COMPOSED

Our condemnation is well deserved; we hate our actions and motives as much as anyone. Our conscience is overwhelmed with messy stains of disgrace. We were thoughtless, uncaring, selfish, ungrateful. Or weak, and yielding to plaguing temptation. Pride, judgment or something worse loudly announced our hypocrisy for all to see. Enveloped with remorse, shame burns inside. Where exactly does one hide from oneself? Clouded with regret, we have walked this path before. Our wretchedness emanates from distorted shreds of our past. We promise ourselves we will do better next time. Then, next time, shadows reappear. 

After any of our merciless or foolish acts, guilt and shame follow closely behind.  Edged into the devil’s sharpest weapons, he wields them skillfully. A rebellious disposition toward God is in our makeup. We do not do the good we want to do. And that which we don’t want to do, we keep on doing (Romans 7:15). Satan gladly punishes us with the inescapable consequences of our nature -- disgust in our self-absorption, ungraciousness, addiction, arrogance. All pay dividends of inward loathing. Sin, guilt, and shame spin so easily, naturally; repetitive cycles weave threads of reproach that tie us into knots of self-contempt. Satan intends to bind us tightly. We wander blindly into his lair, despondency beckoning us into places our tender hearts were never meant to visit. 

From there, of course, we hunger for relief. We try the justifiably reasonable self-care of rest, nutrition, exercise and the like. These give us refreshing strength and focus. Intellectual pursuits empower us, material items pamper and entertain. If it was contingent on us, we would just press the buttons of a self-help vending machine, in hopes of immediate comfort. Often, though, we choose less effective means to find quick respite, which can pile up into a traffic jam of consequences. 

Healthy or not, everything we might do doesn’t stop a new trap inevitably set in a different place and time. He pursues us unabated, hiding dangerous snares designed to return us to the same guilt and shame we were already running from. And true to our constitution, we do that which we don’t want to do, and begin our spiral again. We are hunted, tripped up, snared, bound, discouraged. He is satisfied when we are morbidly preoccupied, self-indulgent, brooding; we are ineffective believers – without impact. 

AMPLIFIED

Another kind of Hunter exists. One who rescues from traps of tormenting guilt and shame. Equally relentless in search of our hearts, never put off by our rebuffs, He seeks with gentle kindness and concern only for our good. Strong enough to withstand our stubborn resistance and perpetual self-will. Like a thoughtful, calm, and good-hearted parent, all-knowing of their wayward child, He sees the intricacies and dynamics of every detail of our lives. Thoughts, inclinations, and attitudes we would never utter aloud, are known to Him, as are secret behaviors and heartless intentions we would vehemently deny. Careless, wearisome habits, ignorant, brash behaviors -- all are known to Him. 

Devoted to idols we adore, the lesser gods of comfort and security seem imperative. As evidenced in our daily routines and patterns, we live in isolation from Him, shouting silently that we want what we want and we will be our own gods. Our self-determination is expressed in the smallest ways, which, as it turns out, end up being the biggest ways. Rather than track us down with pointed spears of self-fulfilling failure, this good and gracious God pursues with the trustworthy, magnificent weapons of compassion, mercy, and redemptive, unconditional love. 

Gratefully, our condition neither compels, nor repels God’s love. In spite of our patterned injustices, He moves steadily nearer, delicately penetrating our carefully constructed defenses. Intervening silently, invisibly, it is His condition to lovingly seek us. Mercy Deep is reliable, patient, forgiveness and restoration, each time we are in need of it. It is not because we deserve His overwhelming compassion, but because we don’t deserve it, that makes it stand out as other-worldly. And while we spew independence and intellect and stingy love, our Savior knowingly shakes His head and, in His heartbreak, continues His pursuit. 

Sometimes we glimpse evidence of this form of strong and mighty agape love in some human relationships, with ones who love us deeply, unconditionally. These precious souls demonstrate that our offenses will never drive them away. With hearts full of generosity and compassion, they share immeasurable gifts of benevolence without hesitation. We lean into the safety we feel with them. The fortress of their love is built on ultimate trust that, though undeserving, our good is their highest desire. They always care, and we can be visible around them without cringing or hiding to take cover. These rare relationships serve as faint illustrations of the protection He longs to provide: abundant, complete acceptance, utter dependability, wisdom that sees our hearts, and will gently save us from who we really are, if we let Him.

