Psalm 103:1-13

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy Name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
3 He forgives all your sins and heals all your infirmities;
4 He redeems your life from the grave and crowns you with mercy and loving-kindness;
5 He satisfies you with good things, and your youth is renewed like an eagle's.
6 The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all who are oppressed.
7 He made his ways known to Moses and his works to the children of Israel.
8 The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness.
9 He will not always accuse us, nor will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so is his mercy great upon those who fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our sins from us.
13 As a father cares for his children, so does the Lord care for those who fear him.

This year, Monday Matters is focused on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We'll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen.

The quality of mercy

The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes the throned monarch better than his crown

-William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act IV.

If you heard Psalm 103 yesterday in church (a portion of which is reprinted above), you may have noticed that the word “mercy” pops up several times. It fits well with the parable Jesus told about what it means to show mercy, also heard in church yesterday. To review that parable, a king shows mercy to someone who owes the king a whole chunk of change. The king forgives the debt. The man who received royal mercy leaves the king and runs into someone who owes him a relatively small amount of money. No mercy is shown to this lesser debtor. The king gets wind of all this, and in the end it doesn’t go well for the one who refused to show mercy, especially since abundant mercy had been shown to him.

Think with me about the word mercy and how we use it. In the liturgy, we often say “Lord have mercy,” or we ask “Lord in your mercy hear my prayer.” Outside of the church, if we say “Lord have mercy,” it means we’re in a jam. This kind of mercy implies relationship with a power greater than ourselves, a force not obliged in any way to grant us much of anything.

Mercy is closely related to grace, but it seems to me there is incremental difference. Grace is unmerited favor, an expression of unconditional love. Mercy suggests kindness and grace shown when someone is either in trouble or when someone has messed up, when there’s a big debt to pay and no way to pay it.

Jesus’ parable asks us first to consider the ways that we have been in on the receiving end of mercy, more specifically how our relationship with the Holy One is marked by mercy. Spend a bit of time today thinking about ways that God has been merciful to you. It may be something we don’t give much airtime, in a world where it’s tempting to think that God is awfully lucky to have us on the team. The confession, offered in various forms in our Prayer Book, begins by addressing a merciful God, a key reference for all that follows. Consider what it means that the God of creation is inclined to show mercy. We then recognize that we have not loved God with our whole heart and we have not loved neighbor as self. Admitting that is probably a good place to recognize we are on the receiving end of mercy.

Then Jesus asks us to focus on how we might show mercy to others, based on the recognition that mercy has come to us. That brings me to one of my heroes these days in the Episcopal Church. Bishop Marian Edgar Budde preached 18 months ago at a service marking the inauguration of our current president. She concluded by directly asking the president to show mercy to those who find themselves on the margin. I was inspired, encouraged, grateful for her grace and bravery, her courage and strength. She took a lot of heat for her request. When asked to apologize she boldly said she would never apologize for asking for mercy. Our clergy (yours truly included) need to speak more boldly about the need for those in power to show mercy, along with other values held dear by Jesus followers.

Political powers these days seem to have a pretty short supply of mercy, boosting poll numbers by targeting then excluding those on the margins. How different is that from what the psalmist has to say, noting that our God is characterized by compassion and mercy? To the extent we’re in touch with the quality of mercy, not strained, we are called to show mercy wherever we can. Many in our Episcopal culture are blessed with privilege. How is that privilege an opportunity to offer mercy? With or without privilege, we can show mercy in our interactions in families, workplaces, churches, traffic in the city, intersections with those who are unhoused, and as elections approach, in our political leanings.

As the bard of Avon noted, it’s a good thing to do, not at all strained. At its best, it comes down like heavenly rain, bringing refreshment and new life. And the miracle is it blesses the one who gives as well as the one who receives.

Give thanks for mercy. How can you show mercy this week?

-Jay Sidebotham