{"id":2354,"date":"2016-09-03T12:26:40","date_gmt":"2016-09-03T12:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/?p=2354"},"modified":"2016-09-03T12:26:40","modified_gmt":"2016-09-03T12:26:40","slug":"mercy-more-than-you-deserve-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/mercy-more-than-you-deserve-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercy: More than You Deserve"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I say to you “I’ll give you $50 to wash and wax my car.” And you say, “Deal”. You finish the job but, contrary to our agreement, I only give you $30. “Hey, you owe me $20!” you cry. “I changed my mind”, I say, “and be- sides, you used my bucket and soap!”<\/p>\n

Besides never washing my car again, you’ll continue to remind me that I owe you 20 bucks. Why? Because we made a deal, recognized by law. I was legally obliged to pay you $50 for services rendered (in a larger case you’d take me to small claims court).<\/p>\n

So knowing you’d probably tell everyone in Webster that I’d stiffed you, I finally decide to pay you the full amount. Our friendship will still need repair but at least JUSTICE IS SERVED. Justice is giving to another what they deserve or have a “right” to.<\/p>\n

We get the idea sometime that justice is the highest form of human relationship . . . to give everyone what they deserve makes for a happy well ordered society. An eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth. But in the Christian perspective justice is the MINIMUM that is expected of us. It’s no big deal to be “just”.<\/p>\n

We are called to a higher level of relationship. We are to be a people of Mercy. Webster’s dictionary defines mercy as “kindness in excess of what is deserved or demanded by fairness”.<\/p>\n

We see it everywhere in the Gospels. Jesus tells us:<\/p>\n

“Love your enemies, do good to those who persecute you.” Mt. 5:44<\/p>\n

“Father forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.” Lk. 23:34<\/p>\n

“If someone asks for your coat give them your shirt as well, to walk a mile, walk with them for two miles.” Lk. 6:27<\/p>\n

The father put the gold ring and royal cloak on his wastrel son because “He was lost but now he is found.”<\/p>\n

The laborers received a full day’s wage for just one hour’s work. Mt. 20:8<\/p>\n

And St. Paul marvels at the mercy of God when he declares “that while we were still sinners and enemies of God, Christ died for us.” Rm. 5:5<\/p>\n

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Think back. When have you received mercy? Here are some examples.<\/p>\n