1 Peter 2:9–10 (ESV)
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
We hear the word “justice” far more than we do “mercy”. We all groan for justice, as we should. We long for wrongs to be put right and for evil to be punished…. until we come to realize the depths of injustice within our very own hearts. That’s where we encounter our need for mercy — and the God who offers it to us. It’s the kind of mercy that loves the liar, forgives its enemy, and seeks out the one in hiding, and is waiting for us every morning after even the darkest night. It’s freely available to any and all, given by grace through faith in Jesus Christ – who bore the punishment we deserve so that mercy could triumph over judgement.
A commons is a shared space of beauty and purpose, rights and responsibilities, care and commission. It’s also an apt description of Jesus’ church – a place where all are welcome and necessary. The very mercy that saved us, also sends us into our community to be a force for the common good for the glory of God as we extend to others what we have received from His generous hand.
Because we have been rescued by the magnificent mercy of God we delight in it through passionate worship, fervent prayer, intentional spiritual formation, using our God-given gifts, and enjoying the freedom we have in Christ at every opportunity that we get to gather in His name.
As disciples of Christ, our everyday lives display God's glory in demonstrating the outcomes of the Gospel. It impacts how we spend our money, use our time, conduct our relationships, serve the poor and marginalized, etc. By living as citizens of heaven in submission to King Jesus, we get to show others that God’s counter-cultural upside-down Kingdom is in fact, right-side up!
Christianity is both show and tell. We therefore unashamedly use our mouths to proclaim the Gospel –– the good news that people can be reunited with God the Father through the sacrifice of His Son and be filled by the Holy Spirit! This is done publicly at our Sunday or mid-week gatherings, as well as personally when we intentionally express the joy of our relationship with Jesus where we live, work, study and play.
