Compassion and Mercy - Starting The Work

Summary

In this episode, Bishop DeDe and Adam discuss the importance of faith, mercy, and compassion in a time of societal change and conflict. They emphasizes the need for unity and understanding among people of faith, urging listeners to focus on love and compassion rather than division. The discussion also explores the biblical concepts of justice and mercy, highlighting the transformative power of forgiveness and the call to live out one's faith through action.

Takeaways

• We share a common interest in a strong and safe America.
• Mercy and compassion are essential expressions of love.
• Faith is a calling that transcends personal ownership.
• Dehumanizing others also dehumanizes ourselves.
• Compassion and mercy can be empowering, not threatening.
• Justice in God's economy is about wholeness and equality.
• Vengeance leaves us feeling empty and alone.
• Forgiveness is a path to restoration and renewal.
• Living out faith means actively choosing love and compassion.
• We must invite Jesus into our daily actions and decisions.

Chapters

00:00 Faith in Times of Change
05:11 The Role of Mercy and Compassion
10:12 Justice vs. Mercy: A Biblical Perspective
14:57 Living Out Compassion in Action

AI Disclosure: To support our staff in their limited time, many of our episode summaries are first generated by AI and then edited by the Communications Director to accurately reflect and preview our podcast episodes.

Transcript

Bishop DeDe (00:02.274)
Hey friends, welcome to the podcast. We're gonna speak of faith. And this is such an important time in our lives to be speaking about faith. We're in a week, this is gonna time stamp this, but we're in a week when we've had the transition to a new administration in America, in the United States actually. And this week there's been a big controversy.

about a bishop preaching from the pulpit that is at Hersey about mercy and compassion to the leader. And y'all know who I'm talking about and you know that there's been a lot of controversy about this. And I have really been praying about this controversy because one of the things that struck me is the way in which we keep battling one another.

And we're battling about sides when really we all have a shared interest in America with the United States being a strong entity, being a safe place to live, a place where our children can grow up in safety, a place where we can flourish and receive an honest day's wage for an honest day's work as we've always put it. There's a shared value we have.

and being a strong country. And yet we keep falling into these traps of fighting one another as if we don't have a shared interest. And I was very struck this week by this word mercy and then also compassion. I think when we are so fraught with fighting one another as if there are different teams, as if there is such a thing as opposing sides in this.

It can become easy to be threatened by the other team. Not recognizing that really in God's economy there is one team. We are people of faith and when we speak about as people of faith, we're talking about God's belovedness, God's graciousness, the God, the ruler of all, know, planets and their courses, this fragile earth, our island home.

Bishop DeDe (02:25.262)
that we are created by God, that we are redeemed by God, that we are empowered by this force of life in all of the world that is bigger than us. And so this idea that somehow they are not we is really a sin.

And we talked last week about love your neighbor as yourself. And we talked about the reciprocity of it. And so I, you know, I offer that podcast to you as an opportunity to look at that. But what I really want to talk about today is compassion and mercy as love for one another. That when we are thinking about God's creation, that fear of threat, that fear of the other can really hinder our faith.

You know, the scripture tells us God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love and of power and of a sound mind. And that when things are happening, it's to God we turn. As we talked about last week, our help is in the name of the Lord. So what's really resonant for me right now is the ways in which we need to stop and breathe and pray and remember who God is, who we are.

as God's people. And when we speak of faith, to remember that faith is not something we own. I am not a Christian because I name it and claim it. I am a Christian because God has named and claimed me. That as people of faith, faith has come into our lives with a calling and a purpose that is greater than ourselves. And so,

I invite all of us as we're speaking of our faith to think about how does your faith listener, how does it encourage you to be a person of greater character or integrity, to look at our neighbors and to say, I'm gonna care for you, I'm gonna love you, even though I don't agree with you, because I'm not gonna be complicit in thinking that somehow because we disagree, one of us is less than human.

Bishop DeDe (04:42.878)
one of us deserves to die or to be harmed. Because how we speak about one another is how we are. When I fall into the trap of looking at someone and dehumanizing them, I'm also dehumanizing myself. I'm not living the way that I, the integrity I want to have. I want to be a child of God. I want to walk in the light. And so how I treat my neighbor is the measure of that, not my

high-mindedness about what I think I'm about. And so I don't know for you and whatever faith you may have, but especially as people of faith, as Christians, I think it's very important in this time of such conflict to stop and pray and breathe and remember whose we are, to remember the importance of God's work in our life. Now, Adam, I'm gonna invite you, if there's questions or I don't know if we've had questions from some of our listeners.

