A Year-Long Journey Through the Sermon on the Mount: Week 9

Chapter 9 – The Merciful

 

People wonder why the churches are so empty. Attendance has been declining for decades, and the pandemic certainly did a number on the aged church community. A lot of us just don’t seem to be recovering. There’s a wish to return to the past, to when the pews were full, and all the kids were there for Sunday school.

 

There are two things that could possibly be aiding the decline in church membership. One that is often discussed is how little we talk about Jesus outside of the church walls. We don’t evangelize. Evangelizing has become such a dirty word that people just don’t do it. So how are people supposed to be interested in going to church if we won’t even talk about it? If you don’t talk about Jesus, how do you explain why you go to church?

 

The second one is that the church has moved from a place where people gathered, where community existed. It was a family. Church folks did everything together – from barbeques to baby showers. Then cities got bigger. Attendance declined. Reliance on church family went by the wayside. So, a change began, a movement towards “not your grandmother’s church”. It got flashy and musical and big.

 

As time went on, the decline continued because the church lost the trust of the people. People just don’t trust the church anymore. There’s been so much harm and damage done to society by churches, in the name of churches, in the name of God…why would people trust the church?

 

Back on January 30, the Rt. Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, the Bishop of Washington, delivered the 2025 Inauguration Prayer Service Address. It was a moving sermon that called for unity, dignity, honesty, humility, compassion, and, most importantly, mercy. She ended her sermon with these words,

“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families, some who fear for their lives. And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, and temples. I ask you to have mercy on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands, to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love. and walk humbly with each other and our God for the good of all people. The good of all people in this nation and the world.”

 

Such a simple concept – to have mercy on others. But it caused such an outrage. People cried out, “How dare do you talk to the president that way?” Instead, they should have been saying, “Yes, we should have mercy on our fellow human beings. Yes, we should have compassion for people. Yes, we should be able to have empathy for others.” It is through mercy that we can reflect what the church is supposed to be about – loving and caring for our neighbours.

 

The trust is gone because of the harm. We, as Christians, as churchgoers, will have to do some really hard work to regain the trust of society. Trust takes only a moment to be broken and years to regain. But we must do that work. The only way we will regain that trust is through hard work and plenty of mercy.