The Way of Tov: Mercy
For Meditation
The Way of Tov is the way God calls his people to live so that God's goodness will be on display to the world. What is that way? "He has shown you, O mortal, what is Tov. And what does the Lord require of you? To do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” God desires his people to offer a vision of his goodness to the surrounding nations, and he says very simply that they can do that by being people of justice, mercy and humility.
This Sunday we'll look at what it means to "love mercy." Mercy is the Hebrew word Hesed, which means loving-kindness, faithfulness, or loyal love. We'll look at the ways God shows hesed to us, and then calls us to people of hesed to one another and our neighbors.
Our preacher this week is Dr. Amy Sherman. Amy directs the Sagamore Institute’s Center on Faith in Communities (CFIC). CFIC is a capacity building initiative for congregations and faith-based and community-based organizations. Its aim is to help leaders invest more strategically and effectively in their communities as they address poverty and injustice. Amy is the author of Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good (IVP, 2011) and Agents of Flourishing: Pursuing Shalom in Every Corner of Society (IVP, 2022). She also works closely with Made to Flourish (MTF), a pastors’ network for the common good focused on issues of faith and work. Her book on that topic, Kingdom Calling, won honors in 2013 as Christianity Today’s choice as Book of the Year in the Christian Living category.
Lamentations 3:21–24 (ESV)
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”