Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment

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James, judgment, Kingdom of God, Mercy

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.  For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2: 12-13 NRSV)

Sometimes I wonder if we really get what these verses are saying anymore.  I was studying the first few verses of James 2 this morning and stopped to ponder on what they mean for me, and what they mean for the Church and all of us as Christians in our world today.

Have I ever been shown mercy? Of course I have.  We all have, whether we like to admit it or not. We all make mistakes, many of them might just be the small, garden-variety transgressions, but some of them are not.  I know that I have said things to people that have really damaged them.  I know that I am guilty of judging others for any number of reasons.

We’re good at judging, aren’t we?  I know I am.  It’s so easy to sit back and look at something that someone else has done and say, “Man, I hope that individual gets what’s coming to them.” Judging others makes us feel superior to others and helps us minimize our own shortcomings.

I had a chat sometime ago with a young Christian person on the subject of Gay rights and Gay Marriage. While this person expressed sympathy for gay people and what they often have to go through on a day to day basis, they said that they just couldn’t go along with something that is expressly forbidden by scripture.  At the very time this person was saying this they were living and sleeping with someone to whom they were not married.

Now, I don’t say this to judge, shame this individual, or point out my own superiority.  I have my own issues too, but it’s so EASY to sit back and point out a “sin” that someone else is committing and not realize what’s happening in our own lives. That conversation just illustrates that.

I think as a church we are corporately guilty of this as well. I hammer this time and time again on this blog, but look at the headlines and see where Christians and the Church usually appear.  I’d say 90 percent of the time it’s an article about sitting in judgment of people.  Whether it’s gay marriage, abortion, or the use of contraceptives, the church is nearly always portrayed as AGAINST something.  When the church is FOR something it often is some inane little thing like “In God We Trust” being on money or forcing corporate prayer into public schools.

Meanwhile the rest of the world just laughs, and some of us Christians wonder what truly happened to the message of Christ.

Think about what might happen if the church changed their focus.  What if instead of trying to push to outlaw legal, secular marriages between gay couples, the church decided to pursue the eradication of hunger and poverty? After all, discrimination against the poor is the context of the verses I quoted from James.  What if the church worried less about whether young people have access to condoms and more about combating the institutional racism so inherent in our society and sometimes in our own churches?

Basically, what if the church turned from focusing on judgment to focusing on mercy? Can you imagine the impact that millions of Christians in the US alone could have on these issues?

I have been shown tremendous mercy.  I’m a screw up, and I’ll probably keep screwing up and stumbling my way through life. Sometimes my mistakes will be just that, accidental mistakes.  Sometimes they’ll be more than that.  Sometimes they’ll be calculated choices I make to inflict pain on others.  I do everything I can to avoid that, but I’m not perfect.  I need grace and I need mercy.

But the Good News is that despite ALL OF THAT, God still loves me, God still seeks to use me, damaged little tool that I am. I can just sit back and think about that and still it blows my mind.  Despite the fact that I am a grade A screw up, God still puts me in situations in which he can use me every day of my life. Wow.

Despite the fact that I’ve done things that I’m ashamed of, God is NOT ashamed of me and I can be called a Child of the Living God, Creator of All Things.

That’s Good News for you too, whether you realize it or not. Christ loves you and wants YOU to be a part of this revolutionary idea called the Kingdom of God.  In the Kingdom of the God the last become the first, the poor are blessed, the hungry are filled with good things, the rich are sent away empty, those who mourn are comforted, and MERCY TRIUMPHS OVER JUDGMENT.

It’s a subversive, wild idea, and it goes against everything our culture and our world tells us that we should value.  It’s not easy, and sometimes it’s dangerous.  People have died for this vision, but it’s the vision of Christ.

We can all start today by remembering that mercy triumphs over judgment and choosing to exercise that mercy in our own lives while remembering the mercy that we have been shown.

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Faith Tracks–“The River” by Jordan Feliz

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Christian Music, Gospel of Matthew, Revelation

It’s very rare that I hear a Christian song from the last 10 years that I LIKE. It’s even more rare for me to hear one from the last year that I really like. To me, Contemporary Christian music was at it’s best in the late 80s-90s with groups like Petra.

The 90s started to see more of what you might call “praise and worship” tunes, which helped ignite the so-called worship wars as churches struggled with how to include both traditional music and these new modern songs, which were often simple choruses with repetitive refrains. In the interest of full disclosure, that kind of Christian music generally drives me nuts. I’m not saying that it’s bad or that it doesn’t have it’s place in worship, but standing around singing the same thing over and over for ten minutes doesn’t do anything for me as a musician, former worship leader, former Catholic Church cantor, and everyday Christian.

To me a lot of the Christian music that’s out there these days sounds a lot like these praise and worship tunes, so with a few notable exceptions like Hillsong United’s “Oceans,” I don’t get into much of it. The other day I was listening to Apple Radio’s Christian Station when I heard something I liked very much. It had an actual beat. The singer didn’t sound like he was constantly singing through his nose. It had a very distinct style and the lyrics were…meaningful.  It wasn’t just “God is Awesome” over and over again!

I was stoked.  I looked it up on Youtube, played it on repeat on Spotify, and fell in love with it. The song is “The River” by Jordan Feliz, and it recently hit #1 on the Billboard AC/Christian chart.  Give it a listen, and then I’ll talk about why I find it so meaningful:

Rivers are powerful things for me, powerful images and powerful symbols. I grew up fishing the rivers in the Uinta Mountains and the back country around Morgan and Weber Counties in Utah with my dad. There was something about going to the river. It was an escape, and as I got older I found that my times at the river were not only quality moments with my dad, but quality moments with God. I’ve prayed “down by the river” more than a few times in my life.

