Justice Begins With Mercy

Jesus, on Mercy:

Matt 9:27,29&30a

27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, "It shall be done to you according to your faith." 

30 And their eyes were opened. NASU

Matt 17:15,18

15 Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.

 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.

NASU

This next one is one of my favorites:

Matt 15:22-28

22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed." 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, "Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us." 24 But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  25 But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" 26 And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."  27 But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once.

NASU

This is Easter…Resurrection Sunday…Rites of Spring…another day, except that it’s the day, this year, on which most of us are remembering what took place on that particular first day of the week; the manifestation of God’s Mercy working to satisfy the Justice that Judgment demands.

Here’s a half-rhetorical question for you:

Does Jesus have the relationship between Mercy Judgment and Justice in the wrong order? 

Don't we behave as if Mercy, if there is to be any, is supposed to come some time between Judgment and Justice? 

Isn't that the time when the convict is supposed to throw himself on the "mercy" of the court?

Jesus shows mercy to people whose pain had nothing to do with anything he did, or any kind of divine retribution inflicted by God. There is no question of guilt, no question of future punishment. The only question is: Why come to him in search of mercy?

The answer is not just that they knew he could bestow whatever mercy they were seeking, but that they knew he would.

It looks to me like Jesus believes that: 

Justice begins with Mercy

before Judgment is even an issue.

I'm not going to argue with him, because well, I believe him, but just in case you do need a little fear-of-God put it you, here’s what James says:

James 2:8-13

8 If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF," you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. 11 For He who said, "DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," also said, "DO NOT COMMIT MURDER." Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

NASU

• But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
• For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

In a nutshell, James is saying that if you want to insist on the rule of law, you should know that the law has to be your advocate. If, however you choose to live by the royal law, Mercy will be your advocate at the throne of Judgment (pssst...that's the big One that Jesus sits next to).

Here's an example we might want to follow:

 Have Mercy. Say his name then have some more.

Stephon Clark

Peace Y'all

#SayTheirNames

This is one of the books I'm reading

A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses Of Civil Rights History 

by Jeanne Theoharis

It's going to take me a while to finish it because I give into the temptation to vet Theoharis's subjects and sources, so I can't give you a comprehensive critique. The point I want to make with this post however can't wait, because this is a movie I bought Wednesday and am watching for the third time today. (It's what I do. I dissect the Historical record (and the Historians) so I can discover the dynamics beneath the story of US)

The Tyranny of Babel

"The Lord said, 'Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. and this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech.'"      (NASB)

So let me get this straight... Civilization is clicking along, everyone's cooperating, people are speaking the same language, building great monuments and temples, and along comes God. He whammies them, and strikes a dissonant chord in the harmony they had created.

Why would he do that?

Rule Of Law: a Quizzical Survey

Here's an opportunity for you to test your knowledge of that vaunted concept we call "rule of law," and the History that shaped it. 

It's really just a survey, but once you're finished, I'm going to tell you how to grade it anyway (I promise I won't record your scores and turn them into St. Peter at the end of the semester).

Six multiple choice items -- Go

1.         The 13^th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1865 because of

A.    Slavery

B.    Black people

C.    White people

D.    Harriett Tubman

2.         The 14^th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1868 because of

A.    Abortion

B.    Black People

C.    White People

D.    Wanda Rushing

3.         The 15^th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1870 because of

A.    Russian interference with US elections

B.    Black People

C.    White People

D.    Lymus Wallace

4.         Congress ordered the KKK hearings because of

A.    Poor crop yields

B.    Black people

C.    White people

D.    Bob Church

5.         We had Jim Crow laws because of

A.    A shortage of bird feeders

B.    Black people

C.    White people

D.    Rosa Parks

6.         The US has more black prisoners than other countries have prisoners because of

A.    Drugs

B.    Black people

C.    White people

D.    Kalief Browder

Grading Guide

Come on y’all, it’s multiple choice. Don’t you know the answer is always -- SEE?

If you did answer C, there’s a good chance you can develop an honest, educated Historical perspective that will actually come in handy as the World moves ahead -- which it’s going to do with or without you.

If you answered A or D, you are either a smart ass, or someone taught you a lot of wrong things. Good news: this blog can help you with that.

If you answered B, I don’t have time for your cracker ass unless you change your attitude. How’s that for separate and equal -- BEOTCH?

Now for the Shelby County Bonus Question:

Memphis is the black half of a segregated county because of

A.    The appeal of double taxation

B.    Black people

C.    White people

D.    The Memphis 13

So, how’d you do? Do you think you’re ready to learn our History, and learn to share our History?

Feel free to share your grades and discuss your answers in the comments section or on Facebook, and I’ll do my best to respond to your questions, if not right away, then in future posts.

A question for you:

The paradigm is shifting, and the narrative is being rewritten. My question to you is, are we going to participate in writing this new, shared History, or would we rather be written out of it?

Peace Y'all

An Invitation

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

I mean sure, rules are rules, and there are few rules we hold higher than those contained in our Constitution. We’ve proven over and over that the Constitution is worth dying for, but how closely do we hold the ideals it protects? Are they worth living for?