Streams of Mercy

In “Justice for God’s World,” his monthly column in Presbyterians Today, Vernon Broyles, puts this challenge before us: the need for “Getting ourselves out of a mess. ” ( Presbyterians Today, Jan-Feb 2021)

He first speaks of God’s people, called the “chosen ones, ” who are somehow unable to live faithfully in gratitude to God, in spite of God’s love, grace and care for them. Again and again, they are tempted by the “gods“ of the cultures around them and they forget the source of the true freedom they’ve been given as God’s own children. Finally, God “gave them over to their stubborn hearts” (Psalm 81:10-12)

“It is clear from Israel’s history that the people too often fell into such self-confidence and arrogance about their own importance, wealth and power that they did not need God … Have we, the United States of America, not fallen into a similar trap? Proud of our wealth, power and standing in the world, perhaps we have drifted into this dilemma. And lest anyone doubt, we are determined to recoup any standing that we may have lost. Humility be cursed! We are the greatest!” ( Broyles)

During these many months of the pandemic I’ve done lots of reading in areas that are new to me, and I’ve learned things I’d missed along the way, as I imagine many of us have. Somehow the pieces of the puzzle that I’m discovering are not fitting into a pretty picture. I’ve wondered why I never knew these things before, and I’m saddened and sometimes angered, with what I’m learning. I’m grateful for this “awakening,” yet troubled with the challenges before us.

“Amid this arrogance,” Broyles write, “God has brought us face-to-face with the moral poverty of our use of the “divine right” invoked in the Doctrine of Discovery that allowed us to build this nation on the land and bodies of men, women and children who were here when our Caucasian ancestors arrived. And that hubris led us to build our economic power through the labor of people of color, shipped here not as children of God, but as economic assets … But perhaps now things have become transparent enough that we who have dominated are coming to terms with the evil we have done. What we do know is that those who have been used and abused are claiming their rights as children of God and participants in a society where everyone is to be valued. May all our leaders commit themselves to making it so.”

Yesterday’s sermon at Jackson Springs Presbyterian Church was entitled “Living as Children of God.” I spoke of how God works in us and through us until we reflect the spirit and character of Jesus, living together as children of God, with passionate concern that the will and way of God be done on earth as it is in heaven. We are called to be agents of reconciliation and understanding, and bearers of healing and hope, and love and mercy. We are called to speak words of resurrection hope in circumstances of hopelessness. In this world that is broken in so many ways, we are called to stand in the gaps; we are called to offer glimpses of grace and share the abundant life Jesus came to give us.

Each of us is transformed in a uniquely personal way, to fulfill God’s calling in our lives, and we continue to be transformed by God’s love, growing more and more in the likeness of Jesus Christ. Perhaps each of us, as children of God, will be a fresh new piece in the puzzle of this life, bringing much-needed healing and hope to all of God’s children.

I’m grateful for writers who open my mind and heart to learnings I missed along the way, and for those streams of mercy to carry all of us through to better days.

Elizabeth