(3.) Women and Children First: Representing God’s Character

(3.) Women and Children First: Representing God’s Character.

“What is the mission of man? To be a reminder of God. As God is compassionate, let man be compassionate. As God strives for meaning and justice, let man strive for meaning and justice. If we are created in the image of God, each human being should be a reminder of God’s presence.” (Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel).

God’s Mercy: God’s will to satisfy all mankind with His goodness; to strongly desire what is best for someone, especially for those in need; to graciously treat someone in distress with compassion, especially when one could ignore that needy person if he wanted; to have a readiness to show practical love to someone in any type of trouble or need; to have an eagerness to put  love into action; to personally relieve the suffering of someone; to demonstrate an act of good will towards someone who needs it; to show a lovingkindness that is way beyond the call of duty; to demonstrate to a complete stranger the same type of compassion one would reveal to a friend or family member;  the quality of God that needs to be understood in the search for wisdom. “Who is wise and will guard these things and will understand the mercy of the Lord?” (Ps.107:43).

Lovingkindness is the Centerpiece of God’s Character. When at the base of Mt. Sinai, Moses asked God if he could see God’s glory. (Exodus 33:19). The Lord Yahweh responded by saying that He would pass before Moses, but he would not be allowed to see His “face,” only His backside. The Glory is too overwhelming for humans who are not equipped to experience a consuming fire quite yet. Yahweh told Moses that He will cause all His “goodness” to pass before Moses, and that in Moses’ presence He will pronounce His holy Name. Goodness is usually a synonym for mercy, because God’s goodness is revealed through His mercy. So Moses ascended Mt. Sinai to meet God at the top, and Yahweh descended in a cloud and stood there with Moses. Only God can accurately name Himself, and here we see the Lord pronouncing His sacred Name… “God passed before Moses and proclaimed, “I AM Yahweh! I AM Yahweh! A God who is compassionate and gracious, longsuffering and slow to anger, abounding in mercy and truth, preserving mercy for thousands of generations, forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin, but by no means clearing the guilty or allowing sin to go unpunished.” (Exodus 34:6-7). What a singular moment! The Almighty God, the Great I AM, describes His Name, His identity. He is revealing to Moses how He sees Himself in His Essence. What a turning point in history! The Lord of the universe chooses to reveal Himself in utter transparency to a human being! ‘You want to know what I am made of, Moses, the Lord is saying, then this is how I describe my character, these are my core attributes. Yes, I am the great LORD, and this is Me in a nutshell… rich in mercy, compassion, grace, forgiveness. That is truly who I am, Moses!’ At the very end of this historical self-description, God reminds Moses (and all of us) that He is Lord of a moral universe, that there is such a thing as right and wrong, and He has established an ultimate system of justice. God’s statement about justice and moral accountability, interestingly enough, seems to have been made in the context of mercy and forgiveness, of compassion and grace. So it appears that if God’s will springs out of God’s core character, His will must be mercy.

Loving the Vulnerable Nearest You. Caring for others reflects the heart of God, and is grounded in the Biblical fact that all human life is sacred. There is a shared human dignity between all people, regardless of race, health, age, faith, status, station in life, the country of origin. Burden-bearing begins with those closest to us… our spouse, our children, our extended family, our church community, our neighbors in need, in that order. Any father or mother who, through a personal distance, or indifference, or overwork, or arrogant disdain, doesn’t bear the burdens of those closest to him/her in a personal and profound way, then that person is disobeying Christ. That person will not fulfill the expectations of Christ. That person does not reflect the heart of God.

Representing God with the Vulnerable. “Whatever you did to the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me… Welcome! You have my Father’s blessing! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was homeless and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you comforted Me; I was in prison and you came to visit Me.” (Matthew 25:31-46).

God Feels the Pain. Christ so closely identifies with those who suffer in the world that He somehow attaches Himself to each sufferer. He even thinks of the sufferer as “brethren,” (v. 40) of being in the same family as Him. Jesus has adopted every needy person in the world. Jesus is present with the have-nots, the overlooked, the neglected in a spiritually meaningful way. Jesus knows what it’s like to suffer, He is familiar with pain and loneliness, He is acquainted with grief and shame. The Lord is saying that He is personally with that person in the midst of his suffering. When you care for the needy, you therefore are caring for Christ as well. When you are serving the hungry in a soup kitchen, you are also filling the plate of Jesus. When you dress the wounds of a soldier on a battlefield, you are welcoming Jesus into the foxhole with you. When you visit a prisoner in his jail cell, you’ll find the top bunk belongs to Jesus. If you offer your home to a homeless person, better make sure that bedroom has twin beds. If you offer the shirt off your back to a half-naked man on the street corner, be aware that you are clothing Jesus in His “distressing disguise.” (Mother Teresa). The miserable have captured the heart of Jesus to the extent that He joins them in their misery. He is a presence in their poverty. Jesus so closely identifies with the needy that when you care for the poor, you care for Him, and when you ignore the needy, you ignore Him, to your peril.

Works of Mercy. Both the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox have “Works of Mercy” in their Church Catechisms, both the “Physical Works of Mercy” and the “Spiritual Works of Mercy.” These “Works” are outlining acts of mercy that relieve physical and spiritual suffering. They are accepted as revealing love-in-action, a model for how to treat others in the name of Jesus, and tangible ways of loving your neighbor who has physical or spiritual needs. These Works are practical ways of making Jesus visible in your corner of the world. These merciful acts are not necessarily what is needed to be a Christian, but instead reveal if one is a Christian in the first place. Both of these Works of Mercy have been popularized by what is known as Catholic Social Teaching, and are also included in Orthodox Catechisms as essential to the Faith.

The Physical Works of Mercy. This ancient list of Physical Works of Mercy is based on the Scripture above, the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25:31-46.

1. Feed the Hungry;
2. Give Drink to the Thirsty;
3. Clothe the Naked;
4. Give Shelter to the Homeless;
5. Visit the Sick;
6. Visit those in Prison.

The Spiritual Works of Mercy. But caring for Jesus in the least of these can also apply to spiritual burdens… guilt from a particular sin; a difficult time of temptation; sorrow over spiritual failure; being overtaken by the weight of an unexpected sin or wrongdoing; the expressed need for forgiveness; a time of doubt; an obvious need for sound Christian teaching; the need for a fellow believer to be warned about the path one is traveling. Whatever this spiritual burden might be, fellow believers are expected to be aware of the spiritual well-being of others around them, whether fellow believers or not.The traditional Spiritual Acts of Mercy listed below are works of kindness that are oriented towards a neighbor’s inner life of the spirit.

1. Admonishing those who have sinned;
2. Teaching those who are untrained;
3. Counseling those who have doubts;
4. Comforting those who are sorrowful;
5. Forgiving those who have been hurtful;
6. Bearing patiently with others who wish you ill.
7. Praying for those who are living and who are dead.

“This what the Lord Almighty says, ‘You must see that true justice is done, that everyone is treated fairly, and you need to show lovingkindness and compassion to everyone. Do not oppress or take advantage of the widow, and do not mistreat children who have no father. Do not crush the stranger and do not oppress the disadvantaged poor. And do not plot evil in your heart against your neighbor.” (Zechariah 7:9-10).

“Christ has no body on earth but ours, no hands but ours, no feet but ours. Ours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out upon the world. Ours are the feet with which He goes about doing good. Ours are the hands with which He blesses His people.” (St. Teresa of Avila).