Mercy Said No!

Image by Michael Sarver via FlickrI just held a stranger's hair out of her face while she threw up a mojito, projectile vomit style into a red bucket at Au Bon Pain.

Context: Tonight, I was meeting a friend for late night coffee when a very drunk young lady met us at the register as we purchased our herbal tea. God had been preparing me all day to meet this young lady. Montages of my disobedient past had been flashing through my head earlier that day. Freshly recalling the memories of the compromising situations I put myself in, bad choices with men, unwise use of substances for temporary pleasure, made my heart tender toward this young woman and the hundreds of other college and teenage kids rushing past the glass window of the coffee shop. The situations I put myself in did not yield this particular consequence, or many other consequences I could have been subjected to, not because I was better, or more virtuous than  this young lady, but because of the grace of God alone.



It was late, and the staff at ABP, as we affectionately called Au Bon Pain in college, was laughing at the situation. Other girls possibly from the same school as the young woman remarked from afar that it was "messed up that her friends would leave her like that".

She was clearly made up to go out, with a tight, cute dress on. She appeared pretty put togeather, so I didn't really notice her at first. But her unsettling swaying made me look into her eyes. "Are you O.K?" I asked. She didn't respond, I may have heard something to the effect of "I don't usually drink",  but mostly she just continued to sway back and forth. "You should drink some water", I urged. We got her some water, she drank it, while confusing our tea cups with her cup. As she sipped the water she was encouraging us to drink as well, as if she were challenging to chug a shot of camomile.

To make a long story short, she sat down and eventually passed out. I ran to her to see if she was still breathing, and saw she started foaming at the mouth. We urged someone to call 9-1-1. Shortly after, she started making large deposits of green leaves and lots of clear liquid on the floor, and eventually in the red bucket provided by the ABP staff. A tear ran down her face as she vomited.

Mercy Said, No!
I was grieved by what I saw tonight. That was someone's daughter, left alone in a treacherous state after an attempt to drown her sorrows in alcohol, or in an attempt to fit in. She was already subject of public humiliation and the physical consequences.Without intervention, she could have been vulnerable to robbery, rape, or worse.  A few more drinks, and that could have been me. Hanging out with the wrong crowd, that could have been me. If someone had slipped something in my drink, that could have been me.

Sometimes I get so excited about God, and being in His presence, with people who want to do His will, that I forget what He brought me from. I forget that in an infant like faith, I thought salvation was enough. I was convinced that just to get into heaven, a fire insurance-like faith was sufficient to live a good life. But then, I fell in love with Christ and His lovingkiness, His friendship and His mercy. And now I know it anew.

There is a song sung by CeCe Winans that articulated my heart on the ride home:
 
I was just a child when I felt the savior leading. I was drawn to what I could not understand.
And for the cause of Christ, I have spent my days believing, 
that what He'd have me be is who I am.
But, as I come to see the weaker side of me,
I realize, that grace is what I need.
When sin demanded justice for my soul,
Mercy said No!
I'm not gonna let you go!
I'm not gonna let you slip away,
You don't have to be afraid!
Mercy said, no!
Sin will never take control!
Life and death stood face to face, 
and darkness tried to steal my heart away.
Thank you, Jesus.
Mercy said, no!


Now that I know that I need his mercy and His grace to help in a way that keeps me from ending up like the young woman who met an ill fate tonight, God showed me that I need his mercy to not forget.

His Spirit, the memory of my own sin, and the grace of God towards me prepared me to care for a stranger.

 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us
Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)

May we emulate you, Lord. May we love, like you love, and die to ourselves, for those who don't know you, or act like they do-- knowing you did the same for us. Amen.