Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
In a recent reading from the Gospel of Matthew we saw Jesus call his disciples to be perfect as their Father in heaven was perfect. Today we see a greater specificity of in what such perfection consists. If we move from the initial commandment to be holy, to the one to be perfect, to the one we hear today enjoining mercy, we see a greater and greater specificity. True holiness is not an external avoidance of that which was ritually unclean. Nor is it a sort of perfection that is merely an amoral honing of an ability. Virtue does indeed grow with practice. But one might strive to practice virtue and stop at the standard of justice. In doing so she would still be ahead of most people in the world who are concerned only with themselves.
Jesus called for more than justice. He called for mercy. He did not at once exercise strict justice on the human race, and thank God for that. Everything might have ended in the garden of Eden in that case. Rather, when we were unjust, he himself bore the burden necessary so that we might be justified, holy and righteous before him (see Colossians 1:22). Holiness, then, is not based on exclusion, nor is it something that one can achieve in isolation. It necessarily goes out, seeks the other, and gives of itself to raise them up.
Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Judgment can be problematic in a variety of ways. On the one hand, it is obviously appropriate for legitimately appointed judges in order that a just society may be maintained. But on the other, the scope of judgment for individuals is much more limited. It is often a barrier to mercy. It may lead us to see some individuals as undeserving of mercy or prevent us from giving to their bad actions the most charitable interpretation possible. It is a problem when it prevents us from reaching it to them in love and makes us want to strike hard with what we believe they deserve. But even negative self-judgements can be problematic. They may prevent us from trusting fully in the mercy of God ourselves and therefore render us incapable of sharing that mercy with others. This may have been what Paul meant in his first letter to the Corinthians.
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me (see First Corinthians 4:2-4)
When we aren't trapped by some misplaced compulsion to judge others and ourselves we will become increasing free to give as we are called to give, demonstrating that we then have the maturity also to receive. God will be more free to bestow his blessings on us if he knows we will use them for the sake of the Kingdom.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.
The idea that we will receive in exchange for what we give does not mean that we give primarily out of self-interest. Rather we receive precisely in that we become a conduit of divine love, transparent to the presence of God within us. In this way we fulfill the deepest purpose of our being, becoming holy, perfect, and merciful.
We have sinned, been wicked and done evil;
we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws.
Daniel demonstrated an attitude that was the opposite of wicked judgment. He grouped himself in with a people who had transgressed the laws of God, though he himself had not done so. He threw in his lot with them and pleaded on their account for mercy. In this way he foreshadowed Jesus who came and threw in his lot with humanity, bearing for our sake the just judgment for our sins, and ultimately liberating us, just as Daniel desired that the be of Israel be restored by the mercy of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment