Reminders: Mercy and Compassion
by Ardith Hoff
There are many stories in the Bible that demonstrate the concept of mercy. The first one that comes to mind is the story of the Good Samaritan. That story is particularly instructive in light of the history of the time. Jews and Samaritans were not on the same social level. The Samaritans were considered inferior. Yet when a Jewish man was beaten and left for dead, it was not his own who came to his aid. It was a person who by all rights might have hated him. The story illustrates the fact that help came from someone who had been discriminated against by the very group from whom the wounded man came. The Samaritan had compassion, provided aid and comfort and extended his help even further by providing lodging as a place for the man to heal.
Another story is in the book of Ruth. As you may know, Ruth was the daughter-in-law of Naomi, a widow who sought help from Boas, a relative of her dead husband. Ruth, the widow of Naomi’s son, went with Naomi to assist her, even though she was from an entirely different culture. Ruth worked so hard at trying to provide for her mother-in-law that she attracted the attention of the landowner, Boas. He, in turn extended unusual generosity and mercy toward the two women by allowing Ruth to glean extra grain from his fields.
In both stories we see people crossing ethnic lines to help strangers. We see God opening the hearts of people who had no obligation to extend themselves, so that they not only helped those in need, but also went above and beyond what was normally expected. The lesson for us in these stories is that no matter who someone is, we are to come to the aid of anyone in need if we can. God is at work in both stories. He opened hearts, and he can open ours too if we let Him.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4