Sin and Mercy.

Possibly the oldest Christian prayer is simply, “Lord, have mercy.”  It is based on the appeal of a blind man in Jericho named Bartimaeus in Mark 10:47.  It has been an integral and essential part of Christian liturgy ever since.

Unfortunately, this prayer, appears to be a problem for some folks.  I am told the words are too negative.  The criticism is that begging for mercy and calling oneself a sinner only reinforce the kind of oppressive, self-flagellating religious expressions that Christianity is infamous for.  It is especially disempowering for those victimized by religious imperialism, like women.  Not only do practices like this keep people under the thumb of the authorities, but such self-hatred tends to get expressed in acts of misanthropic violence.  Finally, there seems to be an assumption that God is always ready to punish and afflict, but can be dissuaded by our pathetic pleas for mercy.  Surely we can do better than morose and depressing, chest-beating, guilt obsessed begging for God to forgive us.  So the argument goes.

First of all, modern people don’t like to talk about “sin” at all.  We see it as a guilt-trip.  Surely it is better to awaken to our original blessing, than to wallow in misery about our sins. 

The fact that sin has become a rejected category for sophisticated, modern people indicates not so much a healthy self-esteem as a deliberate reticence to face the wall-to-wall mess we have made of the planet and its people, including ourselves, over the last 500 years.  We have reduced the word “sin” to refer to somebody else’s sexuality, when actually it denotes a comprehensive breakdown of relationships.  

Talk about “sin” simply recognizes that we humans, in our egocentric condition, are functioning as if separated from God, creation, others, and even our true selves.  Calling ourselves sinners does not mean we are essentially bad people who do not deserve to live.  It means, as in the first of the 12 steps of recovery, realizing that our life is unmanageable, and that we are indeed complicit in all kinds of evil.  

This is what it means to be “woke.”  When we do awaken to our original blessing and goodness, one of the first things that happens is we understand how far our words, thoughts, and actions had drifted away from that.  Awakening means realizing that we had been, in effect, asleep, and taking responsibility for what we did when we were not as fully conscious.  

Awakening causes us at the same time to see the wreckage we have left behind us in the world, in our relationships, in our own bodies and souls, with clarity and honesty.  It is not that we are bad, but we have done bad things, usually inadvertently, unknowingly, or rationalizing that they are actually good.

Secondly, the prayer is about mercy.  Mercy is the recognition of our original blessing and goodness.  Awareness of mercy — that is, of forgiveness, compassion, peace, acceptance, wholeness, and welcome — is awakening.  

Mercy is not just something we receive and then keep for ourselves, like a commodity.  Mercy, like so many of the qualities Jesus talks about and embodies, is something in which we participate by sharing it.  To receive mercy is to give it.  If we do not become merciful, we will not receive mercy.  Mercy is a flow.  It goes through us.  We only have it only to the extent that we give it away.

Therefore, “have mercy on me, a sinner” emphatically does not mean, “don’t punish me for being such a terrible person.”  It means rather, “Let the flow of your mercy, goodness, and blessing overwhelm and transform me and my world through me.”  It means “Let me be your mercy, your compassion, and your forgiveness in the world.” 

And yes, it includes the implication that we have a way to go in realizing this, but at least we are hopefully making progress.  The sign of this progress is that we have the sense to pray for mercy.

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