Be Merciful

Jesus provides a challenging message to us, love your enemies, be merciful. The exact opposite of how society tells us to react. Many movies follow a path of vengance not one of mercy. Joseph, in our passage from Genesis also selects a path of mercy and non-violence when he is reunited with his brothers. 

Scripture: Genesis 45: 3-11, 15 and Luke 6: 27-38

Annual Meeting

A reminder that the congregations Annual Meeting will be held next Sunday, February 27, 2022, immediately after worship. 

One of the questions that comes out of this passage is do I really have to love my enemies? This passage can set us up to be the recipients of abuse. Turn the other cheek, bless people who curse you, if someone takes your coat give them your shirt as well. It doesn’t sound like a very comfortable thing to be engaged in. Why would anyone want to put themselves in a position where such abuse could be inflicted on them? Yet, there it is.

Our passage today is a continuation of what we were reading last week. In that passage we saw that Jesus was arguing for a re-ordering of society. Not that the rich become poor and vice versa, but rather that the poor would receive the kingdom of God. A leveling off of society. Today Jesus digs deeper into issues of division and tells us not to be divided.

So, what do we do with turning the other cheek? Do we allow someone to strike us once, let alone twice? I have a problem thinking that Jesus wants any physical harm to befall us. I believe Christ died on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice, of God taking on the pain, the beatings, the torture so that we don’t have to.

Jesus is trying to make a point about how we live with one another. Sarah Henrich frames it this way, “The golden rule is insufficient for those in covenant relationship with (“children of,” verse 35) God. One’s own wishes for oneself are no measure for one’s treatment of others. Rather, God’s mercy is to be the measure for God’s people’s behavior.” (Sarah Henrich) I like what she says here, that as people who profess to follow God, who are in a covenantal relationship with God, simply following the golden rule isn’t good enough. We are called to do more and that can be hard, even challenging, it will have a cost.

Let’s bring all of this home. There are many people today who we find ourselves disagreeing with. I won’t use the word enemy, I think that’s too strong, though perhaps you have in your life people you might call or classify as your enemy. I hope you don’t, but I understand that sometimes relationships break down in painful and difficult ways.

Covid-19, the past two years of lockdowns and restrictions, vaccines and mandates have caused a division in society. It isn’t 50/50, most Canadians support the public health measures that have put in place. But that doesn’t mean that division and strife haven’t resulted.

As I write this, we have protests continuing in Ottawa. The people who live in Ottawa can’t go about their day-to-day activities. The so-called ‘freedom convoy’ advocates for the freedom from lockdowns but denies the people of Ottawa freedom. It’s a cruel situation. Most people I know are ready to move on from Covid, but that doesn’t mean we should. Many are asking ‘what does it mean to live with Covid?’ Those who work in health care, particularly in public health and hospital settings are still dealing with increased loads of work due to Covid. Covid hasn’t ended for them and perhaps never will.

The passage from last week and this week really bring into a present reality the questions and conversations we as followers of Christ need to be having about how we live with one another. I worry we get caught in the violence inherent in the first words Jesus has for us, ‘if someone strikes you, turn the other cheek’ and don’t pay nearly enough attention to when Jesus says, ‘Be merciful.’

Mercy is also at play in our passage from Genesis. The story of Joseph and his brothers is well known. Joseph is the youngest and his brothers don’t like him. They decided to kill him, but instead sell him into slavery. An upstanding bunch. However, Joseph ends up excelling and eventually holds a position of much power and prestige in Egypt. We shouldn’t think that Joseph is an upstanding and moral character simply because he is the victim of his brother’s abuse, he does some things that could be considered cruel when “he uses the famine to prey upon vulnerable people’s money, possessions, and property until they are all reduced to slavery (Genesis 47:13–26). Clearly, Joseph is not perfect.” (Justin Michael Reed)

The passage that often gets attention is ‘it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.’ Remember that it’s his brothers selling him into slavery that resulted in Joseph being sent ahead. The theology that comes out of this is: God is taking something bad and using it to do good. It’s compelling and allows us to hope for brighter days. It’s also fairly dangerous.

This is a passage that needs to be handled with great care. Joseph’s comments that ‘what you intended for evil, God has used for good’ can be a very dangerous theology. It allows us to condone all sorts of monstrous behaviour under the auspicious of God will use it for good. Slavery has been rationalized with this very argument. It is a very slippery slope.

Justin Michael Reed writes, “In terms of the clear benefits of Joseph’s theology, one can see that it allows Joseph to have a non-violent interaction with his brothers who harmed him.” (Justin Michael Reed) How we use theology matters. Having non-violent encounters with people should be the aim. Joseph, despite every reason not to, shows mercy to his brothers.

Joseph invites his brothers back into relationship with him. I don’t imagine this was an easy thing to do. The words at the end of the passage speak of the deep emotion, ‘And Joseph kissed all his brothers and wept upon them.’

Reconciliation is a word that gets used a lot in church circles. Christ’s death on the cross reconciles us to God and one another. It makes it right. It doesn’t mean we agree with one another, put more simply we see the humanity in one another despite our differences.

I read an article in the NY Times this week entitled One Day, I Couldn’t See Right. My Life Hasn’t Been the Same Since (article may be behind paywall). In the article the author, Frank Bruni, talks about how an illness or physical impairment has helped him see the pain in others lives and appreciate the things they are able to accomplish despite the pain they are in.

There is a common trauma to being human, of all being in it together, even if our own circumstances are vastly different. Jesus is letting his followers know that the kingdom of God always leans towards mercy and a listening ear. Of rising above the noise in order to see not our humanity, but the child of God present in each of us. It’s challenging and daunting, but that is the call of the follower of Christ. Be merciful. Amen.