2115AFC040921 – Enduring Mercy
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Psalm 118:4 – 4 Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love [Mercy] endures forever.”
Hebrews 4:16 – 16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
John 20:26-28 – 26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
1 Peter 1:3-7 – 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7 so that the genuineness of your faith — being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. We begin today with a familiar story, one that circulates on the Internet every so often:
The Auction
The upstate New York man was rich in almost every way. His estate was worth millions. He owned houses, land, fabulous art, and cattle. But though on the outside he had it all, he was very unhappy on the inside. His wife was growing old, and the couple was childless. He had always wanted a little boy to carry on the family legacy.
Miraculously, his wife became pregnant, and gave birth to a little boy. The boy was severely handicapped, but the man loved him with his whole heart.
When the boy was 5, his mom died. The dad grew closer to his special son and even commissioned a portrait of him to be painted by a well-known artist when the boy was 12 years old. He had it hung on the wall opposite is bed so that it was the first thing he saw in the morning and the last thing he saw at night.
At the age of 13, the boy’s birth defects cost him his life, and the father died of a broken heart soon after. He had arranged with his favorite lawyer to hold a special auction after his death so that his estate would be put to good use.
The estate was to be auctioned before hundreds of bidders. The first item offered was the painting of the boy. No one bid. They waited like vultures for the riches. The auctioneer called out, “The son, the son; who will take the son?”
Finally, the poor housemaid, who had helped raise the boy, bid $5 for the picture and easily took the bid. The auctioneer shouted, “The auction now concluded.” The room filled with loud chatter and confusion, wondering at the early close of the auction. The auctioneer went on to explain. “In the will of the father, the instructions specifically said to offer for sale the painting of the son first, and that whoever gets the painting of his son gets the whole estate.” To everyone’s shock, the auctioneer pulled out a handwritten will from an envelope glued to the back of the picture. This is what it said. “To the person who thinks enough of my son to buy this painting, to this person I give my entire estate.” The auction was over. The greedy crowd walked away in shock and dismay.
How many of us have sought after what we thought were true riches only to find out later that the Father was preparing to give us His entire estate if we only chose to accept His Only Begotten Son?
Whoever receives the Son receives all from the Father. In the light of eternity, God says to all of us, “This is my Son, Jesus; who will receive my Son? Whoever receives the Son gets everything” – and that includes the message of the stories Jesus told. (From that world-famous writer, Anonymous Author)
Well, perhaps you have seen that story before, but I want to ask you about your experience with choosing the Son. First, why was that choice available? Second, how did you learn about it? Third, what influenced your decisions about that choice? And finally, how has that choice affected you?
Why was that choice available? For many of us, the answer is too simple for our complex minds. Here’s a little hint: Genesis 3:15. That is the promise of Salvation first given to Eve after she and Adam came to know the difference between Good and Evil. Recall also that God moved them out of his Paradise – the Garden of Eden – so that they would not eat of the Tree of Life and thereby live forever as fallen and condemned beings – like Satan. God did not take vengeance on Adam and Eve; God took compassion on them and granted them Mercy. Everything that God gives is Good (See James 1:17), and Mercy is an extraordinarily good Gift. Without God’s Mercy, we would have no Hope of any kind – and especially no Hope for Eternal Life in his presence. Our Key Verse from Psalm 118 mentions his “steadfast love.” Steadfast a word we do not use often, so here are some synonyms to help you remember it: Unwavering, resolute, persistent, dedicated, everlasting, loyal, trustworthy, dependable, reliable, constant, faithful, devoted, steady, untiring, unfailing, lasting, persevering. I am firmly convinced that only God could fully implement every description I’ve listed. Another synonym used very frequently in the Bible is lovingkindness (ḥă-sā-ḏe-ḵā in Hebrew) which especially points to the Abrahamic Covenant. God’s relationship with his Creation of earthlings began with Love and – because it became necessary – continued with Mercy. That is why choosing the Son is an available choice. If we fail to make that choice we will indeed lose everything.
