Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Epiphany


(James Tissot, Journey of the Magi, 1894)

Today is the Feast Day of the Epiphany.  It is the celebration of the arrival of the Magi who paid homage to the Christ Child offering to Him their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The word "epiphany" in our current culture carries a meaning of "a sudden realization or awareness of an idea or concept."  The word, when broken down to its roots, "epi" or "heavenly apparition" and "phan" or "appears," means "the appearance of a god."  In the case of the Christian Faith, it is the coming and recognition of Christ as the Son of God, God the Son.
Over the years, the arrival of the Magi and their adoration of Christ have been relegated to the final part of a typical Christmas pageant in any congregation across North America.  The irony of the pageants is that Jesus was no longer a baby and no longer in the stable when the Magi arrived.  The text is quite clear and very specific.  "On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother..." (Matthew 2:11)  Greek is very specific.  This is no longer a baby, but a child.  They are no longer in the stable, but in a house.  This is further supported by the fact that Herod orders the death of every male child under the age of two years old when he realizes that he has been ignored by the Magi.  (Matthew 2:16)
It is incredibly unfortunate that this perplexing story with its unusual gifts has had its radical elements romanticized to meaninglessness.  The first thing that grabs our attention is that we have this story in Matthew.  It is in no other Gospels.  Matthew, the Gospel that seeks to prove that Jesus is the Messiah, the Gospel that is written to appeal to the Jewish community about the "jewishness" of Jesus has a story about three Gentiles being the first to recognize and pay homage to the One who is anointed by God. It is a statement by Matthew of the radical inclusion of all people into God's Kingdom.
The second momentous revelation is the gifts brought by the Magi.  Gold is the currency of kings.  It is a sign of Christ's Kingship not just in Israel, but over the entire world.  As we read through the Gospel, we are reminded of this gift of gold from the Magi as Jesus denounces the false Jewish leaders in Matthew 23:17.  It is not the gold that is valuable, Jesus teaches, but the one who makes the gold sacred.
Frankincense, often used in Temple worship, was commonly used to rub on the bodies of those who had died.  It is, for a modern observer, the ancient world's version of embalming fluid.  Used in the death rituals of the day, it is a foreshadowing of Christ's death.  Ironic that a Gentile from Persia brings the same kind of spice most likely used by Mary Magdalene and the other Mary brought with them to prepare Jesus' body on the first day of the week. (Matthew 28:1)
Myrrh, also used in Temple worship, was anciently mixed with  bitter wine (vinegar) as a pain killer.  It may have been the ingredient, the "gall," mixed in the wine given to Jesus while he was on the cross. (Matthew 27:34)
It is interesting that these three gifts find their way back into the story of Jesus' life and crucifixion.  Yet, it is not the gifts that are so important.  It is the one who makes these gifts sacred in His receiving of them.  It is not even the Magi, who though they had strange ideas about the stars yet recognized a new cosmic order, but it is the one to whom they pay homage.  I wonder, if for Matthew, the visitation of the Magi do not diminish Jesus' heritage as Son of David, as some might consider, but encourages the people to recognize God's ultimate will for humanity.  In this stony valley where Bethlehem [which means "city of bread" from which came the Living Bread (John 6:51)] is nestled, a faint echo can be heard.  From across the centuries, a promise made to Abram: "...and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:3c)   Paul reminds us again of the promise given to Abram only a few verses later (Genesis 12:7) that it is to the "offspring" of Abram, a forebear of David, who is a forebear of Jesus, through which this blessing will be extended to all the earth. (Galatians 3:16)
Come, stand with the Magi and look at this child.  Don't be distracted by the garments of ancient scholars, the look of foreign Magi or even the gifts of odd presentation.  See the Christ Child.  It is He who makes the garments we wear the vestments of wisdom.  It is He who make the nations and races of the earth brothers and sisters.  It is He who makes the gold, the signs of wealth and power, sacred.  It is He who makes us sons and daughters of the Most High.  Did you get it? Did you have your Epiphany?  And suddenly the Epiphany comes.  It is not about us.  It is not about the Jews or the Gentiles.  It is not about depths of wisdom or positions of power and prestige.  It is about Jesus who is the Christ.  Suddenly, it happens.  The Body of Christ, the Church, is not here for me or my pleasure, but I am in the Church, I am, with you, the Body of Christ.  Together, we are the continuation of the revelation of the Son of God, God the Son, whom the wise still seek and the arrogant and pitiful powers of temporal existence still seek to kill.  It is Epiphany.  Do you get it?

