Mercy

Matthew 23:37 – “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you; how I have longed to gather your children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. But you would not.”

According to Jesus, Jerusalem is stubborn or maybe just taking God for granted. They have lost their way. Jesus laments this loss by expressing his love, God’s love for the “children” of Jerusalem. He compares his love and protection to that of a hen with her chicks under her wings. What a beautiful image.

I imagine all parents feel this way about their children. Parents love their children even when we have gone astray. The story of the prodigal father illustrates this love perfectly. He fully accepts his son back home without question and without hesitation. Such is his love and joy at seeing his son again. His son, who was lost, has found his way.

God continues to lament over the waywardness of her children. We don’t like prophets and others who challenge our thinking or our actions. It’s so much easier to just follow human rules when mercy on our part may serve the case better. I’m thinking of those refugee children who were separated from their parents at the border. Many of them have not been reunited. It is truly a tragedy that God laments. God longs to gather them under her wings.

I’ve seen many people saying that this is not who we are as Americans. Sadly, it is who we are. We have been treating Black people, Muslims, and Hispanic people just this way for centuries. Every day, many Black people gun violence whether from the police or others. No police are punished for killing Black people who were unarmed. Black children are treated more harshly than white children for similar offenses. Black people are imprisoned more often for offenses white people receive a slap on the wrist for. Of course this is who we are. It’s just more overt because Black people are not going to take it anymore. America has always treated those we fear this way.

And yet, God laments our going astray. America, America, killing the prophets and shooting those who are sent to you; how I have longed to gather your children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. Such unconditional love is hard for us to fathom. It is so foreign to our way of thinking. It is so much bigger than we are. It is a love that includes the bullies among us, though its first concern is those being bullied.

May this love ground us and guide our actions toward those being persecuted today.