Rich in Mercy

My family and I celebrated Labor Day last night by watching the final movie of the Harry Potter series. This summer, we have read our way through the final four books (having read the previous 3 over the last couple of years). Now, our reward is watching the movies!

Last night, we watched "The Deathly Hallows, Part 2." There is a scene in that movie that looked exactly like I had pictured it in my mind when we read the book; the break-in into Gringott's.

For those who have not read the book or seen the movies, this scene finds Harry and his friends breaking into a vault at the wizard bank to find a particular item. The reason it is on my mind this morning is that it looks exactly like you would expect the vault of a super-rich villain to look; piles of coins, and stacks of gold EVERYTHING; cups, rings, jewels, you name it...

The problem for Harry and his friends is that a spell has been placed on these items so that any item that is touched magically starts reproducing itself. In the scene, the room quickly fills with rapidly multiplying gold cups, rings, and other items...the more they touch, the more the room fills. In their frantic and desperate search for one particular item, they end up swallowed in a mountain of gold. The picture on this blog post is from this scene in the movie.

God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. Ephesians 2:4–5

In my heart, I imagine God's mercy is like this. Certainly, God is RICH in mercy to begin with; but then, as we stumble around, that mercy multiplies. In our frantic and desperate search for meaning, peace, joy, and forgiveness...we end up swallowed by the riches of God's love. As a parent, I know the feeling of watching my children make mistakes; sometimes frantic and desperate mistakes...all the while my heart swells with love for them because they don't know any better. How I long to wrap them in my arms as they struggle...and this is just my imperfect human love...nothing when compared with the Love that swallows me as I struggle.

Today, may we be swallowed in the riches of God's mercy...as we stumble, may we sense it multiplying all around us...and may this mountain of mercy give us what we need to show mercy to others as well.