Back to the Basics

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide all nations upon the earth. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.  Psalm 67:3–5

A teacher of the law knew better than anyone else that the Samaritan had bad theology.  And Jesus knew that he knew it.  And He himself told the Samaritan woman, You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.  But that didn’t, and doesn’t matter.  

What does matter is mercy. 

We get off track sometimes by the second question, “Who is my neighbor?”, but the story starts with the first question, “What must I do to receive eternal life?” The answer to the second question is, “the one who showed mercy,” and the answer to the first question is “Go and do likewise.”

This is not a one shot theological point.  We are all familiar with Micah 6:8: He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.   But do we remember it?  

We forget that For God so loved the world.  We forget that He is not willing that any should perish.  We forget that somehow, in ways that are a mystery to us, that He guides all nations upon the earth.  But one day, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is LORD.  No purpose of His will be thwarted.

Let all the peoples praise Him.  And let me show mercy.  To each and every people.  He is the One who will judge with equity.  Not I.