I also in a minute will continue talking about because I really want to unpack a little bit this idea of mercy and compassion, what that really is and how it may or may not be threatening to us. But let's start with some questions and if we have some questions.

Adam Eichelberger (05:59.5)
Sure. So one of the things that we got is a listener, they didn't share their name, but they said that in their reading of the Bible, they found that it tends to talk about justice and mercy. And they feel like that in our country, in the United States, that Christianity has seemed to really lean more into the justice

Bishop DeDe (06:12.003)
Hmm.

Bishop DeDe (06:29.538)
Mm-hmm.

Adam Eichelberger (06:29.622)
than the mercy. And it's kind of interesting that, you you came with this topic and then he's asked us this question about justice and mercy. How can we live into that biblical call of being merciful?

Bishop DeDe (06:35.535)
Mm-hmm.

Bishop DeDe (06:47.17)
That leads right. That is so great because it leads into what I'm hoping that we'll consider and speak about now. and let me first say, it's not like I have the answer on this. These are, these are multivalent, very big topics and it will take all of our life and our prayers to really sort this out. But to begin with, for mercy to exist, means that we've stopped wanting to be right. And I think right now the desire to be right has just

totally overtaken us. People are not curious about how other people feel. They are not humble in their opinion. They're demanding that it be their way or the highway. And there is no such thing as sort of a curiosity or gentle consideration of, well, I don't agree with them. I wonder why they have that opinion. What I hear in the nude, no matter what your news source is or in conversations with people,

is a real assumption of already knowing. And I'm not sure that mercy can exist with that kind of pridefulness because mercy is not about getting one's own way. Much like 1 Corinthians where Paul talks about love, not seeking its own way. Mercy is about an offering, an invitation, a compassion for the other, a willingness to understand, a willingness to see

and maybe not agree with, but to have the confidence to look at what another person is saying and be interested in their truth. It's interesting that I think right now what I hear most, especially from people who are very frightened, it has to be this way, it has to be that way, is a real insecurity. know, zero-sum gain and all of these things, that is not a confident, is not based in confidence.

When you have to be right, it means you're terrified of being wrong. When it has to be this way, it means you're really feeling insecure. Someone who's feeling confident, and especially when we know our help is in the name of the Lord, when we're rooted in our faith, our faith is unshaken. We're like the house on the rock, not the house on the sand. We're not tossed to and fro. We have a real sense of ourselves. And when we have that,

Adam Eichelberger (09:06.946)
Hmm.

Bishop DeDe (09:15.17)
The ability to be merciful is empowering because we don't have to be right. We're not threatened by someone else doing well. We feel whole in and of ourselves. I think that compassion and mercy are threatening to people who do not understand or feel compassion and mercy. When you're trying to win at all costs, when you're right, they're wrong. The idea of compassion

the idea of inviting mercy can be terribly threatening. It feels like it's weakness or vulnerability that's gonna be trounced by an enemy that's overtaking you. But when we look at Jesus, when we look at the author and finisher of our faith, what we see is a God who comes to us in vulnerability as a baby, we've talked about this for several weeks, a God who comes to us with an invitation to be loved and to love.

A God who comes to us and says, it's not about how much you think you know, it's about your faithfulness in what God's knowing brings. And also that our faith is what makes us confident. We are imperfect, we need salvation. And I think that what is happening, what I'm hearing are voices that seem to think they don't need to be saved.

Adam Eichelberger (10:42.124)
Mm.

Bishop DeDe (10:42.37)
that the way to be saved is in something other than God, something other than the help in the name of our Lord.

In terms of justice, there's a kind of a two-parter a little bit with your question, when we're involved in compassion and mercy, when we're acting in accordance with God, then there's justice that's not about recompense. It's not about vengeance. It's not about you're gonna get yours because there's gonna be justice. You're not gonna get away with that.

Adam Eichelberger (11:08.896)
Mm-hmm.

Bishop DeDe (11:18.922)
In God's economy, justice is where there's compassion and mercy and love and wholeness. Justice is not that we get our just desserts. Justice is that we are part of equality and wholeness. And you can't be whole when you're condemning your neighbor.

Adam Eichelberger (11:39.946)
No, you can't. And one of the things that really stood out to me when I read this question is it's a term, I don't know how much I really ever heard it before we started working together, Bishop, but it's something that you said called restorative justice. And I know that these are some, there are some things and terms that I even get exposed to through you and through the people that we work with and serve, but

Bishop DeDe (11:52.206)
Mm-hmm.

Bishop DeDe (11:59.053)
Mm-hmm.

