Gifts in the World - Mercy and More

Luke 15: 11 – 32

 

This is our last week exploring a few of the spiritual gifts that are described in scripture. Spiritual gifts are just that – we are uniquely created with different abilities that can somehow serve the Kin-dom of God. We have gifts that the world needs us to embody and put to use.  

 

We’ve talked about the gift of perceiving or discernment, the gift of service, the gift of teaching, the gift of encouraging, the gift of generosity and today we are talking about the gift of mercy.

 

All of these seem a little abstract – maybe you can think of them as “soft skills.” Not the sort of thing easily demonstrated on a resume or in an interview. And yet there is something about these gifts – the way I would describe it is that we often know these gifts when we see them (in ourselves or in another), even if we don’t necessarily have the language for them.

Mercy as a gift is named by Paul in the letter to the Romans. It is the Greek word ἐλεῶν (eleōn), and in the New Testament, its forms are mostly rendered in English translation as mercy, although sometimes it gets translated as pity or compassion. (For example it is a form of the Greek eleōn that we find in the beatitudes – blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. It’s the same root used in the prayer mantra kyrie eleison – Lord, have mercy.)

 

The gift of mercy is the inclination and tendency to act with compassion and forgiveness, particularly in situations where one might instead feel justified to punish or begrudge. The big story of God is a story of mercy time and time again as humanity fails to keep the promises made in relationship to God.

 

In today’s scripture, which is another of those stories you’re likely familiar with even if it’s been a while since you read the biblical text, a young man returns home – tail tucked by the hard realities of the world. He’s known scripturally and culturally as the “prodigal son.”

 

In the story, we point to the father’s actions as merciful.  The father, whose heart was broken by his son’s demand for his inheritance and his years of absence from the family, sees his lost son walking toward the family homestead. With great joy he calls for clothing and a feast and he embraces his son. He tells receives him not with consternation but with great joy and thanksgiving. He receives him with mercy.

 

And in contrast, perhaps the ‘other son’s’ resentment might be a more average human response to the return of his wandering brother. 

 

Can you put yourself in the shoes of the father and the loyal son as you think about this story?

 

As a little disclaimer, the gift of “mercy” as I’ve described it today is not part of most of the online “inventory” tests – it tends to get rolled up as a form of compassion – defined as a radical caring that is self-sacrificing.  In those terms, thinking about the merciful father of the lost son, I think he probably sacrificed some credibility with his loyal son while pouring out mercy on the lost one.

 

Perhaps of all the gifts we discussed over the past few weeks, this gift – the gift of mercy – feels the most abstract, the most difficult to describe. Like it is best described in stories as examples.

I’d like for us to draw back out for a moment to think about spiritual gifts as a whole – the range of ways we are uniquely equipped and gifted by God.

 

Hear the fulness of what Paul said about gifts in the 12^th chapter of Romans:

 

12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. ² Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴ For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, ⁵ so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶ We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ⁷ ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; ⁸ the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

 

Paul stresses that we all have gifts and that they are all important to the way we live together. We are called to put our gifts to use for the good of the whole.

 

It sounds lovely, doesn’t it?

 

After two weeks of vacation, looking at beautiful and ancient things, listening to live music in town squares, drinking some of the best espresso and wine in the world, eating amazing food including a new flavor of gelato every day, walking nearly miles a day for 14 days, and sleeping full nights, I have experienced some culture shock on re-entry this week. 

 

That might be an understatement.

 

I found myself plunged back into the news cycle – and the world is (still) a crazy and hard place. 

 

Into all the media frenzy of an election year and a seemingly impossible situation in Palestine and Israel, I find myself pondering mercy. And not just mercy, but all of these seemingly “soft” skills or gifts. 

 

Do we prioritize gifts like mercy and compassion, generosity and servanthood in those we choose to lead?

 

Do we look for these gifts, expect these gifts in those we call on to lead? 

 

Do we call on folks to put their spiritual gifts to use as they guide us as a community, as a society, through hard things? 

 

Certainly in a big election cycle, I am thinking about our national leaders. 

 

But the question matters in all of the places. Do we as a community seek these gifts for our employers? Our teachers? Our police officers? Our doctors? Our lawyers? Our caregivers? Ourselves in whatever way we serve the world?

Do we expect to put our God – given gifts to use for the good of the whole?

 

Do we value the Spirit’s gifts as much as we value worldly skillsets like negotiation, communication, attention to detail?

 

I think we value spiritual gifts (sometimes) in the church, but what would the world be like if we also called forth spiritual gifts in the totality of our lived experience?

 

What would the world look like if we valued these God given gifts in all we do and imagine for our world?

 

If we believe that we have ALL (regardless of religious identity) been created by a loving God with unique gifts, then we all have gifts like compassion and mercy, generosity and discernment, servanthood and leadership, regardless of our religious identity.

 

Today, as we gather at the table, I invite you to imagine a world teeming with God-given gifts that are valued, celebrated, expected, put to good use. Imagine how big the table is and how full it would be! 

 

May it be so.

Amen.