PACIFIC UNION AUGUST 2018 Jesus, the Good Samaritan PAGE 6 Restored in God, Neighbors, the Spirit and Eternal PASTOR RICARDO GRAHAM CALLS THE CHURCH Life PAGE 14 TO UNITY IN MERCY PAGE 4 PACIFIC UNION Recorder What’s inside 4 Justice, Mercy, and Humility (Part Two) Publisher Ray Tetz 6 Jesus, the Good Samaritan Editor 10 How to Deal with the Erring Alberto Valenzuela 12 Barley Greens and Beards: Who Decides? Copy Editor Julie Lorenz 14 God, Neighbors, and Eternal Life Design/Layout 18 La Sierra University Stephanie Leal • Alberto Valenzuela 20 Adventist Health Printing Pacific Press Publishing Association 21 Arizona Conference www.pacificpress.com 24 Holbrook Indian School The Recorder is a monthly publication reaching approximately 76,000 Seventh-day Adventist 28 Central California Conference homes in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah. 30 Nevada-Utah Conference Our mission is to inform, educate, and inspire our readers to action in all areas of ministry. 32 Southeastern California Conference EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENTS 34 Pacific Union College Adventist Health 916-781-4756 36 Southern California Conference Jenni Glass • [email protected] 38 Hawaii Conference Arizona 480-991-6777 Phil Draper • [email protected] 40 Northen California Conference Central California 559-347-3000 43 Loma Linda University Health Cindy Chamberlin • [email protected] 45 Community & Marketplace Hawaii 808-595-7591 Miki Akeo-Nelson • [email protected] 48 Sunset Calendar La Sierra University 951-785-2000 Darla Tucker • [email protected] Loma Linda 909-651-5925 Ansel Oliver • [email protected] Nevada-Utah 775-322-6929 Faith Hoyt • [email protected] Northern California 925-685-4300 Stephanie Leal • [email protected] PACIFIC UNION AUGUST 2018 Pacific Union College 707-965-6202 Larissa Church • [email protected] Southeastern California 951-509-2200 Enno Müller • [email protected] Southern California 818-546-8400 Lauren Armstrong • [email protected] Postal Regs: The Pacific Union Recorder (ISSN 0744-6381), Volume 118, Number 8, is the official journal of the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and is Jesus, published monthly. Editorial office is at 2686 Townsgate Rd., the Good Westlake Village, CA 91361: 805-497-9457. Periodical postage Samaritan PAGE 6 paid at Thousand Oaks, CA, and additional mailing offices. Part two of a three-part series from Restored in God, Subscription rate: No charge to Pacific Union Adventist Neighbors, church members; $16 per year in U.S.; $20 foreign (U.S. Elder Ricardo Graham, president of the the Spirit and Eternal PASTOR RICARDO GRAHAM CALLS THE CHURCH Life PAGE 14 funds); single copy, $2. POSTMASTER: Send address changes Pacific Union Conference, on the semi- TO UNITY IN MERCY PAGE 4 to: Circulation Department, Pacific Union Recorder, Box 5005, Westlake Village, CA 91359. [email protected]. nal words of Micah 6:8. AUGUST 2018 3 THE PRINCIPLED THING: Justice, Mercy, and Humility PART TWO By Ricardo Graham e hath shewed thee, O man, The Creator wants—requires—His cre- what is good; and what doth ation to be like Him. And He demonstrates it “H the Lord require of thee, but in the history of the world as recorded in the to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk Holy Bible. humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8, KJV). I remember a commercial several years The second of the trilogy of require- ago when basketball legend Michael Jordan ments as found in Micah 6:8 is to love was at his prime. The commercial showed the mercy. basketball phenom performing his signa- First we need to understand what ture moves, scoring against opponents. The mercy is. A couple of definitions may be voiceover sang, “I wanna be like Mike.” God helpful. wants us to be like Him. To be like the arch- One dictionary entry defines mercy as angel Michael of Scripture should be our goal. “compassion or forgiveness shown toward All human agents, including and especially someone whom it is within one’s power to this writer, can safely aspire to be like the punish or harm: the mercies of God.” Michael of the Bible, Jesus Christ the righ- The Seventh-day Adventist Bible teous Redeemer. Commentary tells us that mercy (from the To be like Jesus is to be merciful. Our Hebrew word chesed) is “a word describing goal must be that, as an act of altruistic love, a wide range of qualities as indicated by its we will extend mercy. Who is in the need of various translations, such as ‘goodness,’ mercy? Well, every human being is. We are all ‘kindness,’ ‘loving-kindness,’ ‘merciful guilty of