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Daily Scripture

In You, O Lord, Justice and Mercy Meet

Today’s gospel reading triggered off in my memory the number of times I have jumped the gun by passing judgment on someone before knowing all the facts — the soft data as well as the hard data. It’s clear to me now that prejudice and bias covered up by pride have a great deal to do with this jump; our comrades can do no wrong; our foes can do no right! Of course, it’s easy to meet out mercy to those we like and easier to meet out justice to those we don’t like.

The words of Isaiah introduce the theme of mercy and pave the way for the encounter of Jesus with the adulterous woman recorded in the gospel of John. The people of Israel had prostituted themselves if not in truth, at least metaphorically. God had espoused himself to them, for better or worse for richer or poorer forever. It was an irrevocable covenant that remains to this day. The people of Israel to whom Isaiah addressed these words abandoned their God and aligned themselves with foreign powers for political and economic gain. In effect, they entered an adulterous alliance and were literally carried away to a foreign land by their greed and lust for power.

In the name of their God, a disciple of Isaiah writing in his name and style reminds them of the great exodus when God led the people out of Egypt through the Red Sea into the Land of Canaan, the land they called home for centuries. In words similar to these, the prophet declares, “You think that was great? Forget about it; you ain’t seen noth’in yet! I’m about to do something even more spectacular. I’ll pave a way through the wilderness and bring you home again. I will forgive your unfaithfulness and forget your affair. Your misery will meet mercy and you will be saved.”

It has been said that pride is the worst of all sins because it distorts the truth of who we are. In fact, pride is a lie. But more than this it is a distortion of who God is. Recall that the sin of Adam and Eve was not that they wanted to be like God but that they did not recognize that they were already like God — made in God’s image and likeness.

There was another encounter taking place in John’s story beyond that of the meeting between Jesus and the woman. It was between Jesus and the woman’s accusers. In was in this encounter that justice was enjoined to the ‘trial’. “Let the one who is without sin be the first to cast the stone!” Their pride blinded them to their own sins. Jesus exposed their hypocrisy as his mercy engulfed the sinful woman.

Was he being soft on sin? Hardly. “Go now”, he said to the woman “and avoid this sin.” Might we not rightly assume that this initiative of mercy effected a dramatic change in her life? God’s saving grace was fully manifested in Jesus. Oddly enough, the same mercy resulted in the hardening of her accusers. They drifted away one by one from the eldest to the youngest but they sought another opportunity to trick him into mercy mending.

John’s story about the woman caught in the act of adultery revealed the depth to which Jesus extended himself to the sinner. “In you, O Lord, justice and mercy meet! [Psalm 85] or in the words of St. Augustine, “Misery meets mercy” in the person of Jesus.

Lent is about opening ourselves up to the saving grace of God but repentance is not something we do. It is allowing the forgiving power of God to touch our life, indeed, to engulf us and point us in a new direction. It’s about God empowering us to goodness and about our initiating a new pattern of life.

Lent is also about dropping stones and the acceptance of the humanity of others, despite their sins and failures. It is about entrusting others and ourselves to the tender mercy of God. More than that, it is about allowing ourselves to become conduits of God’s mercy and saving grace—helping others to find their way out of the wilderness of failure, sin and rejection.

“To err is human; to forgive is divine.”

At the same time, to forgive is not so much an act of the will as a disposition of the heart and in many situations, the conclusion of a very long process. We dare not be presumptuous or simplistic about it.

Forgiveness does not absolve the sinner from taking responsibility for the sin or from its consequences. Thus the mantra, “There is no forgiveness without justice, no justice without truth, no truth without full accountability.”

Here is the story that a rabbi colleague shared with me many years ago. A man went into the temple for the observance of Yom Kippur, which is the Jewish observance of atonement. As he entered the Temple, he noticed all his sins were listed on the board at the entrance. He tried to erase them but he was unable to do so. Then he went inside to participate in the penitential service. As he left the temple, he attempted once more to erase his sins but again was unable to do so. He departed and set about making amends for his sins and then returned to the temple. Lo and behold, his sins had disappeared.

This story is akin to the teaching of Jesus, “When you are bringing your gift to the altar and recall that your brother or sister has something against you, go first to be reconciled and then return with your gift.”

The Scriptures set the tone not only for our Lenten journey but also for our life long journey. Our destiny is not Jerusalem the earthly city but Jerusalem the heavenly city. Mercy is our mission but we must first pass through the gateway of justice and truth. In you O Lord, justice and mercy meet and when they do, reconciliation is complete.

