Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I’m Jemima L. Yeggs, a.k.a. Stinker.  Pink Lady Apple Yeggs, my landlady and my auntie, wants to read about how younger people, especially couples respond to what the Bible says.  And she wants to know how God is at work at Lily the Pink.

To avoid the rat’s nest in my hair, as Arabella characterized it, I had Menzie with me in the restroom to help me with my hair, and tell a few secrets.  I did fine last week except for one stroke of the brush in a spot that I could not see, and Arabella pounced.

But this week, I was welcomed by the Caseys, but the rest of the Turtle Team was on the road, Easy (my husband), B.B., No Joe, Amazon, and Skinny.  They were going to give Skinny some time behind the wheel so that Easy could run the radar, letting B.B. relax a bit and just be the videographer and professorial oversight (required by state law if the driver was not yet 25 and with a commercial driver’s license).  And we checked with the state highway patrol and a graduate assistant counts, even though B.B. is not twenty-five.  Wait until next year.

We again had the entire Flintheart softball infield: Josie, Margie, Carla, Menzie, Brooke, and Sophie.  All with their boyfriends except Josie, the catcher, who explained that her one-year-old son, Daniel, was all she needed for now.

Arabella and Michael were playing with the storm chaser babies: Stormie, Misty, and Joan.

I took in a deep breath.  I said a little prayer, and then I led everyone in prayer.

I looked at Emmett.

Emmett led his choir.  The lead was sung by Carla and Arabella.  At alto, there was Menzie and Mercedes Lothrop.  At tenor, Samuel, Michael, and Emmett.  And baritone, Dr. Ben.  Menzie sang a solo for one verse.  Samuel and Menzie sang a duet for another verse.  Then Carla sang a verse with the choir singing the chorus.  The rest of us just listened.  The song was one that I had never heard before, God of Mercy and Compassion.

Samuel said, “Aunt Jemima, what attribute of God are we studying this time?”

I had to catch my breath. “We are studying God’s Mercy.”

With Easy, a.k.a. Mr. Dictionary, away on storm chasing duties, I said, “And before Arabella asks, Mercy, according to Oxford Language, means ‘compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm’.  But a biblical definition might include that the punishment or harm is warranted.  But I would like to add that there is another element that needs to be discussed in that we might have no means to correct the wrong that is done.”

Arabella asked, “Thank you, Aunt Jemima.”

Dr. Ellie (Exodus 34:4-7) “So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’”

Dr. Ellie said, “This bothers me.  Elsewhere, it says that we are responsible for our own sins and not the sin of our fathers.”

I huffed, “Great, this comes up when Joseph is out chasing storms.  No, let’s go a different route.  Let’s answer that question with an example.”

Blaise (2 Samuel 12:7-12) “Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
“’This is what the Lord says: “Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.”’”

I said, “I knew that would be a long one, but I picked someone that could read it.  And that only shows the punishment for David.  Right after this, he confesses his sin and repents, but God’s punishment is final.  The child that Bathsheba just delivered will die, but there are other things that will also happen.”

Zuzka asked, “Who sleeps with David’s wives?  That is terrible.”

Otto (2 Samuel 16:20-22) “Absalom said to Ahithophel, ‘Give us your advice. What should we do?’
^“Ahithophel answered, ‘Sleep with your father’s concubines whom he left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself obnoxious to your father, and the hands of everyone with you will be more resolute.’ So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.”

Otto said, “But Zuzka asked the question.”

I sighed, “I want people to ask questions and if I keep picking on the person who asked the questions, people might quit asking questions.”

Otto nodded, “That sounds fair.”

Zuzka said, “But this says concubines.”

I replied, “It was just like Jacob and the servants of his wives, Bilhah and Zilpah.  David probably slept with those servants.  But the point here is that Absalom had murdered his brother Amnon.  He set himself up as king.  But Amnon had raped Absalom’s sister, Tamar.  But in Dr. Ellie’s reading, who had sinned?”

Zuzka said, “David, but Tamar is raped.  Amnon is killed.  And Absalom molests David’s concubines.  But David sinned.”

I sighed, “Have you ever heard about the apple not falling far from the tree?  Well, Amnon saw his Dad take Bathsheba, so Amnon thought he could take Tamar.  Absalom felt that if no one was going to punish Amnon, he would.  Amnon and Absalom saw particular behaviors or traits in their father that they emulated.  Thus, the sins of the father are passed down to the third and fourth generations.  Each generation is punished according to their own sins, but they learned that kind of bad behavior from dear old Dad, when dear old Dad did something he should not be doing.  It’s sad, really.  When David did all those good things, the Bible does not record that this son or that son was faithful in doing the good things.  Dr. Ellie?  Does that clear that up?”

