Clear glass bead reflecting the larger landscape – a parable of the human being reflecting Jesus. Photo credit unknown, Pxfuel. Creative Commons Zero.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
In her church community, Erica met a Korean-American man named Frank Kim.[1] They later dated and married. A student at Harvard at the time, Frank planned to work in the business world. But shortly before graduation, he felt led to become a minister. The two married and took ministry assignments in France and then Japan, then Southeast Asia. In 1991, Erica and Frank’s passion for world missions led them to become founding board members for HOPE (Helping Other People Everywhere) Worldwide, ministering to people in vulnerable circumstances of poverty.
By the late 1990’s they were directing team efforts all over Southeast Asia. They helped set up a rehabilitation center in Thailand for women in prostitution; teachers teach professional skills to girls who wanted to leave the sex trade. Other team efforts included providing social work to people in ‘Smokey Mountain,’ a Manila garbage dump that was turned into government-assisted housing; helping underground house churches in Vietnam; and starting a hospital in Cambodia.
God always commands His people to be like Him. By His mercy, God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt, then told the Israelites to show mercy by delivering people from enslavement to debt (e.g. Dt.15:1 – 17), as debt was ‘the new Egypt’ (still very relevant today). God gave Israel a new garden land, then told the Israelites to re-gift portions of the garden land to others (Lev.25). ‘Mercy’ was an expression of love shown by forgiving another person’s debts, sharing with the needy, and defending the dignity of the vulnerable (Lev.25; Dt.15:1 – 18; 24:10 – 24). God told Israel that He would show them mercy – in the form of rain and harvest – as they showed others mercy (e.g. Dt.11). In fact, God had already shown Israel mercy; their ongoing experience of His mercy hung on showing mercy to others. Similarly, Jesus called his followers to live by mercy, to live in the realm of his mercy especially towards others. For Jesus himself is God’s mercy, to us and to others. We cannot separate receiving mercy and sharing mercy, as if we could divide Jesus up and take him in pieces.
‘Purity in heart,’ said Danish Christian philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, ‘is to will one thing.’ Each person longs to be a united, whole person because we were made in the image of God, called to bear His likeness. As Jesus restores to us that trajectory of life, we are to will the love and life of Jesus, however that looks for us in our particular circumstances. Jesus called that ‘the kingdom of God’ because the reign of God over human beings, and in human beings, started with himself. While Israel knew of being ‘pure in heart’ as an ideal (e.g. Ps.24:3 – 4), ultimately only Jesus perfected the human heart in himself, realigned by the Spirit towards the Father, thus inaugurating the new covenant (e.g. Jer.31:31 – 34 quoted in Heb.8:8 – 13). So as we allow Jesus to live out his life and love through us by his Spirit, we participate in his purity of heart.
As we live with Jesus, we ‘shall see God’ at work in ourselves and others. We will see through people’s faults down to the need. We will see their strengths and the flickerings of God’s image. And there we will see Jesus’ transforming, healing power at work.
[1] Erica Shinya Kim’s story was distilled from an article by Claudia Cangilla McAdam, “Change of Heart,” Christianity Today, March/April 2007; now available here: https://www.icocinvestigation.com/Documents/EricaKimArticle.pdf
On the King's Errand 