Twelfth Day of Christmas



Today is the the last day of Christmas.  We made it.  In many ways, it was more difficult than Lent.  Today, my true love gave to me Twelve Drummers Drumming.  It is the consummation of the essentials of the Christian faith.  For the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and other self described "non-creedal" churches, this may be the most difficult day.  The word "creed" comes from the Latin word "credo" and simply means, "I believe."  To call the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) "non-creedal" or worse, "anti-creedal" is incorrect.  We do believe in something!  Our creed is that which most scholars believe is the basis of all creeds.  Peter responds to Jesus' question of who he is with the statement, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:16)  From that, we ask all converts this question: "Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and do you accept Him as Lord and Savior?"  This questions may differ from congregation to congregation, but it is essentially our creed even though we call it the Good Confession.  The founders of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) were never opposed to creeds.  They were opposed to creeds being used as a test of fellowship, although our Creed or Good Confession is used as such.
The twelve drummers remind us of the twelve points of the Apostles' Creed. Below is the Apostles' Creed divided into the 12 basic parts with the Scripture references that speaks to the points.

  1. I believe in God, the Father (Ephesians 4:6) almighty, creator of heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1ff; John 1:1ff; 1 Corinthians 8:6).
  2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord (John 3:16-18).
  3. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35) and born of the virgin Mary (Mathew 1:18).
  4. He suffered under Pontius Pilate (Mark 15:15), was crucified, died, and was buried (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). ["He descended to the grave" was added much later and is not in the earliest manuscripts of the creed.  It is often omitted by Reformed Protestants. Roman Catholics, Anglicans and Lutherans argue that Ephesians 4:8-10 proves this phrase.]
  5. On the third day he rose again (1 Corinthians 15:4).  He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father (Luke 22:69; Acts 1:9, 2:32-34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1).
  6. He will come again to judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42).
  7. I believe in the Holy Spirit (John 15:26),
  8. the holy catholic (universal) Church (Romans 12:5; Colossians 1:24),
  9. the communion of saints (Acts 2:42)
  10. the forgiveness of sins (Mathew 26:28; Acts 2:38; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:22),
  11. the resurrection of the body (Matthew 28:6-7; 1 Corinthians 15:13-14)
  12. and the life everlasting (John 3:15; Jude 1:21).
Legend proposes that the Apostles' Creed was written by the Apostles themselves on the Tenth Day after Christ's ascension.  The truth about the Creed is that the Apostles never wrote or contributed anything to the Creed.  Many, both inside and outside of the Church, believe that the Creed is of equal authority or supersedes Scripture.  The Creed was never intended to be the only statement of the essentials of the Faith.  However, from the earliest years of the Church, local assemblies outlined what was essential to the Faith that was confessed by all candidates for baptism.  As is the case in most human communities, these statements were often applicable to the local context of issues.  If a Christian community was dealing with a particular heresy in or near where they lived, their statement of faith might focus more intensely on countering those teachings.  As the Church began to grow and an understanding that a rule of faith needed to be standardized, many influential elders or bishops would draft a Rule of Faith that would be in conversation with other Rules of Faith.  One of the earliest creeds we have is attributed to Hippolytus who lived at the end of the third century.  Hippolytus was a disciple of Irenaeus who was a student of Polycarp who was a student of the John the Apostle.  Hippolytus' creed is called the Interrogatory Creed.
Dr. Joe Jones (a Disciple of Christ), retired Professor of Theology from Christian Theological Seminary, makes the case that the Creeds in general and the Apostles' Creed in particular, are not so much tests of fellowship but serve as a grammar of faith.  That is, they teach us how to talk about the Faith.  In the early Church, complete copies of the Scriptures were rare.  The Apostles' Creed served as a brief statement of the essentials of the Christian Faith.  As humanity went through the Enlightenment with further education and available copies of the Scriptures, more and more people were able to read for themselves the written revelation of Jesus Christ.  However, in today's society, Biblical illiteracy is at epidemic levels.  Perhaps the creeds serve as a starting point for the new believer.  Perhaps they give us a "grammar of faith." What do Christians believe? What does the Church teach as true about Jesus Christ? The best solution would be to sit together and read through the New Testament. As we are doing that, perhaps the creeds help us to begin to consider what Christians before us have taught for almost 2,000 years.  Augustine said that the Apostles' Creed was the first and greatest statement of the faith.  Tertullian said that the Creed was not something different from the Gospels, but as a summary of the Gospel.  Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther said, "Christian truth could not possibly be put into a shorter and clearer statement." Protestant Reformer, John Calvin, said that it was an admirable and truly Scriptural summary of the Christian faith.  Even our own founder, Alexander Campbell, based his Christian System outline on the Apostles' Creed.
What do Christians believe? We believe what the Bible teaches.  What does the Bible teach? One place to begin is the Apostles' Creed. It is the oldest statement of what Christians have believed.  What do you believe?