Adam Eichelberger (12:09.878)
To me, just on my base level understanding of that, that is so important that like, you talk about the economy of God, and to me that sounds like these things like compassion and mercy are put forward, are put first, but also that justice doesn't have to be revenge or vengeance or punishment, that justice can have this aspect of mercy and compassion and love.

Bishop DeDe (12:26.796)
No.

Bishop DeDe (12:32.918)
Right, exactly, because vengeance is very hollow. this idea that greed is good or vengeance is, know, justice is, or vengeance is sweet, or revenge is sweet, I guess it is. The revenge is sweet. And that is one of those things, I don't know, there are some candies that come to mind that when you first start to eat them, they're very sweet and then they kind of go bitter.

Adam Eichelberger (12:40.512)
Mm-hmm.

Adam Eichelberger (13:02.124)
Mm.

Bishop DeDe (13:03.086)
I think that vengeance and revenge are like that. At first it feels great. It feels like, aha, they got theirs. And then there's an emptiness. Because often when we're seeking vengeance or revenge or we're trying to get back at somebody, it's very hollow. It leaves us alone and afraid because it makes everything seem tarnished.

Adam Eichelberger (13:14.849)
Right.

Bishop DeDe (13:30.094)
Because it's not real love, it's not a whole life. But when we find forgiveness, when we find grace, when we have asked for forgiveness from a friend and they offer it, it's restorative because it helps us remember and rebuild what God is doing in our lives. The free gift of forgiveness through Jesus is that the worst thing we've ever done

is no match for God's mercy or grace. And as people of faith, and especially since this topic is speaking of faith, we talk all the time that we, you know, not my will, but God's will be done. That my greatest calling is to be like Jesus. I want to be like Jesus. To be like Jesus is to be filled with love and mercy and compassion. The invitation to salvation. And salvation being that forgiveness, that restorative

to renew, become part of what God is doing in the world. It is not winning. There's no such thing as winning. I can't win if I'm putting you down and you're losing. What does that hollow victory even mean? If we don't all win, even though we do this as humans, we think there's better and worse people.

Adam Eichelberger (14:43.906)
Hmm.

Bishop DeDe (14:57.314)
But God is calling all of us to holiness. It doesn't mean there's no such thing as holiness or anything goes or, well, with this, everybody can just act however they want. The standard is Jesus. I want to be like Jesus. I want to love like Jesus. I want to be in that whole way of living. And that is so far from revenge.

Adam Eichelberger (15:08.513)
Right.

Bishop DeDe (15:25.708)
Vengeance and all of these things that people seem to want out of their insecurity out of their fear out of their their sense of loss that they have lost some

Adam Eichelberger (15:36.674)
And the thing that comes to my mind, and I think that maybe listeners, you may be thinking something similar. I'm not trying to speak for you here, but over the last several weeks and months, we've had these big conversations about things like Christian nationalism, loving our neighbor, all of these things that are kind of intertwined with one another. And especially after we look at what's been going on in our country over the last week or so.

How does the example that Jesus sets for compassion challenge us in this time and in this place?

Bishop DeDe (16:17.102)
Well, I think it's such a challenge. I mean, I think we've actually seen that this week. When we start centering our life around Jesus, then there's things that we can no longer do. When we center our life around Jesus, we can no longer look at another person as less than Jesus. Jesus tells us, when you've done it to the least of these, you've done it unto me.

Adam Eichelberger (16:39.041)
Mm-hmm.

Adam Eichelberger (16:46.241)
right.

Bishop DeDe (16:46.862)
And this idea somehow that those people aren't Jesus is a sin. I mean, we really need to be clear in this time that when we start making it okay to harm people, we're sinning. And we are, you know, whether you're talking about murder, you're talking about whatever you're talking about, because when Jesus says, when you've done it to the least of these, you've done it to me. That means that whoever I consider the least important around me.

then I need to pay attention to how I'm offering them love and compassion and mercy that Jesus has offered to me, that Jesus has offered to you, listener. And those are hard things. It's a maturity that I think we're missing right now. When we just wanted our way, we're kind of like a two-year-old stomping their feet and saying, I want it, I want it, I want it. And that's tempting because we're afraid. It's tempting because we feel out of control.

Adam Eichelberger (17:38.178)
Mmm.

Bishop DeDe (17:45.782)
It's tempting because things have changed and we don't know how to handle that change and we're feeling so out of element and we just want it to stop all the pain, all the confusion. And so we can get a bit like a two-year-old stomping our feet.

breathing and coming back to ourselves remembering whose we are and saying, you know, Lord, not my will, but yours be done. It's not about me getting something. It's about me becoming something. And I want to be like Jesus. I want to be willing to risk something good for the goodness of God, which is so much greater. And to allow ourselves to believe.

