Hey everyone. This is Ben Nolen. Dustin turned over the blog to me and asked me to tell you a little about the “What” and “Why” of our new mercy ministries. Let’s begin with the “what.” At the risk of being too simplistic, a mercy ministry is any gospel-based endeavor, which seeks to build justice and establish peace in God’s creation to the glory of His son, Jesus. Mercy ministries could include anything from serving at orphanages, homeless shelters, and nursing homes to serving the mentally handicapped community or volunteering at a women’s abortion alternative clinic—anything that promotes human dignity and the value of life—builds justice and establishes peace and acts as a ministry of mercy. With this answer in place, let’s move on to the “why”.
First of all, we are called to minister mercy because mercy and justice are special to the heart of God. We see in Exodus that after God had redeemed His people from the hand of Pharaoh, He gave them His Law, which were His guidelines for how His people were to live as His people. This Law contained, among other things, statutes dealing with the poor in the Israelite community. God’s people were not to charge interest to the poor (Exodus 22) and they were to leave certain portions of their harvest to provide for the needs of the poor families in their community (Leviticus 19). In fact, the entire Old Testament highlights God’s heart for mercy, justice, and peace. Consider the words of Micah 6:8: “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Because God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb.13:8) part of God’s vision for us as His people today is to do justice to show mercy to those hurting in His world and walk humbly before Him.
We also see that God’s heart is tender towards those in need of mercy ministry in the New Testament teachings on the Kingdom of God. In Luke 4, Jesus lays out the mission statement of His ministry. Here, He claims that He is here to teach and show us what the Kingdom of God is like. The picture He paints is of a Kingdom void of injustice against the poor. The sick are told that God’s kingdom is one of comfort and healing. Those who are oppressed are told that God’s kingdom is one where the dignity of humanity is fully restored. In extending mercy to those in need, in a sense, we are doing something parallel to what Jesus did in his ministry. We aren’t just telling people about God’s kingdom, but we are also giving them a glimpse, of what the fullness of the coming Kingdom looks like. Consider also the words of James 1:27: “Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.” James is simply echoing God’s command to us from both the Old and New Testaments: Love God and love your neighbor.
In closing, I would also like to mention several practical reasons for giving of our time and energy to mercy ministries as well. First, seeking mercy reminds how much we have and how much we have to be thankful for. We are constantly bombarded by marketing campaigns continually pointing out to us how much we do not have. Doing mercy reminds us what we do have and moves our attention away from ourselves and places it on to someone who needs our help. Reaching out to someone in need helps us to cultivate a disposition of gratitude toward God for the provision and blessings He has given us.
Second, doing mercy exposes the materialism that has infiltrated our lives. Doing mercy ministry asks us an important question: Are you seeking first God’s kingdom or are you seeking to accumulate a feast for moths and rust? (Matthew 6:19ff) In other words, are we ordering our lives around Christ and His kingdom or around our own interests? Doing mercy forces us to re-examine our priorities and our life structures in light of the gospel. In doing so, it works against the materialism in our lives and continually reminds us of our mission of expanding God’s kingdom in the world.
In short, ministering mercy to the community around us is part of the essence of the Christian life. In doing so, we are giving substance to the gospel, showing God’s heart for the world, and learning many lessons in the process. In the weeks to come, let’s ask God to use Crossing in incredible ways to minister mercy to those around us who are hurting. As we do, may we become the answer to Jesus prayer in Matthew 6: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
-Ben Nolen
