the poor in order to fill the coffers of the occupying Roman Army. Yet Jesus invites them to the table and shows them mercy.
Mercy is one of those virtues that are difficult to cultivate. One of the highest reaches of New Testament thought is the teaching about being merciful. The difficulty in cultivating and showing mercy is that it seems to go against our sense of righteous anger and our thirst for retributive justice (i.e. an eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth). Showing mercy involves taking a risk, and sometimes the one who shows mercy ends up suffering more. I do not think a wounded ego is capable of developing the virtue of mercy. Showing mercy requires a grace that seems to come about through a life lived in God. The power of the Holy Spirit working in us can do more that we could ever hope or imagine and is much stronger than our ego strength. This is why a life of faith is necessary in order to break the cycle of violence in our world. Faith is an orientation of our heart, mind, body, and soul towards God.
One of the ways to develop an attitude of mercy towards those who have hurt us, is to reflect upon our own sinfulness, (e.g. our self-indulgent appetites, our exploitation of other people, our intemperate love of worldly goods and comfort, our blindness to human need and suffering, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our waste and pollution of creation.) When we come to the realization that we have greatly offended others and yet desire mercy, it becomes easier for us to show mercy to others. Today's psalm is an example of a person who admits his faults and asks for mercy: "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving-kindness; in your great compassion blot out my offenses." [Ps. 51] The purpose in his asking for mercy is so that God can create in him a clean heart and renew a right spirit within him.
Yesterday was the third anniversary of the devastating terrorist attacks on America. Four planes, three sites, 3000 deaths, and billions of dollars of property damage. In the aftermath of these attacks, acts of mercy were abounding. Search and rescue teams, police and firefighters, doctors and medical personnel, and hospitality teams, worked around the clock. People came forth with donations of blood, money, food, clothes, and service. The people of America came together with a spirit of compassion and outreach. It was a high moment in time when goodness and mercy overcame the darkness. But as time passed and the dust began to settle, our nation struggled to find the right course of action in response to these acts of terrorism. "Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me." [Ps. 103]
In the face of fear and loss, it is very, very difficult to come up with a course of action that includes mercy. This assault on American soil caused much fear, insecurity, economic strain, unemployment, loss of human life, and disorientation for thousands of families. In the face of fear and loss, the only way a nation can respond with mercy is with the help of God's grace. I often wonder, how different our nation's course of action might have been, if our national leaders and those key leaders of other nations had taken the time to go on a silent retreat before deciding upon a military solution. What would have happened if they were to have spent days in silence, listening to God, and repenting of their own sins and the sins of their nations? "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving kindness; in your great compassion blot out my offenses. Wash me through and through from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. And so you are justified when you speak and upright in your judgment. Indeed I have been wicked from my birth, a sinner from my mother's womb. For behold, you look for truth deep within me, and will make me understand wisdom secretly. Purge me from my sin and I shall be pure; wash me and I shall be clean indeed. Make me hear of joy and gladness, that the body you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heat, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." [Ps. 51]
A posture of prayer, a sense of humility, and a true search for wisdom often leads to a deeper understanding of a problem and thus to a more permanent solution. In my humble struggle to overcome my own fear and understand the causes of 9/11 and of the events that followed, I continue to spend time reflecting on the words of many wise and respected leaders. Let me share some of these words of wisdom with you.
- "In a sinful world, some of us may hold that there may be times when war is a necessary evil. But Christians should never identify violence against others with the will of God and should always work to prevent and end it." [NCC] - "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." [Ps. 111] - "I am not sure that a sacred sense of power means that you never use violence strategically. I am sure that you never use violence without repentance." [Sam Keen] - "You can be sure that you have created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do." [Ann Lamont] - "Wars never end cleanly and they always start in darkness No one should naively embrace the notion that we will rid the world of evil by the barrel of a gun." [Sojourners] - "As a spiritual being, your primary identity cannot be with any nation it is to be with the commonwealth of all sentient beings." [Sam Keen] - "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who are hungry and not fed, those who are cold and not clothed." [Dwight Eisenhower] - "When all you have is hammers, everything looks like nails." [Archbishop Williams] - "Fear is the thief of reason, the strangler of the human heart, and the great reducer of our humanity. Fear makes us give away our power, leaving us susceptible to manipulation, exploitation, amid offers of security." [Rev. Rosemarie Carnarius] - "The battle will not be won by the strongest military, but by the wisest, most humane and just policies that seek to promote the dignity and equality of all people." [Rami Khour, Jordan Times columnist] - "It is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and itıs always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." [Hermann Goering, Adolph Hitler's Luftwaffe Commander] -"Our response so far has been to fight fire with fire, rather than to seek the cause of the blaze." [David Kennedy] - "It is not military power, but cooperative relations and a new spirit of generosity that will in the long run provide the U.S. and Israel with the greatest security." [Rabbi Lerner] - "Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." [Heb. 4:16]
There are 101 reasons why we should punish nations and terrorists who perpetrate acts of aggression against the people of the United States. I know of only one reason to show mercy: Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." [Mt. 22:37]
| Updated 9/18/04 |
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