Rivers often mean life. A lost person who stumbles across a river can often find salvation by following it. It’s moving waters can provide a refreshing drink or a chance to wash ourselves clean of dust and dirt.

Thus why rivers are such an important part of Christianity. Some of the earliest images in the New Testament are of John the Baptist calling people to repent and baptizing them in the Jordan River. Eventually Jesus himself was baptized (Matthew 3:13-17). Can you imagine being there when that happened? John is already rattled by having to baptize Jesus, but then after he does the Spirit visibly descends from heaven like a dove and we hear the voice of God saying “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” That would have been a shocker.

For nearly two thousand years now Christians have come to the waters of rivers all over the world to be baptized and renew their baptismal covenants. The river pulls us to it, beckons us. “Come sit beside my waters. Be refreshed, be at peace.” “Come, immerse yourself and be cleansed by water and spirit.”

So this is isn’t just a pretty rockin’ tune, it also touches on the deep symbolism of rivers and cleansing. Even in the end, when God has finally reconciled all things to himself, there will be a river, and what a glorious river it will be:

Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.

No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22: 1-5 NLT)

I know that it’s not the exact thing pictured in Revelation, but I’ve always thought the River of Life looked something like this stream in the Uinta Mountains that I’ve fished, and prayed next to, many times. Won’t you come to the River?

Photo: Cody Hatch

2016: Alive in the Adventure of God

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Gospel of John, Hope

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10 NIV.)

What makes an adventure story great? What makes it an ADVENTURE? Think of some of the classic adventure stories: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings…just to name a few, think about what makes them so great.

I wonder, would they be as great if the characters in the story never faced any problems? Would Lord of the Rings be worth reading or watching if Frodo and Sam jumped on a direct flight to Mordor, took a cab to Mount Doom, dropped off the ring, and were back in the Shire for dinner the next day? Would Indiana Jones be as cool if he just opened up a book that told him right where the Ark is, and he went and picked it up? Would Star Wars be as great if Luke, Han, and Leia just dropped a big bomb on the entire Imperial government and went home?

No, of course not.

I’ve been thinking a lot about adversity as 2016 has kicked off.  I’ve been a little down, honestly, thus the lack of posts so far.  When I first looked ahead into what 2016 had in store, the negative things seemed almost overpowering.  My job doesn’t provide for my needs, and in spite of things my bosses have told me, that doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon. One of my closest family members is gravely ill with cancer, and we’re all seemingly at a loss as to how to help and comfort him and the rest of the family. I recently had an individual at church say hurtful things about me in front of other people, which then ended up being accidentally advertised to our adult Sunday School class, a group I teach on occasion, and I just felt crushed and embarrassed.  It was the first time in the nearly 2 years since I went back to church that I just wanted to run and hide under a rock.

For the last couple of weeks these and other things have had me in such a rut. I’ve been angry, I’ve been sad, and I’ve been at a loss as to where to go next. My spiritual life just flat lined as for the first time in awhile I couldn’t feel the tangible presence of Christ. So I exercised my ultimate defense mechanism, I withdrew.

But something interesting happened as I withdrew down deep into my most protective shell: I found that I wasn’t alone. Despite my insistence on shutting others out, I found that there was somebody who was still there just waiting to comfort me.

I didn’t go to church this morning.  I didn’t sleep well last night as chronic knee pain kept me awake much of the night. I hadn’t showered, I needed a shave, and I had no clean clothes, all because of this little withdrawl that I’ve been on.  Plus, I just really didn’t want to go and face questions about the things that were said to me and about me.  I was pretty low.

Being that this is the Sunday in the Christian year that commemorates the Baptism of the Lord, they had a baptismal reaffirmation today and gave out rocks from the font that had different words on them.  My parents, who I don’t give enough credit to for actually knowing how I’m feeling, each picked one up for me. Here they are:

There weren’t two better words for me to focus on right now. I held these rocks in my hand this afternoon, the football game on mute, and pondered their meaning. Then the verse from John that I quoted above came to mind. It had come up in conversation earlier in the week, and when I paired it with the message that I felt that the Spirit was communicating with these rocks, then I realized that no matter how bad I felt, how alone I felt, how much I withdrew into myself, that Christ is still there, still working, if I’ll just let him.

He gives life.  And what is life?  Much like an adventure story, would life really be life without adversity? After all, doesn’t so much of the joy that we experience come after triumphing over hardship? Isn’t going through the bad times part of what makes the good times so sweet?  Maybe Garth Brooks said it (sung it) best when he sang

And I, I’m glad I didn’t know the way it all would end, the way it all would go. Our lives are better left to chance.  I could have missed the pain, but I’d have had to miss the dance.

Of course, as Christians we ultimately believe that our lives are not left to chance at all. We believe that God is conspiring to work all things for good, but doesn’t mean that there won’t be pain, hurt, and heartache involved. And if you try to sit somebody who is in a lot of pain down and just tell them that it’s all “God’s plan” or “Just have faith,” you deserve to be slapped in the face.

The pat answers aren’t good enough for many. We must recognize the pain and the trials that we each must go through, but Christ, and the people of Christ, can be the ultimate comforter if we but let them try.  I had to open myself up a bit to see that again with fresh eyes.  The answer isn’t to hide in one’s self, it’s to put yourself out there and let others help, even though they may hurt you again in the process.

So as I sit and look ahead now into 2016, I’m clinging to what Jesus said, that he gives life and gives it abundantly.  I’m going to try really hard to dream big and hope a lot. Maybe, just maybe, I can turn the pain and adversity into opportunities for growth in all areas of my life. It’s not going to be easy, and it’s not going to work right all the time, but it will certainly be an adventure, perhaps a noteworthy one for me, and no matter what the Good Shepherd will be at my side.