Monday, January 04, 2010

Eleventh Day of Christmas



Today is the Eleventh Day of Christmas and my true love gave to me Eleven Pipers Piping.  The Eleven Pipers represent 11 of the original disciples or as it is sometimes called, the eleven faithful disciples.  This would include Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot (a Canaanite), and Judas the son of James or Thaddaeus.  Judas Iscariot is not included in the list as he was the one who betrayed Jesus.  These eleven disciples (listed in Acts 1:13-14 after the Ascension of Jesus) were not Jesus' only disciples, but they were the inner group who would later become the apostles.  Joined by Matthias (Acts 1:23-26), these twelve (later joined by Paul who declared himself an apostle in 1 Corinthians 1:1 [his third letter]) became the original patriarchs of Christ's Church.  The word "apostle" literally means "one who is sent."  What could these men actually teach us as we wind down the Christmas season.
Several years ago, I was a student pastor of a congregation in a small community in Bourbon County, Kentucky.  There were five congregations in that community: a Baptist Church, a Presbyterian Church, a United Methodist Church, a Disciple of Christ Church, and a Christian Methodist Episcopal (historically African American denomination) Church.  The community decided to celebrate the observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day hosted by the CME Church.  The pastor of that congregation assembled the pastors of the other four congregations just moments before the service to go over the liturgy. The CME pastor began telling each of the other pastors where they would be preaching in the service.  This, of course, was the first time I was aware that we all would be preaching.  I interrupted the CME pastor to tell him that I had not come prepared to preach.  A silence fell on the room as he stared at me in disbelief.  The United Methodist pastor chuckled under his breath as the CME pastor looked over his glasses at me and remarked, "You mean you have to prepare to preach?" The other pastors in the room all looked at me and back at the CME pastor as if they were watching a tennis match.  I stuttered and stammered.  "No, I'll preach, don't worry about it," I exclaimed with false confidence.  We finished our planning and I reached into my pocket where I kept my New Testament.  As we walked toward the chancel with the organ playing to begin the service, I uttered a brief prayer.  "Lord, I promise I won't ask for anything else if you help me to come up with a sermon before I reach the chancel."  As we sat down in our assigned pew, I flipped through the Gospels and landed on Matthew 10:2-4.  At that moment, the CME pastor introduced me and asked me to take the pulpit to bring the word.  I stepped to the pulpit, took a deep breath and read the the three verses.  I closed the text and began to speak.  I don't remember the words I said, but essentially I spoke about how Jesus took these 12 men from varied backgrounds to be his closest disciples.  Through preaching, teaching, miracles and walking the hills of that ancient land, these 12 people were joined together as Christ's Apostles.  From these 12 very different people, God began the work of building His Church and began the evangelism of the world.
These 12 men were fishermen, a tax collector and an anti-Roman revolutionary.  Ethnically they were diverse ranging from a Greco-Roman Jew, a Canaanite and hard working Jewish fishermen.  These were men who would not have socialized together and the tension between Matthew and Simon the Zealot would have been intense.  Matthew would have been considered a collaborator with the Roman occupiers of the land as Simon's friends would have engaged in what would be considered terrorist actions against the Romans and their sympathizers.
The call of these 12 very different men reminds us that the Church is not monolithic.  We are a people who share a faith, not an ethnicity, a nationality or a culture.  Worship, music and organizational structure may differ, but our faith is one, holy, catholic (universal), and apostolic.  If we confess Jesus as the Christ we are a part of the one Church.  To leave a congregation, a denomination or to split and divide over cultural or political issues is essentially impossible.  We can never divide ourselves from those who are also a part of the Body of Christ.  We are a people who are very different but we do share one thing in common.  We share Christ. We share our faith.  Tomorrow will be the last day of the Christmas season.  We will receive 12 drummers drumming tomorrow.  How fitting to end this festive season looking at that one thing the entire Church confesses as the essentials of our unified faith.  Incidentally, I now always have a spare sermon or two in the margins of my Bible.  I am grateful to my first lessons taught to me by that CME pastor on always being prepared to preach and the unified diversity of Christ's Church.

