“Mercy is a voluntary sorrow that
joins itself to the suffering of another.”
Gregory
of Nyssa, 4th century
Octavia Hill was an Evangelical poverty-fighter who lived in
the slums of
London in the 1800s. She was
well-known for chastising the Church for being “too willing to help the poor,
and not willing to know them.” We, too, can often be charged similarly. After
all, helping poor people is easier, and less messy and inconveniencing, than
knowing them. We can help at arms-length, from the opposite side of the soup
kitchen line. Our interaction is clinical, sterile, safe, distanced. To
befriend the poor — now that takes time and emotional energy! Yet God calls us
to entangle our lives with the lives of the poor in relational, holistic
ministries (ministries that address the needs of the whole person — physical,
emotional, and spiritual). He calls us to the true mercy Gregory of Nyssa
defined; the willingness to “suffer with.”
Even when we do not have the opportunity to engage in
long-term, relational ministry with a poor person, we are to attempt to “know”
them as much as possible. In large measure, this means acknowledging the image
of God in them. It means treating them with dignity, even in fleeting
interactions. We can be tempted by our fears or even repulsions to not
acknowledge the poor, but rather, see them as faceless. I fell into this
temptation in India.
I felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of dirty,
impoverished residents and the filth that lined every dusty road. I was
repulsed by the garish Hindu temples, the piles of animal waste, the odors. I
was ashamed of my feelings, but found myself shrinking from having contact with
“the masses.” It was difficult for me to see in them the image of God.Read more
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