I always find your comments pushing me to reevaluate my position on many subjects. In this case I would like to take issue with your idea that mercy is something we used to exercise, but today do not.
I am married to a Naturalized German. When he arrived in 1949, he was not treated mercifully. America at that time was bitter towards its enemies, and this still exists today. I often hear careless comments during Veterans Day, Memorial Day, etc. about how the Allies saved Europe for democracy ignoring Eastern Germany and all the other Eastern countries that were under the heavy yoke of Communism after the Second World War. One would accept our nationalism, if honestly claiming that Western Europe was saved.
Without boring you, there were so many incidents
of discrimination against my immigrant husband, not to mention that the most successful movies that came out of Hollywood were anti-German...and still are. America then and now continues to ignore the terrible crimes perpetrated against the enemy. I mentioned to you quite awhile ago the expulsion of about 10 million Germans who suffered ethnic cleansing before the term was ever invented. You had commented that you never even heard of this expulsion. This was no surprise to me as the only stories America ever puts out there are those that show us victorious with morality on our side. This is not truth, not merciful and not
removed from our culture. My
husband has suffered enormous emotional and sometimes physical harm because of this anti German attitude. An acknowledgement of some of the crimes that the Allies committed against Germany at that time would go a long way to alleviate the obnoxious attitude of Americans today who continue to see Germany as the eternal bogeyman! Where was mercy then, and where is it now?
Linda, Good point. It's terrible the way your husband was treated. I guess our mercy was selective in previous eras as well. Not just prejudice against Germans but also Japanese, not to mention African Americans and Native Americans--as well as every new immigrant group that arrived. It seems that mercy is a perpetual challenge for us. Thanks for sharing your story!
I understand mercy as described here to be Christian love -- acting in the best interests of another according to God's will. So understood, it is the greatest virtue, according to the apostle Paul. And it is a Christian's duty to love universally, even to love enemies of self and of God. But what is described here is not specifically mercy. Mercy is just one kind of charity.
As for mercy proper, its occasion is when one has another under his legitimate power to cause the other's detriment and its act is forgoing exercise of that power. So, the Christian duty to grant mercy is like the duty to grant forgiveness (although the latter duty may be limited to forgiveness of fellow Christians and conditioned on repentance). Both granting mercy and granting forgiveness are specific ways that we Christians walk in love as He loved us.
What a lovely post. There was a song that I sang as a child in Sunday school with the lyrics, "And they will know that we are Christians by our love." Sadly, I don't think those words apply to a large portion of the church today. I myself must bite my tongue every day to make sure that I am speaking the truth in LOVE and not just complaining, venting, or ranting about people who basically, as my husband puts it, just happen to sin differently than I do.
Thanks Mark. Again I have to share your insight that mercy is something much more than "acceptance".
God's (and presumably our) agenda has always been and always will be the full restoration of creation to perfect shalom relationship with Him. If our expression of mercy stops at simply not punishing offenses, we seriously short change the object of our expression and offer something that really isn't mercy at all.
True mercy is expressed in love that seeks the full restoration and redemption of the person. As God isn't content to simply excuse our sin and tell us,"that's ok." His mercy will never stop until we are fully restored to a perfect shalom relationship with Him.
I always find your comments pushing me to reevaluate my position on many subjects. In this case I would like to take issue with your idea that mercy is something we used to exercise, but today do not.
I am married to a Naturalized German. When he arrived in 1949, he was not treated mercifully. America at that time was bitter towards its enemies, and this still exists today. I often hear careless comments during Veterans Day, Memorial Day, etc. about how the Allies saved Europe for democracy ignoring Eastern Germany and all the other Eastern countries that were under the heavy yoke of Communism after the Second World War. One would accept our nationalism, if honestly claiming that Western Europe was saved.
Without boring you, there were so many incidents
of discrimination against my immigrant husband, not to mention that the most successful movies that came out of Hollywood were anti-German...and still are. America then and now continues to ignore the terrible crimes perpetrated against the enemy. I mentioned to you quite awhile ago the expulsion of about 10 million Germans who suffered ethnic cleansing before the term was ever invented. You had commented that you never even heard of this expulsion. This was no surprise to me as the only stories America ever puts out there are those that show us victorious with morality on our side. This is not truth, not merciful and not
removed from our culture. My
husband has suffered enormous emotional and sometimes physical harm because of this anti German attitude. An acknowledgement of some of the crimes that the Allies committed against Germany at that time would go a long way to alleviate the obnoxious attitude of Americans today who continue to see Germany as the eternal bogeyman! Where was mercy then, and where is it now?
Linda, Good point. It's terrible the way your husband was treated. I guess our mercy was selective in previous eras as well. Not just prejudice against Germans but also Japanese, not to mention African Americans and Native Americans--as well as every new immigrant group that arrived. It seems that mercy is a perpetual challenge for us. Thanks for sharing your story!
I understand mercy as described here to be Christian love -- acting in the best interests of another according to God's will. So understood, it is the greatest virtue, according to the apostle Paul. And it is a Christian's duty to love universally, even to love enemies of self and of God. But what is described here is not specifically mercy. Mercy is just one kind of charity.
As for mercy proper, its occasion is when one has another under his legitimate power to cause the other's detriment and its act is forgoing exercise of that power. So, the Christian duty to grant mercy is like the duty to grant forgiveness (although the latter duty may be limited to forgiveness of fellow Christians and conditioned on repentance). Both granting mercy and granting forgiveness are specific ways that we Christians walk in love as He loved us.
Great essay. I highly recommend the book Exclusion and Embrace by Miroslav Wolf. It is a beautiful read.
What a lovely post. There was a song that I sang as a child in Sunday school with the lyrics, "And they will know that we are Christians by our love." Sadly, I don't think those words apply to a large portion of the church today. I myself must bite my tongue every day to make sure that I am speaking the truth in LOVE and not just complaining, venting, or ranting about people who basically, as my husband puts it, just happen to sin differently than I do.
Thanks Mark. Again I have to share your insight that mercy is something much more than "acceptance".
God's (and presumably our) agenda has always been and always will be the full restoration of creation to perfect shalom relationship with Him. If our expression of mercy stops at simply not punishing offenses, we seriously short change the object of our expression and offer something that really isn't mercy at all.
True mercy is expressed in love that seeks the full restoration and redemption of the person. As God isn't content to simply excuse our sin and tell us,"that's ok." His mercy will never stop until we are fully restored to a perfect shalom relationship with Him.