Justice, Mercy, Compassion

Do we even know what those words really mean? Or have they just become part of the Christian's vocabulary? Piled together with words like Faith, Evangelism, Righteousness?

In Zechariah 7:9 it says, "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another."

I believe that most of us, deep down in our hearts, desire to do what is right. We have heard the inspiration of the pioneers of the cause, seen the videos that made us cry, read the testimonies and reflected on what we should do.

But the truth is, we're all too busy to care. I do not say this to condemn. There's nothing wrong with being busy. We have our school, our work, our friends and family. They require our time too. I sometimes have no time to pray or even think about the unsheltered, the sick and the dying in my own country. There are needs. Too many. Each crying out like a wounded man on side of the road. I simply do not do enough. As if to prove my point, Michelle just gave me a link to a trailer for part 2 of Hillsong United's I-Heart Revolution, "We're All In This Together". In it, Joel Houston, in his usual haunting, soul-rending monologue asks, "...and you see these streets, you see people going about their lives. If what is going on in these four walls is having no effect on the streets that we travel to get there, then maybe we are missing the point?"

I guess this is what this trip is all about. To find the point.

Worship. Youth. Missions.

I have been formed for these.

I think often of the passage in Matthew 6:25-34. It starts off like this, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear."

I think often of how I hardly know any Christian who lives it out or even comes near to doing so. It’s simply too radical.

Do not worry? Don’t worry about what we shall eat or drink or wear? Just seek first God’s kingdom and everything will be OK?

That is faith in God’s providence. Isn’t it the worry of what people would eat, drink and wear in future that motivates people to save and invest for the future? Isn’t it simply the lack of trust that God will provide in every way that makes us just focus on accumulating and investing money for ourselves and our future, rather than using it to help those who need it more than us right now?

I do not have the answers to those questions. What I do know is that I want to have a lifestyle where I can give abundantly like God does. If anything, I want to be known for taking things to the extreme. For extreme generosity, for extreme gentleness, for extreme Love. That would be how Jesus would do it, I believe.

Could that be the one thing? Love?

What if you could choose to Love wholeheartedly and expect nothing in return?
What if we really could Love till a person's worth is unveiled?

1 Peter 4:8 says, "keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins."

Earnestly... Fervently... The word here in the Greek means with an intent to be stretched out for someone.

Just like Jesus on the Cross.