The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

(Zeph. 3.17)

Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and for evermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.

The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?

(Ps 103.1-6)

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

(Isaiah 55.6-9)

Do you ever let your mind wander over the incredible diversity of the church of Christ which – to his glory – exists all around our world today? Sometimes, I am filled with awe, worshipping and praising our God whose love and power to save is represented by all these people who call on Jesus as Lord. And sometimes, I am filled with shame, as I look at the deep, and often bitter, divisions which keep us apart from one another, and all the ways that we dishonour Christ by our judgemental attitudes – to our fellow believers as well as to those who do not know him.

How easily we fall into criticism, into doubt about another person’s faith just because their lives don’t quite fit the mould we have created as the ‘right’ one for a believer. Who am I to decide what faith looks like for anyone else? Have I forgotten that I too am a redeemed sinner, who will not be fully perfected until glory, and until then I will only be doing the best that I can day-by-day according to my circumstances, and the knowledge and ability which I have! No single denomination, nation, or individual has a monopoly on what it takes to make someone’s saving faith works itself out in their lives. All of us are needing, and depending entirely on, the grace and mercy of God.

It is astonishing to me that our holy, just and perfect God who sees and knows all things, should be willing to be associated with human beings at all – since even when we profess Jesus as Lord, we continue to behave in ways which do not reflect Jesus’ character. The story of God’s dealings with humankind as revealed in the pages of our bibles is that story – of perfection willingly engaging with imperfection; of purity deliberately associating itself with impurity. Our God has chosen to work out his purpose of salvation and re-creation through flawed and tainted creatures – what a marvel, what a mystery!

It is good therefore to be reminded that we do not, and cannot possibly comprehend our God; and that we do well to guard our own hearts and minds fiercely against a spirit of criticism and judgement of others, especially other believers. Each of us is accountable to God for how we live with the treasure of his gift of salvation and hope in Christ.  We are called to love one another for Jesus’ sake, to believe the best of one another, to grieve over sin in ourselves before hunting for it in the lives of others.

The words of this hymn have always spoken to me of this quality of mercy which I desire so much to see in myself towards others – and which helps me to leave myself and them in the care of the only good and perfect Judge. Sisters and brothers, let us love one another, and be humble before him.

 

 

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the sea:

There’s a kindness in his justice, which is more than liberty.

 

There is no place where earth’s sorrows are more felt than up in heaven:

There is no place where earth’s failings have such kindly judgement given.

 

For the love of God is broader than the measures of man’s mind’

And the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.

 

If our love were but more simple, we would take him at his word;

And our lives be filled with glory from the glory of the Lord.

(FW Faber 1814-63)