Mercy Above the Sceptred Way

Image via Mercy and Truth Blog

'Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our Land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.' (Psalm 85:9-11) 

Mercy and truth or mercy and justice are often very difficult to reconcile. They can often seem so contradictory. However, this what God has done in saving us. We deserve justice for our sins, but in God's Son, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, mercy triumphs. Praise the Lord for His great love and mercy! 

Oliver Cromwell

Psalm 85 was one of Oliver Cromwell's favourite psalms. He repeated it often in many of his speeches, especially the ones he gave at the end of his life. He often referred to it as he championed religious freedom (one of his favourite causes - even when he was attacked for it) and he clearly saw it as a vision for the spiritual welfare of his nation. He was very concerned that many Christians were often over zealous with the truth, being  self-righteous and concerned with justice bu with very little mercy for one another. That grieved him very much throughout his life. One cannot fail to see this when reading his personal letters and his public speeches.  In one of those speeches to one of his parliaments as Lord Protector, he encouraged the new MPs to apply this psalm to their lives and in their governing of the nation. He said:  

"Mercy and Truth shall meet together" [Psalm 85]. Here is a great deal of "truth" among professors, but very little "mercy"! They are ready to cut the throats of one another. But when we are brought into the right way, we shall be merciful as well as orthodox: and we know who it is that saith, "if a man could speak with the tongues of men and angles, and yet want that, he is but sounding brass and a tingling cymbal!" [I Corinthians 13:1] 

Thomas Carlyle, Oliver Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches: With Elucidations, (London: Chapman and Hall, 1894), Vol, IV of V, pp. 210-222. 

(Read full speech here)

We still need this today as Christians with one another, in the home and in Church, and with those around us. We must not hold onto justice and truth without mercy. I think this quote from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice puts it very beautifully: 

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,

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:

'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes

The throned monarch better than his crown;

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;

But mercy is above this sceptred sway;

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,

It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God's

When mercy seasons justice. Therefore...

Though justice be thy plea, consider this,

That, in the course of justice, none of us

Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;

And that same prayer doth teach us all to render

The deeds of mercy. 

 Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I

Yes, Lord, gives us hearts of truth and mercy always. Help us remember that it is Your mercy that saves us. 


God bless,

An Unexpected, Life-changing Encounter

Good Friday is a very special day. A day when we remember the heavy price our Saviour, Jesus Christ the Son of God, paid for our salvation and redemption. His precious blood is what cleanses us from our sins and gives us eternal life. Without the events of that day all humanity would be in hopeless misery and darkness now and for all eternity. Neither you nor I would be able to know God, love Him, and approach Him. Thank you, Lord for the cross and the great price you paid for my salvation.

Now, on that Friday long ago, an suspecting man was thrust into the greatest event in history. It was then that He encountered Someone who changed his life forever.
The Gospels tell briefly of that encounter, but in it one could read a lifetime story. 

'And they compel one Simon of Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.' (Mark 15:21)
'And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.' (Luke 23:26)


In his book, The First Easter, Peter Marshall imagines the scene of the procession to Calvary and that special encounter between Christ and Simon of Cyrene.   

It was an ugly situation as the procession went slowly along this way that will for ever be known as the Via Dolorosa [way of suffering or sorrow]. Meanwhile - Simon of Cyrene was approaching the city gate. 

He had just arrived in Judea, and was about to enter the Holy City, as a pilgrim for the festival. 

He had spent the night in some village just outside, and, rising early in the morning, had bathed and dressed himself carefully...with a tingling excitement because soon he would be in Jerusalem. The wonder of Jerusalem, that exiles had described, he would now see with his own eyes...the sounds of the Holy City...he would hear with his own ears. Yet He tried to keep calm, and as he set out on the short walk that lay between him and the city, he was very thoughtful. 

He walked along the winding path that sometimes ran through the fields...Sometimes along narrow roads between hedges where there was the fragrance of pomegranate trees and honeysuckle... Sometimes along the torturous course of the dried-up river bed where the earth was cracked with the heat of the sun.

       Sometimes it wound up the jagged hillside to twist down among the giant boulders and huge rocks behind which many a robber might hide. He walked along beside the tall rushes, where he frightened conveys of birds that flew wheeling, diving... 

And he walked through the divided crops, ripening in the sunshine. 

He could hear the sheep bleating on the inhospitable hillside, while the morning sun climbed higher and chased away the mists that lay in the hollows, trailing down into the ravines like tulle scarves.  

