By thy mercy, Oh deliver us

I know it's been a while, and I apologize if you have been kept waiting. There's been tons going on recently, and so I decided I should let you all in on what been going on.

Today, for the third time in about 10 days, our house was broken into and burglarized. The first time, I was in the house and managed to prevent them from getting much, though they stole a laptop and my cell phone. There were three kids, around the age of 15. I chased them out the back, but let them get away. That happened to be the second time where I was the only one in the house during a burglary. Anyways, figuring that wouldn't be the last time we saw them, we kept the house locked, and our dog in the yard. Unfortunately that didn't deter a second robbery while we were all gone, during which time they made out with six laptops, and two game systems among other things (although 3 laptops and the xbox were broken, so the joke is partly on them). That was two days ago. Today I walked in to find the TV gone along with several other items, and our sense of safety and 'home-ness' trampled on once again. Obviously, these events have spurred innumerable emotions, among which are anger, fear, morbid curiosity, and certainly the need to protect what's "ours." These reactions, you may have noticed, do not include love, forgiveness, compassion, and prayer for the young men who have thrice sinned against us. 

And there is where I've been convicted. All throughout the scriptures we find references to loving those who seem unlovable. Matthew five is packed with convicting verses, such as "love your enemy" or "when someone takes something from you, don't demand it back" or "pray for those who sin against you." I think the reason that we feel so violated is because we have an attachment to our things. And while to an extent this is normal, I've been reminded of Matthew 6:19: "Don't store up treasures on earth.. where thieves break in and steal." In my incredibly limited knowledge, I've realized several things: our stuff really isn't ours; our identity is in Christ our foundation, not our possessions; thieves DO actually break in and steal; often I value a PS3 more than young men made in the imago dei. 

But another challenge that I've been wondering about his: where does justice play a role in this situation? We want to be people that love mercy, but we also act justly, and doesn't this situation deserve justice? How does doing nothing uphold justice? I am turned to Romans 12:19: "Don't take revenge, but leave room for the wrath of God." Honestly, I think that God can exact better, and more just revenge than I can. 

What about forgiveness? I mean lets be honest, how many times should we forgive these kids? The first time, it's like ok, we're in ministry, stuff happens, I forgive you for stealing from me because you didn't really get much and no one got hurt. The second time? Alright, this is really stretching it- you got several thousand dollars worth of stuff and trampled our sense of security, but I tell people that they gotta love the unlovable, so I forgive you. But don't do it again, or else. The third time? Three strikes and you're out, right? I mean you can really ask us to forgive them again, seriously? 

Right about there is where Matthew 18:21 steps in, with Peter asking this exact question. Jesus' answer is mindblowing: he essentially says QUIT COUNTING.  

But how is this even possible? Really, we've been robbed 3 times and we're supposed to forgive them, AGAIN?

I recently watched a video of the story of how a Christian hip-hop artist/pastor and his wife overcame an affair, and one thing that his wife said has been impressed into my memory. She said "I can forgive him because he has not done more to me than I did to my Savior." 

Wow. Deep.

I think that is exactly the heart of what Jesus was saying in Matthew 18; and subsequently is the reason that I need to forgive these kids; they have not done more to me than I have to my Savior. 

Partly, this is me digesting what's going on, and partly it's me wanting you to be connected to this crazy summer. I would love to hear your thoughts on this post. I'll try to post with more regularity, but forgive me if I don't! 

I think it would be easy to ask you to pray for justice, but I'm going to ask you to pray for mercy for these young men. Pray that God's will would be done; pray that they would learn what it means to walk humbly with God. 

#Micah6:8on'em

Soli Deo Gloria