Lord Have Mercy

The Litany of Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus begins simply with the Kyrie Eleison.

Lord, have mercy on us
Christ, have mercy on us
Lord, have mercy on us

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Just a few simply words, but to say them at the start of this prayer is to imply a very simple fact – we need to receive the mercy of God because we’re all sinners.

Recently in the UK we’ve had our fair share of those who ought to know better denying this very fact – that we need God’s mercy. There is a rejection of the idea that God is in any sense wrathful towards yours and my every day sin. Earlier this year I wrote:

Firstly, let’s get the whole “Is God a God of wrath?” thing out of the way. Roman 9:22 is a great starting point to show that God is wrathful towards sin – he has to be if he is holy and loving. See how God’s wrath is described in Romans 2:5, Romans 3:5 (interestingly – the argument Paul uses in this verse is that it is entirely incorrect to accuse God of being unloving when he is wrathful against sinful humans), Romans 4:15 and Romans 13:4-5 (interesting theology that I should try and unpack at sometime) just to start with one book of the Bible. God’s wrath against sin which leads to his judgement of it is the one thing that is totally obvious when reading Scripture.

The opening words of the Litany therefore send us back to the very reason Jesus came to die – because I’m a sinner and I need forgiveness and mercy from God.

I’m reminded of the way that Jeffrey John mishandled the Tower of Siloam in Luke 13 last Easter. Dr John seemingly stopped his exegesis halfway through verse 3 and then picked up again at verse 4, stopping halfway through 5, so his version read:

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them-do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no!

Of course the full text reads:

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them-do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.“

Jesus had a very clear understanding of where human beings stood in front of God – they were guilty and unless they handled that guilt they were in deep stuck. Judgement doesn’t just come to the really nasty people, it comes to all of us for “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.

So the Litany begins with an imploring of Jesus to have mercy on us, because we are sinners and nothing we can do can possibly save us from the fate that awaits us. We need the mercy of Jesus. Thank goodness that he “graciously hears us”…