God is mercy, grace

When Jon (not his real name) came to me right before report cards were issued and asked what he could do to raise his grade, I was flabbergasted. "Mrs. LaRoche, why do I have an F in your class?" he asked. "Well, Jon, perhaps it's because you rarely did any of the assignments and you didn't study for the tests. You have a 13 percent in my class," I answered. Jon appeared dumbfounded. "Well, is there anything I can do to get extra credit?" (He was serious).

The call between justice and mercy is a tough one, especially when the call is close. Jon's call isn't close. Others are. Two years ago, I spent a few days struggling over the grade of a senior. I wavered daily on what to do and then decided to ask our department head, Nancy Price. Her philosophy? "Whenever I can, I try to lean toward mercy."

God does the same. He favors mercy over judgment the majority of the time. Psalm 145:8 tells us God is all mercy and grace, and verse 9 tells us everything He does is suffused with grace. I'm so glad God is not a tough, vindictive, club-in-the-hand sadist who loves whacking His children on the head when they mess up. I'm so glad that my metaphorical 13 percent is good enough for Him and that He covered even that paltry percentage when He allowed His Son to die on the cross for my sins.

Does that mean that I continue in my foolishness and make no attempt to improve? Not if I love Him, it doesn't. If I love Him, I will want to please Him, to be more like Him, to have a loving relationship with Him. And how can I not want that when my Heavenly Father sees past my ineptness, my weakness, my sins, and loves me unconditionally?

I, however, unlike God (and Nancy), find the call between mercy and justice a stressful one. The mercy side reminds me that I should take my students' horrendous home environment and emotional disabilities into consideration. After all, is it their fault that their parents are on drugs or are in prison or are too selfish to show interest in their children? Yet the justice side makes me question how many times I should take these students aside to encourage them, only to find that they have no desire to apply themselves. like I did with Jon. Will I prepare them for the real world if I allow them to get away with lazy methods and ridiculous excuses? Will their future boss do that?

And this is where the line gets fuzzy because God does that very thing for me...over and over and over again. For Him, justice is the last resort. I read scripture and am blown away by the times He gave His children second and third and umpteen chances. He certainly gave them to the liar Abraham, to the adulterer and murderer David, to the bragger Joseph, to the prostitute Rahab, and I certainly can't forget about the worst of sinners...me.

God is all about mercy. At the cross of Christ He tipped the needle way over to the mercy side, but in order to grow to maturity as His children we are given the freedom to make choices, and choices always have consequences. Sometimes those consequences require a call for justice. I've been on that side a few times, and I've had to learn that sometimes justice is the greatest form of mercy. I hope I can help Jon see it the same. God is mercy, grace