Loving Mercy

Have you ever wanted something, but someone else got it? Have you ever get upset because a less deserving person experienced mercy? Jesus wants us to rejoice with those who receive God's mercy.

None of us deserve mercy. I know that sounds terrible, but it is true. We are all sinners in need of forgiveness. Mercy by its very nature is impossible to deserve. We need it, but we can't earn it. If we earn it, it isn't mercy.

The good news is that Jesus is full of mercy. We see it all throughout his ministry. It can be seen in the account in which he heals a man's shriveled hand from Mark 3:1-6. The man was likely an object of ridicule and scorn among a people who attributed such circumstances to sin. He was unable to worship in the temple, and he lacked wholeness.

His presences gave the Pharisees an excuse to find fault with Jesus, and they seized upon it. They considered Jesus a law breaker. He could heal the rest of the week, but they thought it was wrong to heal on the Sabbath.

Jesus didn't worry about the crowd's response. He focused on the right thing to do. He ended his suffering by healing him. The Sabbath was a day of rest, and now this man could rest from his torment.

Our response to Jesus' mercy reflects our true feeling toward him. If we, like the Pharisees, get upset when Jesus helps someone we don't like, it shows how little trust him. It demonstrates a deep misunderstanding of who Jesus is.

When we despise mercy, we displease Jesus. It would be better to say we anger and distress him. If we have truly experienced mercy, it will make us merciful.

Mercy is like a muscle. It can be developed. We learn it best when we practice it most on "the least deserving." Who is it that you think doesn't deserve mercy? Why not show them mercy today. It might be hard today, but eventually you will learn to love mercy more and more.

A Cry for Mercy

Psalm 130:1-8 paints a disturbing, yet beautiful picture. It is disturbing because it captures the anguish of a man who feels cut off from God, possibly because of his sin. It beautiful because it reminds us that God's grace is greater than our sin. The psalmist reminds us to trust the Lord for forgiveness and redemption.

In Psalm 130:1-4, The Psalmist opens with a cry for help. The tone is set by his depiction of his plight. He is crying out of the depths. He is overwhelmed, and earnest in his pleas. He feels God isn't paying attention to him. He needs mercy. He feels the weight of his sin and how it threatens to separate him from God. Yet he knows God is merciful, and worthy of reverence.

After calling out to God, the Psalmist commits himself to trust the Lord. He is willing to wait upon the Lord. But this is no passive waiting. His waiting is rooted in a continued trust in God's Word. I imagine him pouring over the Word daily, claiming promises, and awaiting God's deliverance. He is vigilant like a watchman waiting for God to break over the horizon like the sun at dawn.

He is not content to wait alone. No, he calls others to follow him. Although God has not arrived, he still wants others to follow him. One may wonder: Why trust God? The Psalmist offers two reasons. The first is unfailing love. God's lover never fails. God loved humanity so much that he sent Christ to ransom them. The second reason is full redemption. God saves to the uttermost. Those who trust him will be saved from all their sins.

Where are you in your walk? Do you feel cut off from God? Why not commit to trust him? The Psalmist is calling you to follow him in committing to the Lord. Why not accept the forgiveness promised through Christ?

What the Lord Requires

Every society experiences injustice. Corruption is always on the brink of consuming humanity. Israel was not immune to the struggles of a fallen humanity. Injustice had become a way of life. Merchants were using false weights, widows and orphans were being taken advantage of, parents were sacrificing their children to false gods. Darkness was everywhere.

The Lord rose up and challenged his people. His words in Micah 6:1-5, call the people to remember is loving faithfulness. They call them to turn from their rebellion, and to see the foolishness of their ways. Micah, the prophet, is allowed to utter the question in hearts of his listeners: "What does God require?" (see Micah 6:6-7).

The context suggests that Micah's audience felt God demanded to much. As they rattle off items they think will appease him, the offerings grow in size and magnitude. Will there ever be enough? Their quest to appease God doesn't appear to be sincere. It is more of a pay for play theology. They are suggesting that God name the price it would take to overlook their sin.

Again, the prophet speaks, ""He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8).

If we want to do what God requires, we must: act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. That leads me to three questions:

1. What does it mean to act justly? It means to live righteously, and to live righteously we must live by faith. To act justly means that we are walking in obedience to the Lord. It is to value life. It is to defend the weak. It is to let your "yes," mean yes, and your "no," mean no.

2. What does it mean to love mercy? It means that we do more than show mercy. We cultivate it. We rejoice in its display.

3. What does it mean to walk humbly with God? It means we realize that God is God and we are not. It means our confidence is not in our abilities, but in God's grace. It means we stop seeking our own kingdom, and instead pursue his.

If we want to do what God requires, we will act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God? Are you willing to do what the Lord requires?

A Brief Meditation of God's Grace

Here is something worthy of meditation:

But when the goodness of God and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us--not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. He poured out this Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by His grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7).

