Receiving Mercy, Giving Mercy
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13
Years ago, I was talking with a friend about why she had stayed away from church for so long. She was frustrated by the judgmental attitudes she had experienced and said, “I don’t need religion; I just need Jesus.” Over time, I have grown more sensitive to what she meant. There is a real difference between religion and the way Jesus describes following him. He captures that difference in the assignment he gives us in this verse: “Go and learn what this means…”
Jesus draws on the words of Hosea and Isaiah and echoes themes from the Sermon on the Mount. Our religious instincts often push us to follow the rules and look down on those who do not. We divide people into categories—good and bad, big sins and little sins. Murder feels like a big sin; simply disliking someone seems little by comparison. But Jesus dismantles that way of thinking when he says, “I tell you, anyone who hates his brother IS a murder.” Once we begin to grasp the depth of the command, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” those distinctions begin to fade. We all fall short of God’s expectations.
If we believe we are on the “good” side, we begin to see ourselves as righteous. Yet Jesus says he has not come for the righteous. In the end, he does not sort people into good and bad, because apart from God’s mercy, we all fall into the same category–bad. The difference Jesus highlights is not between the morally successful and the morally failing, but between the proud and the humble. He has not come for those who think they have their lives together and that God somehow owes them. He has come for those who know they have sinned and that only God can forgive them. When we recognize our own failures before God, we stop focusing on the sacrifices we think we have made for him and begin to marvel at the sacrifice he made for us. Then, having received his mercy, we are free to extend that same mercy to others.
Lord Jesus, have mercy on me. Forgive my pride, my judgment, and my wandering heart. Teach me to rest in your grace and to marvel again at your sacrifice for me. Make me humble, faithful, and quick to show mercy to others. Keep me close to you each day. Amen.