But the messengers of God, ever stoic and succinct, are not deterred by the chaos. They deliver their message with all seriousness. After all, it’s the salvation of the world they’re helping to arrange. I find it encouraging that they do not call out Abraham’s ineptitude or indulge Sarah’s suspicion. What we find uncanny and unlikely, God takes very seriously.

The mercy Jesus calls us to is not a feeling. It is a direction, a posture — toward the person at the edge of the crowd, toward the one kept at arm's length, toward the grief everyone else is politely stepping around. Mercy will always insist on belonging.