First Congregational United Church of Christ – Eugene, Oregon

FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH An Adult Class on Christian Meanings Session VII – “Mercy & Compassion”

Two modern dictionaries define mercy and merciful as being “kindly forbearance shown toward an offender,” and as “clemency or leniency.” These two words are commonly found in English versions of the Bible and therefore suggest a situation in which God stands over sinners with the power to punish or pardon the latter. This is also the meaning of mercy within the heaven-and-hell framework that millions of Christians embrace today. Its emphasis is on sin as the central issue in our relationship with God and says that because of our disobedience we deserve to be punished. So we appeal to God for mercy. Within this framework, mercy is good news, for who would not prefer God’s mercy to God’s wrath? But such an understanding severely narrows and limits the meaning of this biblical and ancient Christian word. A fuller meaning is better conveyed in English by the words compassion or compassionate. The word compassion is derived from Latin roots that mean “to feel with” another person’s feelings and to act in accord with that feeling. Unlike the word mercy, compassion does not imply a situation of wrong-doing. For example, we would not show mercy toward those who have suffered hardship, but we might show compassion for them in their plight. They’ve done nothing wrong to deserve our mercy or our forgiveness, but because of their suffering, they are in need of our compassionate care and compassionate acts. What is at stake here is how we see the character of God and how we are to live. We are to be merciful as God is merciful and forgive those who sin against us, but so are we to be compassionate as God is compassionate When Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus, “Have mercy on me” (Mark 10:46-52), it was not because he was sinful and needed forgiveness but because he was blind and wanted his sight restored. He didn’t need mercy; he needed compassion. It would have been far more accurate for the biblical translators to have used the word compassion rather than merciful in that instance. Or when Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount says “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7), might he not also have meant that his listeners (and we) should be compassionate as well as forgiving toward one another? In the ancient confession known as the Kyrie with its three-fold appeal to God to “have mercy upon us,” we ask God to forgive us, and there are times when we do stand in need of forgiveness. But if we used the word compassion instead of mercy, we would not be acknowledging God as a punishing judge but as a life- giving and nourishing reality who wills our well-being and the well-being of the whole creation, and we would also be reminding ourselves that this is how we should be and live. First Congregational United Church of Christ – Eugene, Oregon

FOCUS QUESTIONS

1. Think of a time when you demonstrated “mercy” toward someone. Now think of a time when you showed “compassion.” How did the two instances differ and how were they similar? 2. Which of the two expressions do you employ most often in your dealings with family, friends and co-workers? 3. When one shows mercy toward another, it almost always implies an imbalance of power between the parties involved. Would you rather be the one who shows mercy, or the one who receives mercy? Why? 4. Would you rather be known as “the merciful one,” or “the compassionate one”? Why? 5. When you pray to God, are you more inclined to seek God’s “mercy” or God’s “compassion”? Why would that be so?