Wednesday Wisdom

 ANNOUNCEMENT: Given my changing personal schedule, it looks like I will be switching to either "Tuesday Thoughts" or "Wednesday Wisdom" from my traditional "Music Mondays" feature. I anticipate still incorporating musical thoughts, memories, and opinions but I will probably tackle a more diverse range of subjects here.

If you read my last entry, you know that I've started a sermon series going through The Sermon on the Mount of Matthew 5-7. I'm taking the Beatitudes one by one and last Sunday we studied 5:7 "Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy."

Mercy is a concept I know from growing up in church but it first registered in my mind from TV, specifically Uncle Jesse on Full House. 

  

From the show's inception, he employed the catchphrase "Have Mercy!" whenever something good happened or his girlfriend/wife Aunt Becky gave him some loving, family-appropriate affection.

It was funny but even as a kid I knew it didn't quite jive with what mercy actually is.

Later on, I learned the oft-cited definition of mercy as it relates to the concept of grace. Grace is "getting what you don't deserve" while mercy is "not getting what you do deserve."

When reading through Scripture, it becomes quickly apparent that the above definition is too simple. Mercy is more than the absence of something. Mercy is something that is active, demonstrated, given and received (Hosea 6:6, James 2:12-13, etc.).

Mercy is the Good Samaritan. Mercy is raising Lazarus from the dead. Mercy is operating a local food pantry. Mercy can even be lived out by getting a COVID vaccine. In his commentary on The Sermon on the Mount, Scot McKnight defines the merciful this way, "The 'merciful' are those who...because they have experienced God's merciful love, empathize and show compassion to others."

During this week, we've seen political and national turmoil chaotically descend on the nation of Afghanistan as our nation has withdrawn our military presence. Heartbreaking images have flooded the news and social media as people desperately try to flee the coming darkness that is Taliban rule. I pray that our government leaders change course and act in mercy towards those people. 

Outside of prayer, it feels like there's little someone like me can do to really make a difference in that situation. But the overwhelming scope of the latest tragedy should not stifle my impulse to be merciful. Instead, to quote Ernie Johnson, I'm going to ask myself "what can I do today to make someone else's life better today?"

Book Blog

We live in an era of polarization. Realities are black or white. Opinions are either/or. Especially with politics, there is no room for nuance or middle ground. Beliefs must be strong one way or the other. 

There are lots of problems with this aspect of living in America in 2019, particularly for the Christian. Why for us as Christians? Because often times, the Word of God offers us a third way that is different than one of the extremes.

Russel Moore captures this in his book Onward, which is my final book I'm featuring in this "Book Blog" series.

Moore begins with the well-founded and well-researched premise that America is increasingly departing from it's long-standing Christian influence. He then outlines in ten chapters how we as Christians ought to biblically respond to the changing culture around us. 

The aspect that I appreciate the most about his book is how specifically he addresses very relevant topics. Issues that are often politicized to death, including: religious liberty, immigration, social justice, being pro-life, and biblical family values. And this is all done within a context of urging Christians to rediscover and maintain their focus on God's Kingdom and God's values. This is how he points to a third way, rather than falling back to Republican or Democrat talking points. 

This book was published in 2015 and the "hot-button" topics it focuses on have only become more and more significant within our culture's consciousness. So much so, that reading it in 2017, I was surprised how prescient it was. To me, it was prophetic much in the way I found A.W. Tozer to be prophetic.

His call for Christians to embody God's love, grace, and "convictional kindness" with boldness and confidence is very much needed if we are to live into the mission of the Kingdom as followers of Jesus. Thus, it has become one of my favorite books of the past few years.

I hope you've enjoyed this little series and maybe even been encouraged to read some of these selections.