I desire mercy Matthew 9:1-26

The title of the message today comes from verse 13 where Jesus issues a challenge to those who have witnessed his call to Matthew – the tax collector.  Not only has he called Matthew to follow him as a disciple, but he also went and ate with other tax collectors and people identified as sinners by the Pharisees.

It is here that we find the oft quoted phrase: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” (Mt 9:12) Perhaps today we are concerned with getting regular check ups to help us identify potential health problems but in Jesus’ time, a visit to a physician was not for reassurance that you were healthy, it was to deal with a medical issue affecting your health. So, if those are the people who need a physician, then who are the people who need the wisdom and heart and healing of a spiritual leader?

“Go and learn what this means”, says Jesus, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have come not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mt. 9:13)

It can be quite easy to focus our life with God by making sacrifices. Of course, sacrifice meant the surrendering of a physical good either in the form of an animal, bird or a donation of cash. We still often speak of sacrificial giving, of giving a tithe.  Certainly, these are valid ways in which people reflect upon the fact that their lives are in God’s hands and that their sacrifices and offerings are signs of thankfulness for their life.  The breath of God is in each of us. The first time that a baby fills its lungs with air, the miracle of breath is seen as if for the first time. We are created in the image of God and given the gift of life.  How we choose to respond to that gift is revealed through the things we think, say and do and the ways in which we reveal our gratefulness for the gift of life and the gift of new life in Christ.

It is interesting to reflect on the reality that the words of Jesus were not some new radical teaching. Acts of mercy on the part of God are found throughout the Old Testament and should have made people consider that God’s acts of mercy were signs of what God desired of the people themselves.  Yet even the most direct pronouncements from the prophet Micah which we heard today in our first lesson seem to have fallen on deaf ears. It seems that each generation needs to hear the message again.  The last question in Micah: Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” (Micah 6:7) speaks to our desire to sacrifice the life of another to alleviate our own sense of separation from God but the reality is that such a sacrifice would never and will never bring that sense of peace and atonement that people often seek.  Such peace and atonement come not from sacrifice but from doing what is just, loving kindness and practicing such and walking humbly with God.  We cannot buy our way out of sin and into peace and atonement with God.

If we reflect on Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, we begin to understand that everything he was saying had nothing to do with sacrifice and everything to do with mercy.  Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the peacemakers.  The people are encouraged to hunger and thirst for righteousness but so that they can follow God more closely and so be able to be those who show mercy and offer healing and hope to those whose path is dark and full of pain.

This is the message that the prophets sought to teach the people and that Jesus emphasizes once again in his teaching.  Sacrifice may touch our lives and yes – donations given to others touch other lives but a gift of mercy from our hand given in word and action touches a person we can see and hear and respond to.  And that is what Jesus is impressing upon the Pharisees and others who hear his words. Purity of hand is only as good as the purity of the heart and the mind and the soul. That lesson is taught in the parable of the Good Samaritan.  The willingness to give compassion and care regardless of a person’s social status or ethnic background is taught in the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. There are so many more examples that we can find where the motivation of Jesus is mercy, not sacrifice calling those who have lost their connection with God to feel whole and loved once again and so begin to make those important steps toward reconciliation with God.

Jeremiah in his Lamentations wrote: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning.” (Lamentations 3:22-23) The mercy of God is at the very heart of Jeremiah’s words which were spoken in the most dire of circumstances for the people of Judah.

It is this same mercy of God that Jesus brings and that he seeks for us to learn and practice.  Christianity is not really about ritual and form and even worship. Christianity is about following the one whose name we bear, and it is about learning and practicing the path that Jesus showed us. We should never be identified as a religion because what we are to practice is not a system of beliefs but a way of living as taught by Jesus who reflected the heart and mind of God the Father and who has given us the Holy Spirit to be our guide and our strength as live out our commitment to him through our words and actions.

AMEN