And I think it starts really with believing. Do we actually believe in Jesus or do we just want God to do what we want to do? And if we really believe in Jesus, then we have repentance, we have a change of heart. We see with new eyes and we're freed. We're freed of the fear, we're freed of the pain, of all the confusion. And we realize God meets us in every moment, no matter how much has changed.

no matter how much is different, God is God and is with us and will meet us in that change. And we are not lost, we are loved. not, we will, we can trust God with our days. So I think in this time it begins with really coming back to faith. What do we really believe about Jesus? And what are we willing to be wrong about? You know, we may be wrong about some stuff, but Jesus is the answer.

Adam Eichelberger (19:20.577)
Mm-hmm.

Adam Eichelberger (19:32.354)
Right.

Bishop DeDe (19:32.458)
And so, dear listener, I know this is a hard time and the temptation to be mad at people or divide or look down on others or get caught up in things, that temptation's all around us. But as followers of Jesus, if you're a Christian in your faith tradition, whatever it may be, how we live is how we are. And so we come back to what we want our life to be about. And for me, I can only make a decision for me.

I want my life to be about Jesus. I want to love Jesus and know Jesus. Very much like Philippians, you know, that I may be found in him, not having a holiness that is my own, but that is from God. Humility, curiosity, mercy, compassion. We need these things.

Adam Eichelberger (20:24.108)
So the last kind of question I have for you is taking a look at the landscape of where everything is right now. And in processing the way that one side can react to another and how difficult this all can kind of feel sometimes when we, and I'm gonna speak for us, those of us who profess a Christian faith.

And this does not mean that you, listener, if you are not, devoid of this or outside of this. But as people of faith, in this time, how can compassion move beyond just what we're feeling and into action? Because that's the other part of it, is changing our perspective, I feel like, and how we feel or view or see others. But then how do we act and live that out?

Bishop DeDe (21:05.55)
Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Bishop DeDe (21:16.026)
such a good question. And again, listener, each of us has to sort of make this journey in our own. We have to follow that conviction. think it starts always with doing a loving thing. What would love look like here in this situation? What would if Jesus were sitting next to me, if Jesus were walking next to me, if Jesus were next to you, what would the next loving thing look like?

And am I willing to do the next loving thing? Maybe it would look like forgiving someone. Maybe it would look like asking forgiveness from someone. Maybe it would look like going and volunteering at the food bank or somewhere where there's people who need support and care. Maybe it's making a phone call and saying, I don't wanna argue anymore. I just wanted to talk with you about.

you know, something that would give us both joy. The next loving thing. And that can be hard because sometimes we get so caught up, so caught up in what we think should be happening to stop and take a moment and quiet our heart, quiet our mind and say, what would love look like here if Jesus is sitting next to me and inviting me into this life of faith? What would that look like?

What would I do now? And I think that transformation comes from that place of encountering Jesus in the moment. So I invite you listener to invite Jesus into your day, to have spaces where you sit and breathe and pray, to read scripture, to remember the commandments of Jesus, to go back to the gospels. I sometimes I love Paul.

And we've talked about Paul, been quoting Paul today, and Philippians. But to go back to the gospels and say, what did Jesus actually say? What were the commands? To love your neighbors yourself. To take a cup of cold water. I tell you, when you've done it to the least of these, you've done it unto me. So the words we're using about people we're angry with are those words we would say to Jesus. To get very basic about this.

Adam Eichelberger (23:13.122)
Yep.

Bishop DeDe (23:39.232)
I saw someone post something the other day in a social media post about a child. And I thought, and it burdened my heart. I wanted to write to the person and I didn't because I don't know them that well really, but I guess I could have. It burdened my heart because they were saying something about a child. And when you think if that child were Jesus, would you say those words? And to think about it with an adult.

Adam Eichelberger (24:02.038)
Mm-hmm.

Bishop DeDe (24:05.642)
If that adult, whoever it is, your neighbor, the person, whoever it is, would you say that about that adult? Would you say that to Jesus? That is probably the measure we should be employing when we use our words. Is it kind? Is it just? Yes. But would I say this to Jesus? Would I say it in front of Jesus? I don't think so. We would want to be part of what Jesus is doing.

which is love and mercy, forgiveness and grace and compassion. So, well, listener, this has been a big conversation. I look forward to speaking with you soon. Please send in your questions and your comments. Let's continue to talk about this as we figure out together, as we reason together, as St. Paul would tell us, we reason together about our faith. May you be blessed and be a blessing. And in this time,

May you find peace and offer it to our hurting world. Blessings to you. We'll talk soon.