How has that choice affected you? What do we gain by accepting the Son? As in the story of the rich man and his progeny, we gain everything God intended for us from the moment he made Adam and from Adam brought forth Eve. Again, the answers are so obvious that we might overlook them. I guess the first thing we might point to is the fact that we are alive. We have a life, a consciousness, a mind, and a spirit. We have senses that help us appreciate God’s creation. We have feelings – some wonderful, some difficult – but our feelings help us understand each other and also help us to know God. If we think about it, one of the biggest factors in choosing the Son is the way we feel when we realize how much he Loves us – enough to die for us as the fulfillment of that Promise in Genesis 3:15. When we become aware of the choice and then make the choice, we are changed. We are affected in ways that bring us great joy. But, how do we make that choice known? Ah, Belovéd, why make it complicated? We make that choice known by asking for it! “Jesus, come into my heart.” The Apostle Paul put it quite nicely in Hebrews 4:16 – 16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. If we want the Mercy of God that ensures our Salvation, all we have to do is ask, search, or knock (See Matthew 7:7). That is why God’s Mercy is called steadfast. It is always there, it is always free for those who ask, and it comes with the graces necessary to make good use of the Gift.
What influenced your decisions about that choice? Most of us know someone who “grew up Christian.” God provided for them an environment characterized by Christian teaching and helped them make good use of that opportunity. Probably that includes you; if you’re reading this, it’s because you chose to open it and to read at least this far. I’d venture to say that we who create and follow these posts are influenced by our own “faith-forming experience.” (“What does that mean,” you ask?) Not everyone who chooses the Son “grew up Christian,” so how do they recognize the choice? If we think back to Jesus’ Disciples, they certainly didn’t grow up in a Christian environment, so they chose the Son based on the things Jesus said and did. Remember the axiom WHAT WE DO SAYS WHO WE ARE. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. One disciple who had to do something in order to believe was the Apostle Thomas. Let’s take another look at the well-known faith-forming experience of the Apostle Thomas.
Over the years in these pages, I’ve given Thomas kind of a bad rap by making him out to be the pessimist in the circle of Disciples. When Martha and Mary sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was near death, it was Thomas who said (paraphrasing now), “Well, if Jesus going to Bethany, we might as well go along and die with him there.” Later, of course, Thomas opines (paraphrasing again), “It’s too good to be true that Jesus is alive. I’d have to see it to believe it.” Belovéd, what did we see that made us believe it? What did we hear that convinced us to choose the Son? Whatever it was, it was certainly a gift from God! It was a gift of Mercy and it came to us “with the graces necessary to make good use of the Gift.” So where is this Gift and how do we get it? It’s everywhere! It is even already in you! God is omnipresent and that means his Mercy is omnipresent. He does amazing things for us because he wants us to remember that the Lord is kind and merciful. (↔ Click Link!)
How has that choice affected you? This is one of those essay questions (↔ Click Link) God gives us every once in awhile. I cannot answer it for you. I can’t really even suggest an answer. If you’ve chosen the Son, you already know what you know, and what you know is “a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” If you possess that living Hope it is because you possess the Son for the reason that you freely chose him. What did it cost you? Well, probably not $5 like the poor housemaid paid for the portrait, but we who chose the Son accept that our inheritance includes responsibilities. We are responsible for sharing the Gospel, for sustaining his Church, and for helping others to choose to share the knowledge that his steadfast love [Mercy] endures forever. After all, he is Loving and Forgiving (↔ Music Link). Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift – the Gift of his Enduring Mercy. Because of that Mercy, we will see Jesus in the Eucharist and say, “My Lord and my God!”
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.
April 11, 2021 is the Second Sunday of Easter and also Divine Mercy Sunday. I invite you to use this link for The Divine Mercy Chaplet with Meditations by Greg Keuter. This is no longer available on the Internet, so hopefully you will be able to download this and use it often. It is a beautiful way to pray the Chaplet because it unites reflections of the sufferings of Christ with the comforting prayers of the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