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Tenth Day of Christmas



Today is the Tenth Day of Christmas.  As we begin to look toward the end of the Christmas season, we receive Ten Lords A-Leaping.  The Ten Lords remind us of the Ten Commandments.  Traditionally, the Ten Commandments are listed in Exodus 20:1-17.
  1. You shall not have any other gods before God. (Anything that would prevent God from being first in your life.)
  2. You shall not make any graven images. (Presumably this means for the purpose of worship, as this could be rather stringent if taken literally.)
  3. You shall not use the Lord's name in vain. (This would include any use of the Lord's name without proper respect and awe as well as claiming to be a follower of God yet not attentive to the call of God on our lives.)
  4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. (The word Sabbath in Hebrew literally means, "to cease, to rest.")
  5. Honor your father and mother. (This is the only commandment that includes a promise. Paul expounds on this commandment in Ephesians 6:1-4.)
  6. You shall not kill. (This is obvious or is it? We assume this refers to people.  Does the prohibition include those who have killed? The unborn? The aged? The terminally ill? Jesus discusses this further in Matthew 5:21-22. This is an application of Leviticus 19:17.  John addresses the issue again in his first epistle, 1 John 3:15.
  7. You shall not commit adultery. (Again, this is obvious.  Jesus addresses this commandment too in Matthew 5:27-28.)
  8. You shall not steal. (According to the Code of Conduct for the United States Military Academy, if it doesn't belong to you, and you take it, it is stealing.  Therefore, even to pick up a penny on the sidewalk is stealing.  Cadets have been discharged from the Virginia Military Institute for such an infraction.  What do you think?)
  9. You shall not lie about your neighbor. (Generally, this is universally applied as a "do not lie, period" commandment.)
  10. You shall not covet. (To covet is to have an inordinate desire for something that belongs to another.  It is closely related to the definition of the word envy.  Well, there goes the American work ethic.)
The first four commandments outline our relationship with God.  The final six outline our relationships with others.  The Early Church Fathers suggested that the fullness of the Law is found in the teachings of Jesus, who said, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31 ESV)
Again, we are confronted with how we love God and how we love our neighbor.  One Early Church Father, Irenaeus, a second century bishop in Gaul (modern day France), answered the question of how we love God by simply quoting Moses.  "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul..." (Deuteronomy 10:12 ESV)  The Prophet Micah reminds us again of what the Lord requires of us but to do justice, love kindness or mercy and to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).  It is not a matter of experience or emotional validation that shows our love to God, but rather a clear admonition that sometimes it is just as simple as acting justly, loving mercy and being humble.  
How might we love our neighbor? Augustine, a 5th century Bishop in North Africa, wrote, "'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' You love yourself best when you love God better than yourself.  What you aim for yourself you must aim at in your neighbor, that is, that your neighbor may love God with a perfect affection.  For you do not love your neighbor as yourself unless you invite him to the same good that you are pursuing.  For this is the one good that all have room to pursue along with you. From this precept comes the duties of human society." (my paraphrase, Augustine, Of the Morals of the Universal Church, chapter 26)
After the Reformation, especially in England, it was required that the Ten Commandments be read at the start of every worship service.  I like this! However, we need to be cautious at relegating the Ten Commandments to only a list of rules that we raise as a standard of a just society.  Across the United States the debate of whether or not the Ten Commandments should be posted in courthouses or schools rages on.  I agree that the Ten Commandments are important concepts that were integral in framing our culture's understanding of justice.  Consider for a moment that perhaps our application of the Commandments have been misappropriated.  As a colleague of mine, who was once a lawyer and is now a preacher, pointed out, American jurisprudence assumes that one party is telling the truth and the other is lying.  In criminal law, the effort is to discern one's guilt or innocence and if guilt is proven, a punishment is applied that fits the crime.  The context of the Ten Commandments, Jesus' teachings and the writings of the Early Church Fathers gives us another perspective.  Perhaps God's Law is not so concerned with who is right and who is wrong, but about relationships.  
What re-establishes relationships that have been broken?  As the Mosaic Law continues to be outlined, it is often understood as a complex outline of proper punishment for particular sins.  What if the Law is an outline of how relationships might be healed?  The healing of our relationship with God began with Jesus Christ and is professed by our confession and openness to His transforming Spirit.  
Our relationships with others are made right when the effort on behalf of the offender to rectify the wrong is coupled with the victim's call to show mercy.  True justice among the human race will never be truly known through punishment and recompense.  Only when mercy and kindness are as aggressively applied as punishments will the fruits of the final six commandments be known.  I am thankful that the only thing that is greater than God's justice and holiness is God's mercy freely given.  Let us live into God's vision for our relationship with Him and with others.