As he walked along, he was thinking of the temple and its glories, the history of his people and the worship of his fathers... 

Already he could see ahead of him the domes of the temple gleaming gold in the sunshine, could hear the pigeons that had their nest in the cupolas and gables, and he thought of his own city looking from her height over the blue waters of the Mediterranean. 

Then as he neared the city gate he began to hear shouting that grew louder and louder. 

There seemed to Simon to be a sort of chant running through the noise... 

        a refrain that men's voices made clearer and clear er until he thought he could recognise the word 

        "Crucify 

crucify 

      crucify...."  

They met right at the city gate ... Simon of Cyrene and the crowd. He found that the procession was headed by some Roman soldiers; he would recognise them anywhere... 

          the insignia on their shields... 

       and their uniforms... 

He could tell a legionnaire when he saw one.  

He had little time to gather impressions, and as for asking questions, that was impossible. He could not make himself heard in all the rabble. 

The noise and confusion with its sinister and malice made Simon shudder.  

Simon was aware of two moving walls of Roman steel. There was something strange about it all but, before he could understand it, Simon was caught up in it - sucked into the procession, and swept out through the gate again. 

Simon was excited, afraid...He was puzzled and ill at ease. He scanned face after face quickly, looking for some light of pity... 

          of friendliness, 

                 of welcome... 

But he found none. 

He felt the drama of the situation, the cruelty of it...And its horror crept over him like a clammy mist - and he shivered.  

He was captured by the procession, stumbling along, tightly wedged in the very heart of the crowd. 

Then he noticed that there were three men who staggered under the weight of crosses of rough, heavy wood on which these unfortunates were going to die.  

Each man was bent beneath the burden he carried, and perspiration moistened his drawn face. 

One of them was strangely appealing, His face was arresting. Simon felt his gaze returning again and again to that one face. He noticed that blood was trickling down from wounds in the brow. 

On His face there was a twig of long-thorned brier, twisted around in the shape of a crown and pushed down cruelly on His head.  

Simon watched with beating heart as they shuffled along, fascinated by the look in those eyes. 

He could see nothing else. Everything was forgotten, even why he had come to Jerusalem. This public execution had driven everything else from his mind. 

Forgotten for the moment were the temple and its services, 

         messages he brought from friends far away... 

               things he had been asked to get... 

Everything was forgotten as he watched this Man carrying the cross.  

And then He looked up! His eyes almost blinded by the blood that trickled down from under that grotesque crown that was on his head... 

Why didn't somebody wipe His eyes? 

And as Simon looked at Him, He looked at Simon...And the eyes of the two ... met! 

How did Christ know what was in Simon's heart?What was it that made Him smile, a slow, sad smile that seemed to still Simon's wildly beating heart and give him courage? 

The look that passed between them Simon never forgot as long as he lived, for no man can look at Jesus of Nazareth and remain the same. (my emphasis)

As these two looked at each other, the Man with the cross stumbled, and the soldiers, moved more by impatience than pity, seeing that the Nazarene was almost too exhausted to carry the cross any further, laid hands on Simon and conscripted him to carry it.

He was the nearest man. 

He was strong.

His shoulders were broad!

Simon's heart almost stopped beating; he tried to speak, but no words came.

A few minutes before, he had been a lonely pilgrim quietly approaching the Holy City. And now, there he was in the midst of a procession of howling men and women, walking between two moving walls of Roman steel, and carrying on his shoulder a cross on which someone was going to die!

The look of gratitude and love that flashed from the eyes of Jesus as Simon lifted the load from those tired, bleeding shoulders did something to the man from Cyrene, and in an instant life was changed. (my emphasis)

Simon never could explain it afterwards - how it happened! 

There are moments of spiritual insight that defy the limits of syntax and grammar. 

There are some things too deep for words.

But all at once he saw the meaning of pain...

          understood the significance of suffering...

The meaning of prayer was unveiled...

          and the message of the Scriptures.

He saw prophecy take form and live before him. 

He remembered words of the psalmist and the prophets of old, words that until now had been without sense of meaning, but now... he saw ... and understood. (my emphasis)

Yes, the one who meets Jesus of Nazareth will never be the same again. No-one can remain neutral. If you haven't yet had such a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, ask Him now. He is near and always ready to heal and forgive. If you have had that wonderful encounter already, take a moment to thank Him for His sacrifice and ask Him to refresh that relationship. This is what I pray. Amen.

