Reflection for Holy Week: Mercy and Justice

A priest recently advised me “pray for mercy.  Pray that God will give you mercy and that that mercy inundates every level or your heart, that you may be someone who not only receives God’s mercy, but that His mercy pours through you to those around you.  So that when confronted with things like gossip, you have a deeper level to stand on.”

It always strikes me that God deals in both justice and mercy.  Although so often they seem like opposites, in reality they are inseparable.  I once heard it explained in this way:  Think of a courtroom.  God is the judge, and you are the one on trial.  As God is just, He will give you a just and fair sentence.  However, since God is merciful, He will then come down and serve your sentence Himself.

To be truthful, I never liked that explanation much.  It seemed to trite, and like God had to circumvent His own creation, His own order.  And I think it misses the point.

What does it mean that God is just?

God does not see us as we see ourselves, He wears no rose-colored glasses, is not fooled by any of our self-justifications. He gifts us (it is a gift, you know!) to be fully human, in all of our virtues and vices.  When we sin, when turn from Him, we hurt ourselves and others (and, let’s face it, God Himself).  Neither God the Father, Son nor Holy Spirit erases that fact nor sugar coats it.  In His justice,  God allows us to experience the consequences of our sin, even to “the third or fourth generation.*”  Sin does have a real and lasting effect.  In a way, we both write and serve our own sentence.  And so, Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, the Israelites wandered in the dessert for 40 years, and Christ was crucified.  All of these were the results of sin.

What does it mean that God is merciful?

While it is important that we experience the consequence of sin (otherwise we would not truly be able to use our free will), God does not leave us.  Sin and its results are not the end of the story.  In His mercy, God never turns away from us, even when we turn away from Him.  In His mercy, as He sees clearly all of our faults, weaknesses, and vices, He waits for us arms outstretched.  This does not erase nor sugar coat the bad, but God gives us the chance to be lifted out of that and to grow more fully into who He created us to be.  Sin, while it has its consequences, it has an end.  God’s love and mercy extend to “the thousandth generation” – forever!  And so, we are redeemed through “the second Adam,” the Israelites are brought back to the Promised Land … again and again, and Christ is raised from the dead.

Thanks be to God!