She nodded.

Emmett (2 Chronicles 5:13-14) “The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.”

Emmett looked like he was about to say something.  But then, he stopped.

I smiled, “The point here is that God wants to give Mercy.  His love endures forever.  That is why things get in such a mess.  God gives us a lot of rope in which to hang ourselves.  And when it gets really bad, some of us that want to do bad things anyway, are prone to see the bad things that Dad did.  And I do not say that from experience in that my Dad is a preacher.”

Margie said, “I know what you mean.  My Dad is a theology professor, and he is straight laced to the hilt, but I was tempted to sleep with a couple of guys once, and I am having a hard time getting that memory out of my head.”

I nodded, “And you did not succumb to that temptation, but you do not remember what you did right, only what you almost did wrong.  Sometimes that kind of thing takes a while to sort out.  Who else knows of God’s mercy?”

Penny said, “Blake made his confession last week, and I am now expecting.  That is definitely God’s Grace and Mercy.  With the results of what Blake did, we might have never been in a position to have a baby.”

I smiled, “Yes, that is a different way to look at the sin being passed to the next generation, due to addiction, money troubles, and stuff like that, but let me clear something up.  Mercy is withholding punishment while Grace is giving freely to someone who did not deserve that gift.  In Blake and Penny’s case, there were elements of both.  Blake’s sin was taking pills that might lead to him never being a father.  Being forgiven for the sin did not remove the damage; he was forgiven.  But now, his body had to repair itself, and there was a bit of a miracle there, and the Grace is in the form of an expectant child.”

Zuzka asked, “Otto is released from prison, but he did not receive God’s mercy until he accept Jesus into his heart.  But I make mistake.  I know not to accept a free meal from stranger, but stranger drug me and put me on ship to America.  God’s mercy was when police emancipate us.  I am no longer trapped in that sinful life as sex slave.  But now I am Mom’s project manager, I marry wonderful baker who put bun in oven, and I expect bun in oven to come out soon.  All that Grace.”

I smiled, “That’s a good way to put it, Zuzka.  Anyone else?”

Dr. Ben said, “I need to confess something.  When Ellie first came to T.R.U.S.T., we went on a storm chase together.  We slept together.  We told the students that we had at the time that we were consenting adults, but I stopped reading the Bible.  I got careless about going to church.  If my Mom did not mention it, we did not go.  So, my carnal activity affected my Christian life in a really bad way.  I thought marrying Ellie would work, but she wanted to play the field at the time and my mother said that I would not marry such a wanton woman.  But then, Jemima and Ellie had their girl talks.  And when she became a Christian, I had to confess that I had drifted away.  I rededicated my life, and then I had the guts to bring Ellie home to meet my mother.  My Mercy was that God forgave me of back sliding, if you would call it that.  And the Grace is that Mom and Ellie love each other.  I think they gang up on me at times.”

Dr. Ellie shrugged, “It’s a girl thing!”

Angus said, “I am much like Dr. Ben.  I was a Christian, but having been on the road with my brother and his band, there were plenty of ladies to sleep with.  I had convinced myself that that was okay, in some kind of twisted way.  Then, my brother got sick and was dying, and I came here to look for Cassie.  And then I bumped into the head of security here.  Seeing how God had forgiven all the ladies here at Lily the Pink, most of them, I suppose…  I realized that I had sins to confess myself.  And then my Grace was Missy.  Then, when little Sophie found the secrets that Missy was hiding, I received more gifts in Menzie, Lauren and Samuel.”

I said, “Oh, no, you mentioned the name of our bus alarm.”

Lauren came from behind Menzie and patted her on the knee, “Mommie!  The buses!”

I smiled, “As we have been doing, let’s end with the Mizpah benediction.  Everyone, bow your heads in prayer.  “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.’” (Genesis 31:49b)

Carla came up and hugged me.

I asked, “What is that all about?”

Carla shrugged, “I don’t know.  Maybe it’s how we should feel when God gives us His Mercy. And then the Grace is just extra.  I owe it all to God, but Mommie Pinkie helped and you are helping to keep Brenton and me straight.  Besides, I wanted to volunteer to carry Stormie to the bus.”

I assured her that I could use the help, especially with Easy out on a storm chase.

Credits

I am now starting to use the David E. Fessenden study guides for The Attributes of God, A Journey into the Father’s Heart by A.W. Tozer, in two volumes. Again, no quotations, just some Scriptures that keep the flow going.

Blaise did not whine about the long reading.  Maybe that was a bit of Mercy.

And here is God of Mercy and Compassion sung by Harmonius Chorale Ghana, with solos by Mitchelle Ajiegbe and Moses Torto.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.