I recently heard someone say, "Mercy is us not getting what we deserve." I don't know where that line originated, but I found it intriguing. Paul states pretty much the same thing here. We were saved, not by our works of righteousness, but "according to His mercy." In spite of all of our sin, God still had compassion on us.

This is all an act of God's grace. Every blessing that accompanies new life is ours in Christ Jesus. He has bound us to himself in love, and he will not let us go. In Christ, the goodness of God is manifest. His love has been demonstrated. Now, it must be embraced.

He has made us, who believe, new creations. We are justified before God. We are washed of our sin by the Holy Spirit. We are heirs with hope of eternal life. Grace has been shown to us in abundance, and that is something to think about.

What Are These Among So Many?

I read a story, in Saturday's paper, about the recovery of two women trapped in debris from buildings that collapsed during the earthquake that struck Indonesia. The article goes on to state that there are already 715 confirmed dead and nearly 3,000 missing. As I thought about this and other recent natural disasters, my mind kept returning to these two women, and why their recovery is so important. I must admit that I, like the disciple Andrew, began to ask, "But what are these among so many?" Andrew was speaking about five loaves and two fishes and wondering how so little could feed so many (5000 men plus their wives and children). I was speaking about two survivors among possibly thousands of lives lost. Why would two lives spared mean anything in light of the staggering loss?

I can think of at least three reasons why these two lives mean something: they were created in the image of God, God desires that they not perish, but come to repentance, and they restore hope in a devastating situation.

The Bible states that Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. While this image has been marred by Adam's sin, it has not be erased. The image of God within humanity is what separates us from the animals. Animals are not people, even if they possess personality. Human beings are not animals, even if modern scientific classification wrongly claims they are. Humans are the image-bearers, created to reflect the glorious image of God, through righteous stewardship and kingly dominion. Our king and ancestor, Adam, and his wife, Eve, however, but ruin to our race, humanity, by rebelling against the Creator.

The image of God reveals itself to us in many ways. It may come through as our conscience pointing us to what we ought to do or pointing us away from what we ought not to do. It is seen in the ability to love. It is often seen actions, often labeled heroic by bystanders, but seen as duty by those who do them. We see it when a firefighter or police officer enters into a dangerous situation to rescue someone. We see it when a neighborhood bands together to find a missing child. When fallen people, who are typically out of sync with God, do the very things God expects them to do, for the very reasons God expects them to be done, even without thinking, "Gee, I wonder what God would have me to do?," that is when we see the image of God revealed in man. Because of that image, every person, no matter how big or small, rich or poor, young or old, deserves to be valued and treated with dignity.

The Bible also teaches that God patient toward us "not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9). The Lord asks, "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his ways and live?" (Ezek. 18:23, ESV). God sent his Son, Jesus, into the world to redeem the world, and any who come to Christ in faith, for forgiveness and cleansing, will find it.

The question might be asked, "If God doesn't wish any would perish, why were only two survivors found?" I can't answer that question. I can't even say that these two women will ever come to Christ in faith, and thus, find true deliverance from death. All I can say with certainty is that God delights in bringing himself glory through the redemption of sinners. He rejoices when one sinner repents and comes to him.

Thus, the recovery of these two women is analogous to the redemption of mankind. In one sense, these women were lost. They were as good as dead. Death surrounded them on every side. Yet, someone who they could not contact, who they most like didn't expect to find them, burst into their situation and raised them out of death's clutches. Redemption's story is similar to this situation. Humanity was lost. We were dead in our trespasses. Death surrounded us on every side. We had no hope of escape. And then someone we could not contact for help, and certainly didn't expect, burst into our life and pulled us out of death's hands.

Thus, the recovery of these women bring hope to an otherwise hopeless situation. When few thought that any could still be alive, two were found. Others may be out there awaiting recovery. No doubt word of these survivors energized rescue workers. Now as they search frantically through the rubble of their cities, these individuals will keep reminding themselves it happened once, it may happen again. As they uncover victim after victim, their heart will not allow them to give into despair, because the next body just may have a pulse. The rescue workers will press on, is spite of the growing stench and exhaustion that is creeping into their over-labored limbs. They push on because, they can't rest knowing now that their may be survivors.

Again, we can draw a parallel to the Christian life. Believers are called to be search and rescue workers. We must keep plunging into the dark and stench-filled world, seeking survivors buried under the rubble of sin. When someone else is rescued it motivates us to push on. We continue seek the lost, in order to seem them brought from death to life. We can't rest when we might see one more rescued. We must labor on until every rock is overturned, and everyone has had a chance to be rescued.

Ultimately, the rescue of these two women reminds us that life is a gift. We never know which moment will be our last. These two women have been give a new lease on life, I pray that someday, they can rejoice in the Lord for that. Yet, there are many more who could have a new lease of life, if only we tell them about Jesus before it is too late.