Charles Roberts drove a milk truck picking up milk from dairy farms around the Amish community of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania in the United States. One day in 2006, Roberts drove up to a one room school house, entered the building with a gun. He sent the boys and adults outside. He lined up 10 girls and shot them, killing five. He then turned the gun on himself. The horrific crime shook the deeply religious community as would be expected. But what happened over the subsequent days, weeks and months was not expected.
It began with the Amish families in Nickel Mines attending the funeral services for Charles, giving comfort to his widow and children. They also prevented the media from intruding on the event. Later the community, including parents of some of the victims, supported Charles’ Mother, Terri, when she fought breast cancer. Over Christmas a bus load of Amish children arrived at Terri’s home to sing Christmas Carols. Terri responded by having friends to her home for a get together. While the town still remembers and suffers through what happened on that day in 2006, they have not let hate take over their souls. They have forgiven..they have shown mercy. And all are healing.
That same year, 2006, 20 year old Matt Swatzell had just finished a long shift at the fire department. He fell asleep while driving home and struck June Fitzgerald, who was pregnant, and her 19 month old daughter, Faith. Faith survived, while June and her baby did not. June’s husband petitioned the court for a reduced sentence for Matt and the two remain friends seeing each other on a regular basis.
The Israelite community was saved from slavery by God as He led them out of Egypt and into the promised land of Canaan. Along the way they rebelled against God, falling away, coming back and falling away again. In the land of Canaan they alternated between following Him and then following idols. Each time they fell, God called them back, remembering the promise He made to Abraham. In Hosea from today’s reading he refers to their piety as a moving cloud and morning dew that passes away. But God stayed true to his covenant.
The tax collector went to the Temple to pray. A place that I would assume he was not welcome due to the gravity of his offenses against the Jews. Tax collectors were notorious for their corruption and taking advantage of their position by over-collecting taxes. So to come to the temple area took a great deal of humility on his part. But more importantly, it took a willingness to admit his sins and ask for help..for forgiveness…for mercy from God.
I hate doing projects around the house. I mean HATE it! I think it stems from not living up to my Father’s expectations when he asked me to do certain chores when I was young. So, I feel like I have to be perfect and, when I am not, it gets me angry at myself. Then I can lash out at people around me. Particularly my loved ones. Particularly my wife. But does she get angry and walk away, never speaking to me again? Nope. She may get irritated but she always forgives. Even when I may not apologize like I should. She shows me mercy.
Adam and Eve sinned in the garden by not being obedient to God’s wishes. And mankind had continued sinning through the millennia that followed. So much evil, in fact, that all the sacrifices of all the goats, sheep, and cattle could not suffice to meet the gravity of their offenses. What could they..we..offer to convince God that we still wish to abide by the covenant, the relationship, we had with Him? The answer? Nothing. There was nothing that WE could do to bring us back. But there was something that HE could do.
God became man and became the ultimate sacrifice for past sins by giving himself up for us through His death on the cross. ” Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ” (Romans Chapter 5: 7-8)
And more than this, his sacrifice continues through today. We continue to sin, even knowing that our sins are what put Jesus on the Cross. But God’s love for us abounds so greatly that he continues to die for us whenever we drift away. We merely need to take our contrite hearts to Him and ask for forgiveness. We do not need to slaughter sheep and goats. We merely need to die to ourselves. Show the humility and sorrow of the tax collector. Or confess the arrogance of the Pharisee. And God will turn our hearts of stone into a new heart. One of flesh and feeling.
He will show us forgiveness…He will show us mercy.