transgressing the law of God. kindness’” (vol. 4, p. 1028). When God passed by Moses and revealed So, if we are reading and understand- Himself, He self-disclosed: “And the Lord ing this correctly, mercy includes all of the passed by before him, and proclaimed, The above. Mercy means, basically, to be com- Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, passionate, kind, and good to others. longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and Why does God require mercy, along truth” (Exodus 34:6, KJV). with justice and humility? I would suggest Mercy is resident in God’s being; it is that it is because of who God is: Merciful, in His personality. I believe that mercy is a with a capital M. He is the epitome of mer- by-product of His nature of love. “He that cy, and He requires His people to reflect loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” and duplicate on our human level what He (1 John 4:8, KJV). is on the divine level. I accept as true what John wrote: God is 4 PACIFIC UNION RECORDER love. And everything that God does is based But when the tables are turned and in His total love for humanity. Because He we are in a position to pass judgment on loves, He created, sustains, redeems, and someone else and can extend mercy, we are sanctifies His children. And because we sometimes reluctant to do so. After all, we were loved even in our unrighteousness, we don’t want to be “soft on sin.” return that love, because love begets love. We often act as though being merci- Love determines the values that we hold. ful is a distortion of God’s will. Some of us Because we have been loved with an unend- think people need to be punished by other ing love, we return that love to the Source. people. We must make them pay for their But more than that, we extend God’s love to sins. Some have advised me that, as we others in justice, mercy, and humility. live life in the real world, we should apply To be truly Christian is to be loving and justice without mercy. merciful—and humbly obedient. Our love It seems to me, and perhaps to others, for God compels us to please Him with our that the idea of loving mercy is a godly obedience to His commands and to align concept that is not promoted in our West- ourselves with Him. ern society today by those authoritarian Because we love God, and because His persons who are in charge of whatever they love compels an imitation of His character are in charge of. in us by the power of His ever-present Holy It has been said that we are either too Spirit, we aspire to be merciful. just or too merciful. It is really hard for us An impartial love, one that is as unlim- to strike the correct balance. ited as Jesus’ love was in His life situation, Only God gets it right all the time. will be revealed in us in our live situation. It is a challenging thing to be just and You may say that is a tall order, a merciful simultaneously. But I believe difficult requirement. And I agree. But Paul that is exactly what God is calling us has already addressed this by assuring us, to do. And if we err, should it be on “I can do all things through Christ which the side of justice or mercy? strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13, KJV). Obviously, it would be best if Surely that includes the strength to be we didn’t make a mistake. But if merciful. we waver, we should lean to- Becoming like God is true sanctification. wards mercy. After all, mercy is Without His power, we cannot approach one reason we are an evangelistic the high level of the calling of Jesus to be organization. We seek to influ- like Him. He will accomplish the character ence the hearts of sinners so they transformation that He requires of us to live will become candidates for godly with Him in glory. sainthood when Jesus comes. But first, it seems to me, we need to The Good Samaritan, the Lost capture or be captured by His principles. Sheep, the woman taken in adul- The way to love God and the way to love tery, Zacchaeus, and more illustrate people have been perfectly presented in the the undeserved mercy given by God. His life and teachings of Jesus. In this, Jesus graciousness allows nothing less. How was merciful. Do you suppose that is why about us? How merciful are we? God calls He put a precursor to our receiving mercy us to be lovers of mercy—not only on the to first giving mercy? (See Matthew 5:7.) receiving end but also on the giving I have often observed that we all want end. I have been a recipient of mercy mercy when it is our turn to receive it, during my life, and I am sure you have when we have been caught in the act of been, too.