Saturday, January 02, 2010

Ninth Day of Christmas



[Sorry for the initial post before it was complete]

Today is the Ninth Day of Christmas.  Nine Ladies Dancing reminds us of the nine fruits of the Spirit.  Paul outlines these fruits in Galatians 5:22-23.  Paul lists these fruits immediately after he lists the works of the flesh, 15 works of the flesh actually, to which he adds a 16th "and things like these."
Scholars debate why such fruits are listed.  Many suggest that as Christians were having to live in the midst of persecution and detractors from all sides, these gifts served as a model of life that no one, not even pagans, could disagree.  Other scholars argue that Paul is outlining a manner of life that stood in contrast with both the practice of pagan religion that was rampant with sexual immorality and the contemporary lifestyle that hasn't changed much in 2,000 years.  Things like enmity, strife, anger, envy, and division were, and remain, common to our human experience.  Our contemporary culture today thrives on envy (wanting what others have) and division (us against them, culturally, politically, religiously and ethnically).  What would be common in a contemporary reflection is an outline of how we (Christians) should live and an admonishment to start "living right."  No doubt, "holiness" preachers and other such Christians interested in cultural transformation articulate how we might implement and even legislate how we ought to live.  I agree that this desire is rooted in a positive desire.  That is, most of us want our culture to be transformed.  Jesus' teaching to remove the beam out of our own eye so that we might see the speck in our neighbors' eye (Matthew 7:1-5) gives us another perspective.
Yesterday was New Year's Day.  Let me ask you a question?  What kind of person do you want to be?  I think most of us want to be good people.  We want to be kind, slow to anger, gentle, gracious people who focus on positive things in life.  Now, not to sound too preachy, although I am a preacher, I am convinced that our lives can change, who we are can change, only if we allow the Spirit to transform us.  It isn't that we work to be what the Spirit is, rather we allow the Spirit to work through us so that we might become who God knows and wants us to be.  The Reformed Protestant heritage is that it isn't us who does that transformation, but that we allow ourselves to be open to God's Spirit so that the Spirit can transform us.
Unfortunately, we Protestants have allowed the Spirit to be that One who hangs out with us and does some magical tricks from time to time.  It is not that we are spectators to God's transforming Spirit but that we are the clay that is re-molded into a new creature.  Like clay, this transformation will take time, it will require God's hands to push, squeeze and bend us into this new vessel.  The heat of life, like the potter's oven, sets and cures us to be useful.  One Christian perspective is that the world is changed because we are changed.  Let me share a few things with you, things that I need to be reminded of myself from time to time.
  1. We we can not be godly apart from the Spirit.  The power is from within us only when the Spirit is within us.
  2. Left to our own devices, we are determined to have things our own way.  Even the best side of us can be self serving.  Outside of the Spirit, even when we do good works, we can often become focused on the credit we receive or become frustrated when we do not feel appreciated.  The Spirit calls us to desire goodness regardless of who gets the credit and even to celebrate when it is only God who knows our good deeds.
  3. God's way is a very different way of living.  God's way is radical.  It requires all of you, your heart, mind, body, and soul.  It is God's Spirit that grabs you, cleans you up, grows the fruit in you, and makes you in the image of Christ.
  4. Where there are fruits of the Spirit, the Spirit of God is at work.  Trust in that truth, regardless of who, what or where it might manifest.
  5. Each person bears the same fruit as outlined in Galatians, but each bears that fruit differently.  However, the fruits will show themselves as God cultivates your heart and brings you to fruitfulness.
  6. Finally, even though we are talking about individual fruit, remember that God's Spirit works corporately too.  As fruit trees are only productive when they are cross pollinated by other fruit trees, so will our fruits be plentiful only when we are in relationship with Christians, in relationship with Christ's Church.   
On this Ninth Day of Christmas, today is the day to resolve to open yourself to Christ and allow Him to make you into an integral part of His Body, His Church. Offer this prayer: God, make me into a new creature.  Mold me into the image of your Son. Give me strength to be the person you know I can be.  Give your Church the strength to be the Bride that you are calling us to be. In the name of Christ, your Son, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Friday, January 01, 2010

