Grace and mercy work in harmony, but they are not identical. Grace addresses and removes our guilt before a holy God. Mercy addresses our misery and suffering, evoked from a loving Father who cares. There may be some subtle theological nuances that are slighted by these definitions, but these distinctions give us some practical footholds. Mercy is that welling up of compassionate concern, that urge to reach out, to fix something broken, to bandage a wound. We learn mercy from our Father, and from His Son, who unquenchably move toward our miseries. The Father never practiced kingship from a regal distance, but as creator and sustainer chose to involve himself in real, scabby, infected, miserable history. The Son became acquainted with the immeasurable grief and multitudinous diseases of real people. He touched, He wept, and He healed. All because of mercy; that spontaneous, reaching, touching, and remedial love. It’s love that doesn’t stay inside, but displays its heart for the wounded, the oppressed, and even the foolish. Our misery evokes His mercy. How close and connected is our Savior! How poignant and personal is His mercy. And now mercy like His is to echo into our time and space through us, his disciples. Do I allow the miseries I see, however inherited and deserved, to evoke true mercy as a first response from my heart?
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