Mercy – February 18, 2001
We’re extraordinarily fortunate people. We live on this beautiful earth, eating food we didn’t grow, sleeping in homes we didn’t build, breathing fresh, clean air and drinking sparkling water. All of these are freely given gifts from our Heavenly Father. Why, then, is it often difficult for us to act with mercy toward others? Because mercy often feels unearned.
If one of our children acts irresponsibly and breaks one of our belongings, it’s difficult to respond mercifully. If an employee makes a mistake, we may feel that a reprimand is more appropriate than merciful forgiveness. There’s an appropriate balance between mercy and justice.
God blesses us with great riches, and we respond far too frequently with disobedience. And yet, He forgives even our most foolish or spiteful mistakes if we repent. In the words of Shakespeare: “The quality of mercy is not strained. . . . It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. . . . And earthly power doth then show [like] God’s, When mercy seasons justice.”1
A businessman on a trip stopped to eat in a restaurant. The service was very slow, and the waitress made numerous mistakes with his order. Irritated, he finished his meal and began to calculate a tip. As he considered the poor service he’d received, he planned to leave a very small sum. But then he looked around and noticed a very full and busy establishment, with only one exhausted waitress serving far too many tables. As he paid his bill, he made inquiries and learned that two other waitresses had been ill that evening. Ashamed at himself for his too-hasty judgment, he returned to his table and left a far more generous amount.
We need God’s mercy, and we need the mercy of others. But we must not forget to extend mercy for our own sakes.
Program #3731
1. The Merchant of Venice, act 4, scene 1, lines 184, 187, 196-97.