Eighth Day of Christmas




Finally, no more birds.  Today is the Eighth Day of Christmas.  The gift for today is Eight Maids A-Milking.  The Eight Maids refer to the Eight Beatitudes as found in the Gospel According to St. Matthew (Matthew 5:3-10).  Sometimes called the 10 Commandments of the New Testament, they open what is a rather long sermon by Jesus on a mountain. A similar sermon (The Sermon on the Plain) is found in the Gospel According to St. Luke (Luke 6:20-26). Read the eight beatitudes again here one at a time, slowly.  Think and feel each one and as you do, consider both where you see yourself and where you see your worst enemy:

(from the English Standard Version)

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  
3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons (and daughters) of God.
8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

How can we tangibly consider implementing the beatitudes in our daily lives?  That would make for a series of articles of their own, so for today, let us focus on the fifth beatitude, "Blessed are the merciful."  Although we aren't sure when the following teaching developed, St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) outlined them definitively in his writings. In an effort to help people understand the fullness of what it meant to be merciful, the early church outlined two types of mercy, corporal acts of mercy and spiritual acts of mercy.  These were considered obligations or more accurately stated, marks of the true Christian.  It was not things you must do to be a Christian, but things that Christians naturally did.  If one was lax in these points, it was a marker for them to consider the fervency of their faith.  Most of these acts of mercy were outlined from Scripture.  Using Isaiah 58:6-10 and Matthew 25:37-40, the points become both obvious and very biblical.

Corporal Acts of Mercy are:
1. Feed the hungry.
2. Give drink to the thirsty.
3. Clothe the naked.
4. Shelter the homeless.
5. Comfort the imprisoned.
6. Visit the sick.
7. Bury the dead.

Let me give you some statistics:
  • 150 million children under the age of 5 years old will go to bed hungry tonight and 13 million of those children live in the United States.  The world produces enough food for every human being to have 3,000-4,000 calories per day. The problem is that it would require the entire world working together...Feed the hungry.
  • 2.3 billion people are presently suffering from a disease they acquired from poor drinking water...Give drink to the thirsty.
  • It is estimated that of those convicted of a capital offense, 7% of them are innocent....Visit the imprisoned.
  • Worldwide, 42 million babies die in the womb every year. That is equal to the population of Canada.  The United States accounts for 1.6 million each year....Bury the dead.
 Spiritual Acts of Mercy are:
1. Admonish sinners. (Luke 15:7)
2. Instruct the unbelievers. (Mark 16:15)
3. Counsel the doubtful. (John 14:27)
4. Comfort the sorrowful. (Matthew 11:28)
5. Bear wrongs patiently. (Luke 6:27-28)
6. Forgive offenses. (Matthew 6:12)
7. Pray for the living and the dead*. (James 5:16) [*Protestants generally argue that they do not pray for the dead, even though the funeral commendation done by most Protestant clergy asks God to "Give the departed an entrance in to the land of light and joy" or words to that affect.]

Now, with all of that, I'm still sitting here thinking how any of it helps me to be more merciful.  So, consider this.  In each situation in life, how would you want to be treated.  If you were hungry, thirsty, committed a crime, were sick, alone or close to death, what would you want others to do for or with you?  If you were questioning your faith, had insulted someone on purpose or by accident or were slipping into a life of destructive habits or behaviors, what would you want your best friends to do?  Now, go and do likewise.  Consider that the guy who cut you off  at the intersection wasn't paying attention because he can't stop thinking about the fight he had with his wife last night or that his child has entered a rebellious stage and is flunking 9th grade.  The store clerk is slow and you are in a hurry, but she has worked 7 and 1/2 hours a day for 14 days straight and still has no benefits because she isn't considered full time.  Listen for the people's attempts to hide their hurt or fear by getting angry, or there lack of self confidence by always criticizing others.  It IS still Christmas.  Let that spirit of Christmas, that spirit of mercy, fill each day.  In doing so, you too, shall receive mercy.