God Have Mercy

Photo taken March 2019 atop the Mt. of Olives overlooking the Kidron Valley into the Old City of Jerusalem

The year is 2020 and war has broken out. The church, the bride of Christ, is fractured. Friendships are ending. We rarely assume the best in one another, and disagreeing likely means we are now enemies. Our ideologies have become the banner we raise, our opinions the weapons of our warfare, and our politics and policies have become the rock we stand on. I am heartbroken. How could our Father’s heart not be broken? This is not His plan.

At this moment in our culture we, the body of Christ, have been given an opportunity to demonstrate His lavish love and lead in true reconciliation, and many of us are missing it. From church attenders to church leaders, all of us together as sons and daughters, are missing it. We, who have been given the greatest gift of love and reconciliation, need to be spending more time on our faces in prayer and in His Word than we do defending what we think. Why are we behaving like stubborn obstinate children who are struggling to simply obey what Christ has said in His Word? How could a good Father, who loves His children, not reveal our disobedience and allow us to suffer the consequences of our sin (Romans 2)? He, in his love and might is revealing the depths of our complacency and depravity (Hebrews 12:1-11). Have we submitted to the leading of the Holy Spirit or are we more inclined toward rote ritual worship and doctrinal disciplines (Galatians 5)? Are we more concerned about going to a building we call the church than we are with actually being the church (Ephesians 4)? We drowned out and ignore the prophetic voices in our midst (2 Chronicles 36:15-16). We beg God for mercy, but do not act justly (James 4). We placate to comfort instead of dying for the sake “of thy kingdom come” (1 John 2:15-17, Colossians 3:1-17). We want Jesus on Sundays and only on our terms, but leave Him out most every other minute of our lives. We sing a good song and lift up a hardy praise, but when the world cries out in grief and pain we stand resolute in silence and are left wondering what the problem is (Matthew 15:1-20). Why when we raise our voices is it in the face of those who mourn? Why do we not rend our garments, heap ashes on our heads, and weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15-21)? Why can we not corporately repent for the sins of our fathers, friends, and selves as the children of Israel did time and again (Ezra 9:6-15)? Why must we constantly cry “NOT IT” as a child who attempts to place blame elsewhere? Why do we decry guilt when we have been found guilty and in need of a Savior (Romans 3)? Why when one of us drops to our knees in anguish and lament do we cast judgement and throw stones (Luke 18:9-14)? Why have we allowed politics and power to be woven into our places of worship and into the core heart of our belief system (1 Timothy 6:1-10)?  Why have we declared our supremacy as a people and not solely and wholly surrendered ourselves as servants and slaves to Christ (Romans 6)? We praise politics and policy more than we proclaim the good news of Jesus. We proclaim our rightness instead of pursuing righteousness (1 Timothy 6:11-16). We have forgotten or have never been taught how to love our literal neighbors. Do we know what it means to pursue justice? Do we not understand the simplicity of mercy (Micah 6:8)?

You and I deserve death (Romans 6:23). We deserve God’s wrath and judgement, just as the children of Israel did throughout the Old Testament. However, God in His great mercy loved a wretch like me and like you, and reconciled us to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). Are we willing to die to ourselves, our ideologies, false belief systems, political agendas, and ways of thinking, so that one, just one, can be reconciled as well (Matthew 18:10-14)? It is time we lay down the false religion and idols we serve and be the bride of Christ, reconciled to the Bridegroom, with a heart devoted to following Christ and Christ alone (Philippians 3). The Bride of Christ has played the whore and we have bed others in His place (Hosea). The question is will we repent or will He leave us to our devices (Hebrews 10)?

Oh Lord like the Psalmist, in Psalm 51, our sins are ever before us. We have been searched and are found wanting. Lord, purify your people; cleanse us of all unrighteousness, ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. We have dealt in injustice and selfish gain. We have hidden our faces from you and turned our ears from your commands. We have been obstinate, holding fast to our opinions and rituals, and have resisted being refined and purified by your Word. We have thrown temper tantrums with screams of feeling shamed and have refused the conviction of the Holy Spirit to move us to repentance. You, O Lord, have not abandoned your people, but like Gomer we have run from your love. Redeem your people Oh God! Reconcile your bride to yourself. Bind us to your heart and let our lives be lived to its rhythm. Father we repent for the ways we have pursued and lifted up what we thought was best, and not sought your face. Lord we thank you for your love for your bride and your pursuit of our hearts. Father God we need you, please have mercy on your bride.