Love MercyCampione

Call of Mercy

Alusine had a large tumour on his jaw. Here’s what he had to say about mercy:

“Because of this sickness, my life went to zero. I lost my wife, my children, and my business.

Then one day I was in a taxi. The driver said, ‘The Mercy Ship is in Sierra Leone - maybe they can help you?’  When I got there, they took x-rays, they worked on me, but they didn’t ask for a cent. The surgery changed my life completely. I will be able to work. I will get back my life.” 

A dose of mercy has the power to transform lives, yet we still hide from God’s call to show mercy sometimes. In today’s passage from the end of the book of Jonah we find Jonah’s real reason for avoiding the call to Ninevah. He knew that God would show mercy to this violent city. Jonah had drawn a figurative line of judgement – those deserving of mercy were on one side, and those who should be punished were on the other!

Jonah’s emotions are exaggerated, even comical. But they hold up a mirror to our own hearts – we want God’s mercy and grace ourselves, but not always for people who we dislike or who we judge as unworthy of God’s mercy.

God shows mercy to Jonah, gently teaching him and rescuing him from his own foolishness. God shows mercy to the people of Ninevah in their ignorance and sin, sending a messenger to tell them what they need to hear.

Call to action - Ask God to show you if you need to show mercy to another person or group. Thank God for His grace, slowness to anger and abundance of love, and ask for His help in extending that love to others.