The Meaning of Mercy

Choir: "Lord have mercy" [3 times]

(Augumented Litany)

What is going through your mind when you hear the deacon or priest invoke this petition for the Lord’s mercy? Is it a mere background sound that you tune out, or do you think about…mercy, of course? What do you understand by this sacred term that is used so frequently in all of the Orthodox Christian worship, as well as private prayers? Forgiveness? To have our sins nullified as though they never happened? The Bible term “eleos” is emotional, and it always means God’s faithful and merciful help. God has promised it, so that while we cannot claim it, we can expect it. It comes with the covenant relationship between the Lord and His people. Kindness is assumed; a Person to person affection. God will be faithful and merciful to those who love and trust Him without reservation or hesitation. When we call out for mercy, we must check our own attitude—have we a faith, trust and love affair with God? If those are lacking, it’s high time to acknowledge it and get right with Him by owning up to our defects.

You know that by confessing your sins you are liberated from the oppression of a bad conscience. Now you must do something with your restored status before the Holy Trinity. You feel the glorious awareness of being right with God—the gift of grace. Grace means, in the definition of the divine Augustine, “The free gift of God’s mercy.”

It means that mercy is both the forgiveness of sins and the gift of grace. You have received a charisma—you are now a charismatic person. A loving God who knows you better than you can know yourself would not bless you with a gift that you are incapable of putting to good use; therefore, it’s for you to know yourself completely in order to discern the talent hidden within your psyche. What is it that God sees in you that you haven’t recognized in yourself?

When you find out, what will you do with that glorious blessing of grace given to you? Would you want to own a priceless ornament made of many precious jewels if all you could do with it would be to keep it safely locked away in a vault? Grace is not like that at all. Grace is not an ornament to show off but an attribute to make use of in your effort to make the world a better place. In other terms, as you are Jesus Christ’s disciple working to restore the world into the original plan of the Creator, you cannot do it without discovering and making use of all the gracious gifts that the Lord has poured out upon you.

Grace is the power of God coming into the world through you, the servant of the Lord. But it has no effect unless and until you want it, accept it, welcome it, receive it, and—most of all—make use of it. Jesus is telling us that message in the parable of the wealthy man who took a trip to a far country, first distributing his wealth among three of his servants. He knew their abilities and how different they were from one another. He gave to the most capable ten talents, to the second five, and to the least intelligent one talent. Upon his return he called each to account for what they had done to increase what he had entrusted them with, expecting them to multiply what was given to them. (Matthew 25:14-30). You know the tale well. What will you answer when the Lord calls you to account for the spiritual gifts He had given to you?