How often do we offer others such a soft spot to land, welcoming them with encouragement and unmerited love, with altruistic goodness as our singular objective? Without self-serving desires or ulterior motives, or wearying of the rejection and unkindness we encounter? Without secret pride in our goodness? At first we say, “Why yes, yes, I do that.” But look more carefully: most of us see something quite different. 

Our temporary efforts to love a few special people – while good – pale nakedly in light of Jesus’ revolutionary, organic interventions toward the unworthy in each of us. We get frustrated and hurt at the slightest dismissal, struggle to conjure up the self-control to respond politely, and inwardly think about retribution. We are remarkably demanding, provoked if others don’t read our minds to meet our most menial needs. We are undeniably critical, even if we keep those thoughts to ourselves. Layers of defenses keep us from becoming too involved, too needed.  Unknowingly, we broadcast our self-centeredness, yet loathe these same qualities in those around us. Ours is closer to a glib, cursory love, carefully restrained. 

No, we cannot do it -- we do not do it. But the mercy we need, is the mercy we need to give. Not under our own resolve or strength, however. On our own, we could never conjure the fortitude to say, as Jesus did while nailed to the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.”  In our natural state, we don’t manifest an abiding, authentic, steadfast concern for others, at all times, particularly for our enemies. But, if the Author of such love inhabits us with His Spirit, empowers us from within – if it is actually His love to begin with – then indeed, we can steadily walk that path. In step with the Spirit, Jesus’s fresh, pure, robust graciousness overflows from inside our being, and we become - to our own great astonishment - the thoughtful, encouraging, open-hearted soul that we so long for others to be toward us. We engage with those who are distant, we labor for the good of one who offers us no reward, we demonstrate love in action and in truth, even when rejected. Not with a sense of superiority, but with the humility and transparency of one who has received such an extravagant love.

What would it look like if we regularly expressed this kind of love, instead of judgment and condescension? Held up to a radiant light, our ugliness is shocking. But just as we melt under the warmth of Jesus’ exquisite radical love, we must offer the same tender encouragement to others suffering within their soul. We all know how it feels – how it moves us deeply – when someone offers a kindness we don’t deserve. When we finally glimpse the magnitude of our own corruption, and see the need for our Atonement, we realize how treacherous it is to focus on the frailty of others. Compelled by this indwelling, determined love, we can move with irresistible gentleness, through our moments. Grace perpetuates grace, rippling outward in ever-widening circles. Ever so slowly, we discover what, on Earth, His mercy means. 

No force is greater than vigorous, tenacious love. Beyond our comprehension, it is not beyond our hope. Its marvel is in its courageous, disarming strength. Unflinching, it is a bedrock of security, confidence and peace. No resistance, whether scorn, retaliation or worse, can knock these cornerstones from our foundation. Our response, our initiative, is always a choice. And His choice, working from within us, is always love. It is an urgent and compelling imperative to pour Mercy Deep into each one we meet. The relentless grace we crave is not meant to be hoarded. Mercy Deep is a continual fountain, meant to freely drink in, and to also generously pour out. And we are wise to remember that, just like us, they know not what they are doing.

POSTLUDE

“Our Lord trusted no man; yet He was never suspicious, never bitter, never in despair about any man, because He put God first in trust; He trusted absolutely in what God’s grace could do for any man. If I put my trust in human beings first, I will end in despairing of everyone; I will become bitter, because I have insisted on man being what no man ever can be – absolutely right. Never trust anything but the grace of God in yourself or in anyone else.” O. Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, May 31

“God will see that you have any number of opportunities to prove to yourself the marvel of His grace...You will never cease to be the most amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the inside.” O. Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, March 23

“The free offer of grace extends not just to the undeserving but to those who in fact deserve the opposite.” P. Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, p. 144