God Bless, 
 

_________________
Reference: 
Peter Marshall, The First Easter, (ed.) Catherine Marshall, London: Hodder and Staughton, 1959, pp. 54-59 

Hall of Faith Series: Men of Faith - St. Patrick

*****************************************

Since it is St. Patrick's Day today, I decided 'St. Patrick' would be my character for this week's 'Hall of Faith Series'. If you ask many people nowadays who St. Patrick was, they would most likely not know very much other than the myths and legends that have been weaved and weaved around him for countless generations. These legends have obscured the man behind those legends and made most of us (yes, even us Christians) forget why he became such a legend in the first place.

Patrick (c. A.D. 386-461) wrote very little about himself and no one during his lifetime wrote about him either. However, we are fortunately left with a few of his writings that tells us something of the true Patrick, a holy and humble man of great faith in God with a truly apostolic mission. The most important document is the Confessio or Confession (*I highly recommend reading it*). In it he sketches his life story - how he was captured by Irish slave traders, how he called on the Lord in the day of his distress and was saved, how he miraculously escaped his captivity and returned to his home in Briton, then how he was called back to the people who had enslaved him in order to preach the Gospel to them, and how he obeyed God's call despite the danger and difficulties. 

Paul Gallico said this about Patrick in his A Steadfast Man: A Life of St. Patrick,

He [Patrick] stands forth as a wonderfully human being, a man with almost all man's failings, yet touched by the divine. The testimony of his own hand exposes one who is not ashamed to admit that he owed everything to God, and that, had it not been for Him, he, Patrick, would have been other than he was.

Out of the pages of the Confessio arises the figure of a man of indomitable purpose and compelling spiritual power, who, as [Bishop] Secundinus [probably a nephew of Patrick] wrote in his hymn, 'in sincerity of heart had confidence in God'.

It is this sincerity, faith, and confidence - the utter subjection of himself to God - that gave Patrick his stature and account for the success that has placed him amongst the saints of the ages. 

 Patrick's trust in God breathes from every page and from every line he wrote. It replaced a confidence that he never felt in himself, for Patrick entertained no illusions as to his initial abilities and talents. But God made everything possible to him, helped him to overcome every obstacle, physical or spiritual, with which his adventurous life was studded. he walked armoured in this faith and nothing could touch him; not the swords and spears of his enemies, or the occasional envy or spite of his friends. 

It was this love for God and his dedication to the life, the work and the word of Christ that gave Patrick his steadfast and unchanging nature. God was Patrick's catalyst who fused and tempered his character. From the time that the boy Patrick discovered Him on the freezing slopes of Mount Slemish, there was not a thought or action that was not first funneled through God. Thus the Saint's line of action ran as straight as an arrow, undeviating, unwavering. It was impossible for him to act other than in concert with his God, who had called him to serve. He had the word of that God and that Christ, spoken through the Scriptures and the Gospels; he lived by them to the utmost of his ability and he asked of those about him and those whom he preached and converted to try to do likewise. And you will see, glittering from some of his paragraphs. like jewels, his joy when he succeeded. (p. 124-125) 

Patrick's faith in God and his obedience to His call to preach to the heathen Irish when nobody else thought it possible, changed the destiny and faith of a whole nation and influenced the development of Christian Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. The monasteries that dotted the Irish landscape became a bastion of learning during the troubled times of the barbarian invasions in Europe. The beautiful calligraphic manuscripts created and preserved in those monasteries awe us all, the Book of Kells, being a chief example. 

There is so much more to learn about Patrick, his faith and his work for the Lord, maybe I'll leave that for another post for now. Until then, however, I highly recommend watching the docu-drama Patrick (narrated by Liam Neeson), which tells Patrick's story really well and it's very encouraging. 

I'd like to end with this: 

A Poem by St.Patrick
Written by St. Patrick in 377 A.D.

Lorica
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.     

God Bless, 

Sarah
_____________________________
References and Further Reading: 
- St. Patrick, Confession (available  online at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/patrick/confession.ii.html )
- Patrick Docu-Drama
- Paul Gallico, The Steadfast Man: A Life of St. Patrick, London: Michael Joseph, 1958.
- Mary Wilson, Builders and Destroyers, God's Hand in History A.D. 300-700, Book IV, London: Blandford Press, 1968, pp. 60-8