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A Merciful Perspective

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For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:13 ESV

The Civil War was a long long time ago. In our efforts to right the wrongs of present day racial injustice it is unhelpful to drag out the history books of events that ended more than one and a half centuries ago. It was a terrible and ugly war consuming the lives of at least 400,00 troops just on the Union side not the least of whom was our President Abraham Lincoln.

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My own Great-great Grandfather; Captain Charles Curie fought with a regiment from Brooklyn and returned weak and near death from dysentery. But no historical facts make me any better or worse than anyone else. What counts is my own heart. The only thing powerful enough to transform hearts like mine is the mercy and grace of God. So when we feel impelled to go out and demand change in the world, then we must start with a cry for mercy. God will get the judging part right in the end. Jesus calls us to mercy, and it is only His mercy that can change our world today.

The View From Here

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Though our nation is in turmoil with questions about racial justice along with the uncertainty of the Corona virus it might be good if we all take a breath and remember some things we have to be thankful for. With July 4th celebrations just around the corner remember that our founding fathers began this American experiment with the revolutionary idea that all men were created equal and were given rights, not from any government but from God. Though none of the signers of the declaration were perfect; the direction that they pointed us to as a nation has been a beacon of hope for people around the world. My own grandfather came at 16 years old in 1913, escaping the poverty of Messina Italy that had been devastated by the great earthquake of 1908 that left over 50,000 dead.

Today I think of our Nepali friends who came as refugees escaping ethnic cleansing just 10 years ago. Before we lose hope imagine where any of these would have gone if America were not here.

Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! – Inscription on the Statue of Liberty

Defining Victory

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For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Luke 14:28

Defining victory is the key to success. As the clearest example think of the two Gulf Wars and the two George Bush presidencies. During the first encounter with Iraq our nation was given a straightforward goal: Get Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait – it lasted six months. Saddam Hussein left Kuwait permanently and the Kuwaiti people became our friends. The second Gulf war had a the fuzzy goal of nation rebuilding and has now dragged on through decades with questionable results. The current protests about racism police violence and the terrible murder of an innocent Black man in Minnesota ; sadly appear to be crossing the frontier between those two wars.

While Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil rights movement of the 60’s succeeded in attaining the voting rights act of 1964 – today’s protesters may not accomplish anything if they have no clear practical goal. Sadly racism will be with us along with all the other sins and failings of the human experience until the return of Jesus. Violence and destruction is unlikely to change a single heart.

But rather than giving up in frustration; we could redefine our victory one heart, one family and one neighborhood at a time. Jesus said that before we set out to do anything for God, we must count the cost to us personally. So instead of expecting victory because of what someone else should pay: why not bow in prayer tonight and ask God what we could accomplish in breaking through barriers of racial hatred by something that we are willing to sacrifice?