Second Sunday in Easter 'B'

Sunday April 19, 2009

The Good ‘Ole’ Days

At family weddings or funerals, it’s not unusual for ‘seniors’ to reminisce about the good old days, sometimes called the ‘days of the giants.’ The slightly embellished stories are sometimes tales of legendary quality but are more often simple homespun yarn that places our loved ones in the best light. They’re not exactly fables but exaggerations of the truth if truth be told. Of course, there are always challengers among the listeners some of whom remember or think they recall in documentary fashion all the details of the story the way they really unfolded. And yes, there are also those ‘doubting Thomases’ — outsiders of sorts who remain unimpressed by heroes of the past. They believe only half of what they see and none of what they can’t see!

The need to place our ancestors in the best light is not unwarranted or even unfair. Indeed, it’s unfortunate but inevitable that we wait until our loved ones have left us to send bouquets or praise them for their accomplishments.

In any event stories are an important part of our family repertoire because they keep us connected to our heritage. Depending on our age and life circumstances, they contain different lessons and applications. They motivate us to hold on to core values that have been passed from one generation to another. Insightful people also testify to positive learnings from negative experiences.

What is true of family history is also true of the faith history recorded in the Scriptures. They too are ‘family stories’ of a sort and as with family stories, they may be slightly exaggerated but they are true at the core.

The Acts of the Apostles gives us a somewhat embellished picture of the life of early Christianity. St. Luke was describing not so much the way it was but the way it was intended to be, i.e., what Christian community looks like when its members put their faith into action or to put it another way, when they “practice what they preach.”

To that extent, he is describing what we might call an intentional community — that which their new found faith in Jesus Christ demanded of them or rather, that which the risen life of Jesus could produce within them — a community living consciously and conscientiously what they believed their relationship with one another could be like. They were more than a biological family. They were a family bonded in the body and blood of Christ. They had become in effect, the body of Christ, his blood surging through their veins. To be sure, there were communities of which Luke’s description was ‘on target.’

Nevertheless, this was not a dreamy or feel-good Christianity. In many ways it was a disciplined life but one that was not dependent on human effort alone. They were a people living in grace, confident that their faith in Jesus made a difference; that he was alive within them or rather in him “they lived and moved and had their whole being.”

The Gospel of John describes the apostles gathered in fear eight days after the resurrection of Jesus. This is John’s interpretation of another aspect of the post resurrection experience of those who were closest to Jesus during his earthly life — leaders gathered in fear, disciples struggling with their belief, believers at different stages of belief—a slice of a different church.

Notice that the first words out of Jesus’ mouth were these, “Peace be with you!” Do not be anxious; do not be afraid followed by the authorization to forgive. Jesus came not to instill fear but to forgive sin and to be an instrument of reconciliation for all people. The Church is charged with that mission and became the instrument of reconciliation at Pentecost. Easter and Pentecost are two aspects of one mystery, the reversal of Babel.

In essence the Scriptures this weekend encourage us but they also challenge us. They assure us that Jesus is truly risen and that his grace has been given to us in ample measure; it can’t be earned or merited. They challenge us however because there is a discipline to living this life of grace. It’s not automatic.

Young people who have made an Antioch or Search weekend; adults who have experienced a Cursillo or Cornerstone retreat may be able to relate to this description but they also know the reality of the fourth day. The spiritual high at the conclusion of a retreat fades very quickly in the face of the challenges of daily life.

Our early Christian ancestors lived their lives authentically and even joyfully, but they were disciplined; they were comfortable but not complacent. They understood that their lives were not their own possession and in fact some were even willing to die for the Lord, but more importantly, they were willing to live for the Lord as they lived for one another.

These are the qualities of a community living in grace:

1.A spirit of welcome and hospitality;
2.The absence of prejudice and stereotypical behaviors that foster fear and petty competition and that respect complementarity
3.A consciousness of the needs of others and the willingness to share resources;
4.The resolution of conflict in which justice and mercy are honored;
5.Life-giving celebrations at worship;
6.A sense of safety and security without being isolated from the world;
7.A sense of empowerment combined with the willingness to challenge both religious and political leaders to justice and the pursuit of peace.

“The community of believers was of one heart and one mind. They never claimed anything as their own. Rather everything was held in common. With power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great respect was paid to them all. And no one was needy among them, for all who owned property or houses sold them and donated the proceeds. They used to lay them at the feet of the apostles to be distributed to everyone according to the need,” [Acts 2:32-35]—a vision devoutly to be pursued by you and me as we continue to work through hard economic times.

“Almighty God, who has ordained that we should serve you in serving one another by our labors: have regard, we pray, to this nation oppressed at this time by many burdens. Grant to its citizens grace to work together with honest and faithful hearts, each caring for the good of all; that seeking first your kingdom and its righteousness, we may have added to us all things needful for our daily sustenance and the common good.” Amen. [Adapted from a prayer by Geoffrey F. Fisher, 1887 – 1972 The Complete Book of Christian Prayer, The Continuum Publishing Company, 1996, New York.