Mercy not Sacrifice
Sermon for Sunday, June 8, 2008
1. Good Morning. Let’s pray . . . O Lord, may the words of my mouth and the mediations of our hearts be pleasing to You O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
2. Opening Comments: Good morning! Well what does our Lord want us to reflect upon this morning?
As I read and reread the readings for today I found myself returning to a short phrase in our Old Testament reading in Hosea which was quoted by Matthew in our Gospel reading. Can anyone tell me what that phrase was?
Yes, the common phrase is, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” – Hosea 6:6 and Matt 9:13.
Now this is a very important statement because it tells us what God really loves and it gives us a sublime insight into His very heart – for what one loves one is. God is infinitely merciful.
So this morning we’re going to really delve into all of this.
Let me begin by asking you – “If I asked your friends to describe you would they ever use the adjective “merciful” to describe you?
Do you know anyone whom you would describe using the adjective “merciful?”
What does a merciful person look like? . . . sound like?
I love to be near people who are merciful? Why? Because I know that they will be kind with me in their thoughts and in their conversations about me.
Some of us come to see and hear Msg. Gerry Krieg last Wednesday Night Alive and I think it’s safe to say that He exudes “humility and mercy.” I’ve know him now for 8 or 9 years and I can say without reservation that this is a man filled with mercy.
I find myself reminded of the following scripture:
Matt. 5:7
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Yes, I’m certain that God has and will always shower down His mercies upon this precious man.
3. Focusing in: So let’s focus in shall we upon this magnificent virtue that God Almighty loves so very very much!
In the passage from the Old Testament book of Hosea we hear Hosea’s concern about Israel’s half-hearted and vapid repentance – Listen to his words, “Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears!”
Your “Yes” is not “Yes!” – so what is God’s remedy for this vapid valeity?
Look with me at verse 6 –
Hos. 6:6
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
I desire or delight in mercy. The Hebrew word here is hesed (pronounced “Chesed”). Now when I explored the etymology or history of this word there were 10 pages devoted to it in my lexicon! Very few words in the Bible have this much space devoted to them so obviously this is a critically important word.
Remember now – this is what God Almighty likes – indeed, delights in. This is also who He is!
Now before we dig into this word we need to briefly look at where it’s used again in our reading from Matthew’s Gospel in chapter 9:
Matt. 9:9
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and‘sinners’?”12On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Ah! Did you hear that? 12. . . Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Go and learn what this means!!!Jesus just told you and me to really discover what that phrase in Hosea actually meant – “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
So this is his challenge to us – discover what this means.
Now I think it’s obvious that when Jesus in this New Testament passage and God Almighty in the Old Testament passage – use the word “sacrifice” they are talking about “empty sacrifice.” This is clearly not a denial of sacrifice as such but only of improper, faithless sacrifice. God had commanded the people to sacrifice, but the ceremony had to be marked by a proper attitude of heart; otherwise it was meaningless and worthless.
So while we could linger on the word “sacrifice” I sense that the real heart of this reflection is to discover what “mercy or hesed” is all about. So let’s zero in on this word right now.
The Hebrew word “hesed” is thought to have come out of the Arabic word for “to gather to give aid.” It’s variously translated by the following words:
kindness,
mercy,
faithfulness,
goodwill, and
love.
Perhaps the most helpful translation that I was able to glean in the 10 pages was the following statement:
Merciful acts are the manifestation of a “hesed” attitude.
So you can see how the idea of “love and kindness and faithfulness and goodwill” are all good translations for the word “hesed.” So perhaps the best advise we could take is this: when we hear the word “mercy” let’s also think “love, kindness, faithfulness and goodwill.”
This word – this virtue – that God delights in so much is lovely isn’t it?
God loves love,
He loves mercy,
He loves faithfulness and
kindness and
goodwill!
A very dear friend of mine by the name of Fr. George Koseki wrote a number of books about Sister Faustina – known primarily through her association with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy once said to me that when God speaks from His loving heart we hear and feel mercy!
