“Mercy triumphs over judgment.” James 2:13 

There is a story about one of Napolean’s soldiers who committed an offense the dictator believed was worthy of execution. Upon learning of her son’s fate, the mother of the condemned soldier traveled to the battlefield to find Napolean. She pleaded for him to have mercy on her son.  

Napolean replied, “Your son does not deserve mercy!” 

The mother responded, “Sir, if he deserved it, it would not be mercy.” 

Napolean spared the soldier’s life. 

This Sunday we will look at the story of the Prodigal Son and while I won’t spend much time on the elder son in the story, he does play an important role. He represents religious people, or at least what can happen to religious people. He spent his life deserving mercy. He faithfully worked for his father which made him intolerant of a brother who wasted his father’s property. Now, that brother had a huge change of heart and life. He returned home. But the elder brother reacted as if he regretted the fact. 

Nothing destroys mercy like a deserving life. Living as if all we have, or will have, depends solely on us, can make us judgmental of others we believe aren’t as deserving. We can become resentful of those who haven’t put in the time like us. And most importantly, our hearts can dry up without our realizing it. 

The best way to keep a heart fresh is to practice mercy, which means offering people things we don’t think they deserve. After all, how many times have we been such recipients? 

---