Mercy

What does it mean to show mercy to someone?

And have mercy on some who are wavering; save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies. - Jude 17:22-23

Mercy for me has to do with judgment.  We ask for mercy from the court when we have broken the law yet feel there were special circumstances in our case.

But mercy can be doled out by anyone willing to show compassion and to forgive.

It is one thing to look to help someone who is going down the wrong path, and quite another to reach out to someone whom you fear.

If someone seeks to do me harm, I tend to be on the defensive, ready to fight or flea, rather than help them come to a better place.

So, what Jude is saying is not easy, and may even seem crazy.  We could get hurt.

The message here may be that following Christ is just that kind of challenge.  We are asked to go against our better judgment and be willing to forgive those we would not want to be near.

How we do that and what it means in our daily lives is what our personal ministry is all about.  Each of us encounters these challenges in different ways. 

So, if trying to show mercy puts us in harm's way, what do we do?  Do we take the risk and act out of compassion, even if in doing so we find ourselves frightened by it?

Jude says we should.

I think each of us has a line we will not cross, unless the situation dictates the risk is worth it.

Such is the way it is in our personal world courts.  We do judge and choose whether or not to show mercy.

And we don't want to be played.

More to come...