When I was a kid, we had a huge backyard. One summer my dad put together a jungle gym for us four boys. We had loads of fun climbing it and especially jumping off of it.
One afternoon we were inspired to play superheros. I jumped off with a big shout, “Superman!” When I landed my mouth was full of blood – I had bit my tongue while shouting and landing. I had a hard time calling out for help, but my mom quickly figured it out and mercifully took care of me.
Sometimes when people get hurt, they have a hard time asking for help. Not just because of bitten tongues, though. Sometimes people are wounded in such a way that they drive away the very people who could help them. Sometimes we can know how to help them, but they make it really hard to do so. What to do?
In the gospels we read that Jesus came across a man calling out for mercy, a dangerous exile who had terrorized the region, who was tormented within. The authorities tried to bind him hand and foot with chains to keep him out of sight and sound. His cries echoed off the hills as he cut himself with the ragged stones. What would you do with a dangerous man like him?
Jesus musters up his power and commands the tormenting spirit to come out of the man. It resists, begging Jesus not to torture him. Jesus asks him, “What is your name?” he replies, “My name is Legion for we are many.” The demons beg Jesus not to be sent out of the area, and so he casts them out of the man into a large herd of pigs feeding on the nearby hillside.
When Jesus cast Legion out of the exiled man, he was not only healing him, but giving him a glimpse of what can happen when his kingdom comes. Mercy is is how Jesus subverts the rule of tormenting spirits, and mercy is how the tortured are transformed. Mercy is what triumphs in Jesus’ kingdom.
Everyday we come across people who are crying out for mercy in some way. They may not necessarily use those words, but deep in their soul that is what they cry for. The tormented man who met Jesus on the shoreline was confrontational, anguished, and bleeding. It was not an easy encounter for Jesus. But mercy is what Jesus does. And it’s what he calls us to do. Mercy transforms both ways.
Roman legions had tormented this region for many decades. Rebels were commonly crucified along the highways, reminding the people to submit or die. The pigs of the region were likely sold to the soldiers, thus catching the local citizens in a merciless trap – they made their livelihood off of feeding their enemies.
No wonder the people were afraid and pleaded Jesus to leave immediately. If Jesus was regarded as a king, and he had just sent the legions food-stock into the sea, they feared this was a politically motivated terrorist act. Reprisals would be swift and brutal.
Jesus understood, and he left as they asked. But when the healed exile asked to come with Jesus, he was given a mission: “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
The man healed by Jesus’ mercy was given a mission of mercy: go back to the ones who beat you, chained you, exiled you and proclaim the mercy of God upon them. Teach them the kingdom way of mercy, help them learn to be merciful to their oppressors, just as the exile is doing to his exilers. Mercy transforms both ways.
Whoever you meet, even if they are a difficult person, look to extend them mercy. With patient resolve and firm kindness, through the merciful power of the Spirit of Christ, don’t misunderestimate the healing you can bring to them through listening, being present, even fighting for them. It’s often the least of these that need mercy the most; and it is here where we will find Jesus. Mercy that heals, frees, and sends.
