You may have heard about what happened during the sentencing phase of a trial involving ex-Dallas police officer Amber Guyger found guilty of murdering a man named Botham Jean in his own apartment. Some people say that this was a racial issue between black and white, some say that the sentence is an overdue condemnation of racial profiling and the use of force by law enforcement but the brother of the victim, Brandt Jean in his heartfelt words to the convicted ex police officer made it about something more. (Please watch the video below)
That kind of mercy is UNCOMMON not only to the world at large but even among the followers of Christ.
WHY?
Revisiting the Old Testament book of the prophet Jonah, I think we find an answer to the question. Jonah, you might remember was not asked but commanded to go to Nineveh (see Jonah 1:2) but instead of obeying the Lord, the prophet in essence went in the exact opposite direction (see 1:3) toward Tarshish. The reason for his disobedient refusal to go to Nineveh may be understood by the words we read in (Jonah 4:2):
“So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.”
Jonah was a faithful Israelite, he saw the Ninevites as brutal enemies of his people worthy of God’s judgement but his disobedience was proof that he was willing to allow his patriotism to supersede his duty to God. As (Jonah 3:10) indicates, the prophet knew that the purpose in God’s declaring his impending judgment on those people carried with it the ulterior motive of mercy:
“Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.”
Jonah fled and disobeyed the command of God because he could not hold out mercy to a people as detestable to him as the Ninevites.
How about you and me?
We live in a nation so divided today. Hate – some real, some imagined and some invented keeps people partitioned, separated and segregated from one another and unwilling to extend the two things every one of us needs – mercy and grace.
Is there a group of people, a political leader or party or a type of person that you could not be merciful toward – someone for whom you hope the worst or at the very least don’t care about at all? Warren Wiersbe reminds us that “it is good for God’s people to remember what it is like to be lost and without hope.” He said, “How easy it is for us to grow hardened toward sinners and lose our compassion for the lost.”
Brandt Jean lost his brother and instead of condemning his brothers killer, he hugged her, wished the best for her and extended Christ to her – in one act he incensed those driving the narrative of hate with his expression of Christ like love while inspiring the rest of us by his example.
One thing I know, whether you are a merciful or a merciless person, each of us will one day be in need of some grace or some mercy at the hands of someone we harmed or offended and it is this reality towards which I would like to offer some food for thought from the word of God.
(Matt. 5:7) “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.”
(Luke 6:31) “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”
(Mark 11:25) ““And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”
(James 2:13) “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
In the comments about the video of Brendt Jean’s outburst of mercy on his brothers killer one man said, “you’re a better man than me.” Maybe we wouldn’t do what Brandt Jean did but that wouldn’t be because we couldn’t – John wrote in (John 1:16): “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” Join me in taking a lesson from our Lord, taught through the brokenness of a violently bereaved young man – try to fill your world with grace and mercy instead of hate and division.
You must be logged in to post a comment.