Sacrificing Mercy

Sitting W/ Sinners

Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

Mercy imitates God and disappoints Satan.

John Chrysostom

This morning, we are going to be in Matthew 9:10-13; 36-38. God has really begun to impress upon me what Matthew seems to be making a big point out of in this section of Scripture. Let’s begin by looking at a couple of questions, and then diving in to defining terms and getting a grasp of what is going on here.

What drove Jesus to spend time with the sinners of His day?

Are we equally willing to spend time with the “sinners” of our day? If not, what is stopping us?

Matthew 9:10–13 “While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Now when he heard this, he said, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.””

I grew up in an environment where I was indirectly taught that truth was almost supposed to hurt, and that almost all the time! I had the understanding that it didn’t matter how bluntly or harshly I delivered the truth, because if people got hurt or offended it was their own fault or sin keeping them from the truth. I was well on my way to becoming the guy that wears the “pro x, y, z…how else can I offend you today?”

Yet, what I eventually learned by God’s patience and grace is that Mercy is an essential part of the Christian lifestyle. And, as funny or even relatable as those shirts or media can occasionally be, the are absolutely devoid of any love or mercy for the individual made in the image of God. Yes, it is wrong to do as some have done and sacrifice truth on the altar of so-called love and kindness. However, it is equally as warped and wicked to sacrifice mercy on the altar of truth. It does not matter how “right” we are, if we are not living as imitators of God — part of that means being merciful and compassionate to the broken and lost.

How would you define Mercy to a person who had no concept of it?

I have heard it defined as, “not giving someone due them for their wrongdoing.” So, mercy can be shown when someone hurts you or someone you love, and you respond in love and kindness.

Before you were a Christian, or when you were going through a difficult time in life as a Christian, who is someone who has shown you great mercy? How did it impact your life?

I can remember one time, when I was doing my mission work in Alaska, that my mentor and I had had several conversations about a certain sin I was struggling with. I don’t remember the exact question he had asked me regarding it, but the answer I had given him was not the complete and full truth. In the next meeting, the portions of the which I had failed to disclose came to light. Instead of lecturing me or raising his voice to me, he calmly expressed that he was in fact angry and disappointed with me, but he did not lash out at me in the anger he felt. He did not say things or react in ways which could very well have been justified. Instead, he showed me a remarkable mercy by reacting in a calm and long-tempered way, and after expressing his feelings he reminded me that I did not have to feel afraid to tell him the truth about things, because he wanted to help me grow up in maturity and holiness. Ever since that moment, when I took note of how he clearly yet calmly communicated his disappointment, I have worked hard at imitating that mercy in my own life when people disappoint or upset me.

Jesus spent time with the sinners of His day because He was merciful and compassionate to them.

We should take particular note at Jesus quotation of the Prophet Hosea: Hos. 6.6

Hosea 6:6 (CSB)

For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice,

the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

What does God mean when He says He desires mercy, not sacrifice?

Jesus is not belittling the sacrifices given to God. Rather, Jesus is making the point that to God mercy is more important. If a person is not living right (i.e if they are not merciful to others and pursuing the true lifestyle God demands) then God doesn’t even want their sacrifices anyway. If you aren’t merciful first, God doesn’t want your sacrifices!

Stewart K. Weber in the Holman New Testament Commentary says it like this: Compassion or mercy is an attitude toward a need that is compelled to take action to meet that need. A compassionate and merciful heart finds it impossible to remain neutral when it sees a need of any kind.

Sending the Saints

Matthew 9:36–37 “When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.”

The very next thing that Matthew writes about happening is that Jesus gathered the 12 and sent them out among the harvest to work it.

Why would this be the next thing that Jesus did after having compassion on the crowds and telling the disciples to pray for workers in the harvest?

The command Jesus gives to pray over the harvest that the Lord of it send workers thereunto (which, boiled down, means sending workers to evangelize) is stimulated by the fact that Jesus cares for the people who are lost and and scattered like sheep with no guide. Then, He commissions the 12 not only to pray for the harvest, but He sends them out to go till the ground and get dirty in the field! Why? Because He cares for the lost and hurting, and those sent out are to be conduits of the mercy of God.

The Great Commission is, therefore, more than a command to preach repentance — it is about taking part in the merciful work of Christ in the world.

So… what?

What can we do here to be more compassionate to the lost?

We must be willing to sit with the lost and love on them patiently and mercifully as did Jesus. No, befriending sinners and spending time with them is NOT the same as condoning their sin. But preaching moralistic ideas and doctrines to them will not matter if they cannot look in your eyes, at your hands, and your life that we mean every word in nothing but love and deep concern for them!

We must ask ourselves: Am I known to be merciful like the Lord Jesus? Is this congregation known for being merciful to the lost in this community as Jesus would be?

My Challenge: From now on, let us pray not just for the Lord to send workers, but to send us! And pray that He foster within us a compassion like His own. Also, from now on, when we are met with opportunities to show mercy to people — take it!! Feed people where you are able, sit with folks and let them tell you their story, tell them your story, show them that you care. And let us, individually and together, not sacrifice mercy any longer. Without mercy, God does not even want our sacrifices and worship…but also without showing mercy we stunt our relationship with Christ roadblock others from knowing Him!