Ah! Mercy is love expressed – that’s the key for us!
4. Mercy: Now I think it’s time to remind ourselves why this reflection is so very important to us.
God said, I desire mercy, not sacrifice! – I delight in mercy not sacrifice!
Think about it – God – your God and mine loves – delights in – desires “mercy.” What is mercy – what’s it really all about?
My Compact Oxford Dictionary defines it this way,
“It is the forbearance and compassion shown by one person to another who is in his power and who has no claim to receive kindness or it’s the kind and compassionate treatment in a case where severity is merited or expected.”
The definition “unmerited favor” comes to mind but this has always been the default meaning for the word… ‘Grace’. Interesting isn’t it that the word “hesed” includes our understanding of God’s infinite “grace.”
This really is a massive word – massive because it describes not only what God delights in but because it’s probably the best word other than the word “love” to describe who God really is.
Our God is “mercy” incarnate!
He loves and this love is expressed in His forgiveness! In His forgetfulness of our sins! He is a merciful God!
Yes, it’s His infinite mercy which is what we experience of Him! It’s this that touches us – it’s this which draws us to Him and it’s this that He calls out in us!
Let me tell you a story:
In the stirring story of the Scotch Covenanters a thrilling incident is told of Captain John Paton. After being apprehended he was led to Edinburgh for trial and execution; and on the way he met an old comrade in arms who had fought with him under Gustavus Adolphus. His comrade was surprised and grieved to see him bound. "I will write to the king and get a pardon for you," said he. Paton replied, "Ah, you won't get one for me, I'm afraid." "Well," answered his friend, "if I do not, I will never draw sword for his majesty again." So he made intercession for the Covenanter captain, and the pardon he asked for was granted. It arrived at Edinburgh. But it was held back by the lords of the congregation, and Paton went to the scaffold. Now, you brand that as a most heinous crime, and you do well. But what better is the man or woman who receives the Divine message of peace and mercy and refuses to pass it on to those who may be delivered thereby from the bondage and death of sin?
Ha! You and I are the constant beneficiaries of God’s many mercies but O how we hold onto our own unforgiveness. How thrifty we are with our own mercy. How miserly we are with our own mercies!
How merciful are you?
O you and I are good at doing the right thing “sort of” – that’s what Hosea and Jesus were referring to when they denounced “worthless sacrifices.”
You see, many of us have learned how to give the appearance of good but in fact – in reality – to get our way – to get our vengeance. It’s called sarcasm! It may be called gossip or “sharing our concerns about another.”
If you are courageous enough take a good look at yourself – and see how much of what you call “good” is in actual fact “mindless sacrifice” and how much is not even remotely tinged with “mercy.”
5. Getting real: Let’s get very real and down to earth. Here’s a standard that we can all apply: How much does mercy play in your thinking, in your talking, in your acting, in your life?
Remember now – mercy to be mercy must be given to someone who really doesn’t deserve it.
It’s not something we give to deserving people but rather undeserving people.
Can you think of anyone who is legitimately undeserving but nevertheless still needs your mercy but from whom you have withheld it because you have preferred to retain your offense?
God delights in mercy – God exudes mercy! You and I rely upon God’s mercy.
Do you want mercy? Then give it!
Now I believe that God wants us to understand today that it’s mercy – the manifestation of love - which is to tinge our every thought and action!
If our every thought and action were freighted with a measure of mercy – how much more sublime would be our life and the lives of those touched by us!
What does a merciful you look and feel like? Can you imagine yourself filled to overflowing with mercy?
How would you be different if this really took root in your soul today?
How would you be different with your spouse? How would you talk differently with him or her? What would a merciful disposition change your marriage?
How about you students – what if God were to miraculously inject your soul with a huge dollop of mercy – how would your lives change?
How would that change my life? How would that change the life of this church family?
God delights in mercy – not mindless, not for show actions that look good on the surface but are all so much window dressing!
Let’s pray . . .