His Mercy is More

Sunday we will do a new song called, "His Mercy is More."  The word in Greek is eleos. Where grace is forgiveness that is extended to people in their guilt, mercy is a bit different.  Mercy is God's suspension of the consequences of sin.  Our word might be pardon.  Matthew 5 says, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy."  Where grace is something that is only given (and can only be given) by God, mercy is a behavior in which God models and we can follow God's lead.  

A friend of mine, just gone to be with the Lord, used to say, "Justice is getting what we deserve ... mercy is not getting what we deserve ... grace is getting something good from God we don't deserve."  I like this because it allows me to see these three things a bit more clearly.

In Micah 6:8 God puts all 3 of these things together.  In the NIV, the prophet says, "Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God."  I will focus today on that middle one ... love mercy.

When we love someone/something, we spend time with it.  We become intimately acquainted with it.  We embrace it.

One Biblical example of this is the story of the woman caught in adultery.  John 8:1-11 describes a woman clearly guilty of the sin of adultery.  Justice demands punishment, in this case stoning.  Jesus does something remarkable in this story.  He does what I think He does with us every day.  He is challenged by the Pharisees to make a call (they are out for blood, and they want Jesus' participation).  Jesus just writes in the sand with His finger.  The Word doesn't say what He writes.  But it seems like Jesus is providing some time for thought by everyone.  The woman considers her fate.  The Pharisees are choosing rocks.  The onlookers are wondering what this crazy preacher will do.  Then, in total obedience to Micah's prophecy (which flowed from the mind of God), Jesus says those amazing words ... "let the one who has never sinned cast the first stone."  The men walk away, in order of the oldest to the youngest.  WOW!

Let's stop here and consider what is happening.  Our western educational perspective says, "Go with what is in your head."  But Hebrew education is participatory.  You teach. You model.  You invite the student to apply.  This is learning in Jesus' culture and time.  It is effective and good education.  Because it invites the student to spend time with the problem, embrace the problem and incorporate the solution into life.

All of the men walked away.  All of the men got the lesson (they passed the test).  The woman and the crowd got the point too.  And maybe we all learn something about love here.  Loving mercy is hard.  It defies our nature of categorizing right and wrong, and demanding justice (usually for the other person).  Love sometimes catches in our throat and causes us to be silent and draw in the sand.  Love places kindness at a premium.  And loving mercy makes us see ourselves more clearly than we would like.  We drop our rocks in the dirt.  We walk away.  And we hear our Savior extending mercy to us saying, "Go and sin no more."

Mercy is not getting what we really deserve.  And do you really want what you deserve?  "Blessed are the people who extend/love mercy, for they will receive mercy!"  That's good news for today!  Randy