To listen to this homily, click here.
About 16 years ago, on October 2nd, 2006, a man in his 30’s walked into an Amish school house in rural Pennsylvania and took 10 young girls hostage. The man was not Amish but he knew the community because he was a delivery driver who serviced some of their farms. After a brief standoff, he fired his weapon repeatedly at his hostages, taking the lives of five of them before turning the weapon on himself. Shock, disgust, sadness, and disbelief immediately followed. The peace of a gentle, private community was shattered as the anger of a profoundly broken person visited death and suffering upon a group of people who had worked so hard to remove themselves from the ills and evils of the world. People everywhere grieved with the Amish as they laid their little ones to rest. But what came next shocked the world almost as much as the tragedy itself. Hours after the lives and futures of their children were taken, one of the grandfathers of the victims expressed forgiveness for the man who had visited this evil upon them. And after the funerals were held, members of the same Amish community showed up at the killer’s funeral to pray for his wife and three young children. In fact, they outnumbered the non-Amish mourners. There was no yelling, cursing, or condemning by those who had been sinned against; only honest prayer and genuine mercy.
Many who saw this mercy were angry and indignant. The shooting shocked the world but the forgiveness that followed scandalized it! How dare the Amish show mercy to the man who did this! His sin was unforgivable! He deserved to burn forever for what he did. In response, the Amish community was very wise. They did not deny the evil that was done nor did they look at it indifferently. Instead, they reminded people that the perpetrator was still a child of God. He had parents, a wife, children, and a soul. And now he was standing before a just God. What need was there for more hatred and suffering?
The forgiveness offered by the Amish of Lancaster County, is a powerful illustration of the gospel we just heard. Of all the things Jesus commands his followers, this call to be merciful is perhaps the most difficult of all. There is no exception for certain crimes or classes of people. And it is NOT a suggestion or meant only for those who drive buggies instead of cars! Truth be told, in many cases, the command to practice mercy is actually humanly impossible. No parent can summon the power to forgive a person who hurts their child; it is a grace that can only come from Almighty God, Who first forgave us when we did the same to his Son! And most importantly of all, this type of mercy doesn’t start with a life-altering tragedy; it builds within little acts of forgiveness that are offered day after day. It grows out of a generous and gentle heart that refuses to become hardened by the slights and offenses we endure as part of our daily life.
But this decision to embrace mercy and offer forgiveness is largely foreign to our world. For many, the world is a ruthless, indifferent place where it is better to be lucky than good. Life often appears to be unfair and evil afflicts both the righteous and the wicked with no distinction. The world will tell you and me that there are only two responses to suffering: passivity or viciousness. The lie of passivity says that you have no control over what happens to you, it suggests you might have even deserved it, and you must identify as a victim; who you are is defined by the worst thing done to you. This passive approach to evil and those who hurt us is unholy and only perpetuates sin in the world.
The other extreme is viciousness. In this view, we recognize we do not deserve to be hurt but we take our response too far. We want to hurt the offender like they have hurt us; in most cases, we actually want to hit back harder, teach them a lesson, make sure they can’t do it again. You know what I mean! If they take my eye, I’ll make sure they never see again. If they knock out my tooth, I’ll make sure they eat out of a straw! This approach quickly gets out of hand and lowers those who are hurt into the same place as the perpetrator. As Ghandi wisely observed, “an eye for an eye and soon the whole world goes blind.”
The way of Jesus, the path of forgiveness even towards our enemies and those who hurt us without remorse, is the only way that fully honors our dignity while making a better world possible. This way of mercy and love for enemies is something unique to Christianity; no other religion has this mandate. It is the one thing that forms our hearts to be like the heart of Christ. It empowers us to move beyond being victims of the evil of others to becoming victors. It transforms us to look like Jesus by loving like Jesus who prayed for those who hung him on the cross, asking his Father to forgive them even as they took his life. This love is what will make us worthy of heaven, this mercy is what enables us to rise like Jesus and live forever in paradise. Anything less and we will not receive the gift of the resurrection.
One last thought. I believe many people see this mandate of mercy as a sort of weakness or surrendering power. No one likes to give up control or be made a victim. What I am slowly learning is that Jesus’ command to forgive and show mercy is the most powerful thing of all; there is nothing weak about it. Jesus is not commanding us to be doormats or weaklings, to allow others to hurt us or invite suffering; he is telling us to love fiercely as he did when faced with it. When someone tries to take something from us, when they try to lessen us by sinning against us, there is nothing more powerful than being able to say, “you wanted to take this thing from me that is mine but I choose to give it instead. And no matter how much anger, hatred, or evil you wish to inflict, my choosing to love and forgive will always be more; it will always overcome the worst you can do. Any coward can hate but only the strong and victorious can show mercy! This is the command to perfection we are called to!
Each of us is called to love fiercely and forgive without exception; anything less and we will not be living as Christ calls us. Do not excuse yourself from this command and do not try to live it by your own strength. We need his grace to love like this! Practice mercy in little ways now. We all have people in our lives who have hurt us. Don’t wait for them to deserve your forgiveness because they never will. Give mercy generously as God has given it to us. And then you will be always be a victor over any wrong against you and perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect!