“...the man I follow, a Palestinian Jew from the first century, had also been involved in a culture war. He went up against a rigid religious establishment and a pagan empire. The two powers, often at odds, conspired together to eliminate Him. His response? Not to fight, but to give His life for these His enemies, and to point to that gift as proof of His love. Among the last words He spoke before death were these: ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’” P. Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, p. 260

“ [Quoting Helmut Thielicke] Jesus did not identify the person with his sin, but rather saw in this sin something alien, something that really did not belong to him, something that merely chained and mastered him and from which he would free him and bring him back to his real self. Jesus was able to love men because he loved them right through the layer of mud.” P. Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, p. 175

“The Buddhist 8-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the Jewish covenant, and Muslim code of law – each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional…” P. Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, p. 45

“The Holy Spirit reveals that God loved me not because I was lovable, but because it was His nature to do so. Now, He says to me, show the same love to others – ‘Love as I have loved you.’ ‘I will bring any number of people about you whom you cannot respect, and you must exhibit My love to them as I have exhibited it to you.’...The knowledge that God has loved me to the uttermost, to the end of all my sin and meanness and selfishness and wrong, will send me forth into the world to love in the same way. God’s love to me is inexhaustible, and I must love others from the bedrock of God’s love to me. Growth in grace stops the moment I get huffed. I get huffed because I have a peculiar person to live with. Just think how disagreeable I have been to God: Am I prepared to be so identified with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness are being poured out all the time?” O. Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, May 11

“Why would God require of us an unnatural act that defies every primal instinct?...because that is what God is like. When Jesus first gave the command, ‘Love your enemies’ He adds this rationale: ‘...that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.’” P. Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, p. 88

“The second great power of forgiveness is that it can loosen the stranglehold of guilt in the perpetrator… Magnanimous forgiveness…allows the possibility of transformation in the guilty party…Justice has a good and righteous and rational kind of power. The power of grace is different: only forgiveness can begin the thaw in the guilty party.” P. Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, p. 100; 103-4

“The disposition of sin is not immorality and wrong-doing, but the disposition of self-realization – I am my own god. This disposition may work out in decorous morality or in indecorous immorality, but it has the one basis, my claim to my right to myself. When Our Lord faced men with all the forces of evil in them, and men who were clean living and moral and upright, He did not pay any attention to the moral degradation of the one or to the moral attainment of the other; He looked at something we do not see, viz., the disposition.” O. Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, October 5

“You were looking for a great thing to give up. God is telling you of some tiny thing; but at the back of it there lies the central citadel of obstinacy: I will not give up my right to myself – the thing God intends you to give up if ever you are going to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.” O. Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, September 24

“Only the experience of being forgiven makes it possible for us to forgive…The gospel of grace begins and ends with forgiveness…grace is the only force in the universe powerful enough to break the chains that enslave generations…Grace alone melts ungrace…Only by living in the stream of God’s grace will I find the strength to respond with grace toward others.”  P. Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, p. 90; 93

“Ungrace is, sadly, our natural human state…Ungrace causes cracks to fissure open between mother and daughter, father and son, brother and sister…and tribes, and races. Left alone, cracks widen, and for the resulting chasms of ungrace there is only one remedy: the frail rope-bridge of forgiveness.” P. Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, p. 83

“Dietrich Bonhoeffer: ‘Through the medium of prayer we go to our enemy, stand by his side, and plead for him to God. Jesus does not promise that when we bless our enemies and do good to them they will not despitefully use and persecute us. They certainly will. But not even that can hurt or overcome us, so long as we pray for them…We are doing vicariously for them what they cannot do for themselves.” P. Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, p. 89

“God’s terrible insistence on human freedom is so absolute that he granted us the power to live as though he did not exist, to spit in his face, to crucify him…For him, preserving the free will of a notoriously flawed species seemed worth the cost. The choice could not have been easy, for it involved his own pain as well as his followers’.” P. Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, p. 78; 79

“...God insists on such restraint because no pyrotechnic displays of omnipotence will achieve the response he desires. Although power can force obedience, only love can summon a response of love, which is the one thing God wants from us and the reason he created us…God’s nature is self-giving; he bases his appeal on sacrificial love.” P. Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, p. 78

