This week, we’ve considered the virtue of Justice.  But is there ever a time when something other than Justice is called for?  Surely, I’m not suggesting that we should ever hope for injustice…?  But what about mercy?  Must we always insist that everyone get exactly what they deserve in order to uphold the virtue of Justice?

After the Civil War, President Lincoln issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which granted pardons to ex-Confederates who had fought against the Union, if they were willing to swear allegiance to the United States.  President Washington pardoned the participants in the Whiskey Rebellion, who had risen up in armed opposition to the whiskey tax, believing it to be an abuse of federal authority. 

Some might say these criminals should have gotten what they deserved.  That the extension of mercy was an injustice.  Be careful what you wish for. 

In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Portia observes that we are most like God “when mercy seasons justice,” and she offers this caution: “Though justice be thy plea, consider this, that in the course of justice, none of us should see salvation: we do pray for mercy; and that same prayer doth teach us all to render the deeds of mercy.”

The Apostle James puts it simply: “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”  Justice is a virtue.  We must not stand for injustice.  But, in your pursuit of it, never forget that there are times when you have prayed for mercy—indeed, I’ve seen you begging for it from your teachers from time to time.  That same prayer should teach us all to render the deeds of mercy to others as well.