Everything in Between: Righteousness & Mercy

Today we sit in the tension between things that seem opposed to each other—not to solve it, but to honor it. Between righteousness and mercy, justice and forgiveness, we’re invited not to choose sides but to dwell in the holy space between. Like Zacchaeus, who climbs a fig-laden sycamore tree and ends up the host of Jesus, we find that true transformation doesn’t come from punishment or exclusion, but from the mercy that leads to repair. Justice isn’t about keeping score—it’s about making things right so we can live in mutuality. Forgiveness isn’t about saying “it’s okay”; it’s about saying “you belong.” We are entangled, one body, one community, fed by bread and by grace. And if salvation can come to Zacchaeus’ house, it can come to ours, too.