Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt
and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;
Who does not persist in anger forever,
but delights rather in clemency,
And will again have compassion on us,
treading underfoot our guilt?
You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins;
and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;
Who does not persist in anger forever,
but delights rather in clemency,
And will again have compassion on us,
treading underfoot our guilt?
You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins;
Can we imagine a God who “delights in clemency?” These are extraordinary words and, if we’re willing to accept them, they demand a radical change of attitude about God.
Hugh Thomas’ history of slavery (The Slave Trade) ponders the plight of the unfortunate human beings who were captured, marched through the African wilderness, held in fortress warehouses and transported to the Americas. How could Christians participate in such a monstrous enterprise?
Until recently Catholics and most Protestants assumed that Jews, Muslim and all non-Christians were doomed to hell. Rounding up Africans, wresting them from their home and culture, baptizing them and teaching them the rudiments of faith and European culture: this was all for their good! If the boon of European religion came with the heavy price of slavery, it wasn’t as if anyone should expect kindness from life or God. No one supposed that life in this "vale of tears" should be pleasant. Mercy was what one hoped for in the next life, on the Day of Judgment. And, in fact, the European sailors on the slave ships, kidnapped out of streets and taverns and impressed into His Majesty’s Service, often fared as badly as the slaves.
Today, for most of the Earth’s population, life is just as harsh as in the 15th through 19th centuries. If God speaks to us through our everyday experience and not through the Revealed Word, most people will suppose that God is punitive, merciless and vindictive.
During Lent we turn our attention directly to the Revealed Word and we ask God to give us a measure of its Spirit. We want to believe what our faith teaches, that God is “good, all good, supreme good.”
To know a God who delights in clemency, we must have a profound experience of goodness. It is not enough to suppose that God should be merciful. If the Word and the Spirit do not penetrate more deeply than the hard experiences of this world, we will act according to our training and beliefs, regardless of what we should do.
This is why our tradition urges us to prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These practices can make our beliefs more real because they actually make a difference. They're not just talk about faith. Somewhere in the middle of these practices, perhaps even as we sleep, we will feel the Presence who is Mercy, who is Good, All Good, Supreme Good.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.