“The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not – Do your duty, but – Do what is not your duty. It is not your duty to go the second mile, to turn the other cheek, but Jesus says if we are His disciples we shall always do these things. There will be no spirit of – ‘Oh, well, I cannot do any more, I have been so misrepresented and misunderstood.’ Every time I insist upon my rights, I hurt the Son of God…We are always looking for justice; the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is – Never look for justice, but never cease to give it.” O. Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, July 14

“Human beings inevitably drift toward hedonism and selfishness unless something transcendent – agape love – causes them to care about someone other than themselves.” P. Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, p. 250

“The summing up of Our Lord’s teaching is that the relationship which He demands is an impossible one unless He has done a supernatural work in us. Jesus Christ demands that there be not the slightest trace of resentment even suppressed in the heart of a disciple when he meets with tyranny and injustice. No enthusiasm will ever stand the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His worker, only one thing will, and that is a personal relationship to Himself which has gone through the mill of His spring-cleaning until there is only one purpose left – I am here for God to send me where He will. Every other thing may get fogged, but this relationship to Jesus Christ must never be. The Sermon on the Mount is not an ideal, it is a statement of what will happen in me when Jesus Christ has altered my disposition and put in a disposition like His own. Jesus Christ is the only One Who can fulfill the Sermon on the Mount.” O. Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, September 25

“Everyone has natural affinities; some people we like and others we do not like. We must never let those likes and dislikes rule in our Christian life. ‘If we walk in the light as God is in the light,’ God will give us communion with people for whom we have no natural affinity…To be a disciple means that we deliberately identify ourselves with God’s interests in other people.” O. Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, September 20

“I share a deep concern for our society. I am struck, though, by the alternative power of mercy as demonstrated by Jesus, who came for the sick and not the well, for the sinners and not the righteous. Jesus never countenanced evil, but He did stand ready to forgive it. Somehow, He gained the reputation as a lover of sinners, a reputation that His followers are in danger of losing today. As Dorothy Day put it, ‘I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.’” P. Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, p. 158

“The worse a person felt about herself, the more likely she saw Jesus as a refuge. Has the church lost that gift? Evidently the down-and-out, who flocked to Jesus when He lived on earth, no longer feel welcome among his followers. What has happened?” P. Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, p. 11

“He had nearly inexhaustible patience with individuals but no patience at all with institutions and injustice.” P. Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, p. 88

“...the most powerful message of Jesus was his unquenchable love even for – especially for –  people who betrayed him. When Judas led a lynch mob into the garden, Jesus addressed him as ‘Friend.’ The other disciples deserted him but still he loved them. His nation had him executed; yet while stretched out naked in the posture of ultimate disgrace, Jesus roused himself for the cry, ‘Father, forgive them…’” P. Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, p. 194

What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Copyright 1997 by Philip Yancey, used by permission.

The Jesus I Never Knew, Copyright 1995 by Philip Yancey, used by permission.

ENCOURAGING WORD

James 2:13  Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Luke 7:47  Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.

Luke 23:34  Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’

Romans 7:15:  I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

Titus 3:5  ...He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.

Hebrews 5:2  He [every high priest] is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.

1 Peter 1: 22  Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 

1 Corinthians 4:12-13  When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.

Galatians 2:20-21  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! 

Jude 2  Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

1 Peter 5:8-9  Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Isaiah 30:15-16; 18   In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it…Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.

James 5:11  The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

1 John 4:19  We love because He first loved us.

Luke 6:32; 35-36  If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them...But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Romans 5:20  But where sin increased, grace increased all the more…

Romans 2:4  Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance…?

Psalm 31:22  Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.

Hebrews 4:16  Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Matthew 18:21-22  Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.’

Psalm 42:7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. 

1 Peter 3:8-9  Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

1 Peter 2:23  When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.

Luke 6:36-38  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 

Romans 5:8  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 7:21-25  So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord! 

2 Corinthians 3:18  And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 

Hebrews 12:2-3  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 

Micah 6:8  And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.