Mercy Triumphs

For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. – Hosea 6:6

The word mercy appears throughout the Scriptures (mercy and its derivatives appear over 350 times in the Bible). Generally, in the Old Testament the Hebrew word (transliterated) “checed” appears which its meaning simplified is kindness; and, generally in the New Testament the Greek word (transliterated) “eleos” is used which means compassion. Strong’s concordance explains that in order to best understand the meaning of “checed” is the combination of the words love, strength, and steadfastness. The depth of mercy cannot be understood properly without the incorporation of all three of those concepts. The older I get the more I dwell on the topic of God’s mercy. I reflect on my life and remember the things I’ve done that have required mercy (from God, my parents, friends, spouse, and others) and yet I also see all the glaring times I have been unmerciful – in my actions, thoughts, and heart. I get ashamed just thinking about them. So, I by far am no expert in extending mercy. Quite the opposite – it is something I work on every day which is probably why I think so much about God’s mercy because I know how far below the mark I fall in comparison. God’s mercy knows no end and extends to all people for all time.

The entire Biblical story is a retelling of God’s extension of His grace and mercy to mankind. It is showcased first in the garden when Adam and Eve broke their covenant with God. Instead of destroying them for their sin, He offered them an alternative punishment and seemingly gave them instructions on how to continue to please Him in their new reality. Even in the pronouncement of His punishment, God establish the foundation of the mercy He would offer to the entire world. Later in Exodus, after God had revealed Himself to Moses as the “I AM,” He defined himself to Moses in the cleft of the rock. God proclaimed Himself and his foundational characteristics :

The LORD, the LORD GOD, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin..” – Exodus 34: 6 -7

The first attribute God gave Himself was merciful and that quality was so important He even restated just seconds later – keeper of mercy for thousands. Clearly, mercy is an incredibly important JEHOVAH. For today, I’d like to examine what that means for our daily walk as Christians.

One of the messages the children of Israel repeatedly heard from the prophets was that God required more than just empty sacrifices and vain worship, He required submission and contrition of the heart which would end turn change the way they interacted with each other and the world. Repeatedly, prophets admonished the children of Israel that God required first and foremost their heart which would then lead to lived-Godliness. This is the message from Micah 6: 6-8

With what shall I come before the Lord,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Micah (like Hosea) told the children of Israel that God valued mercy to others over vain and empty acts of worship. If they were not capable or unwilling to attempt to exemplify one of God’s central traits – mercy – then their worship was meaningless to Him.

But the problem of not extending mercy to others apparently continued into Jesus’ time. Jesus repeatedly warned and admonished the Israelites, in particular their religious leaders the scribes and Pharisees, that God requires mercy and that mercy should be, like God, one of our foundational traits. In fact, in Matthew 9:13 and Matthew 12: 7, Jesus directly quotes for Hosea 6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice… to the Pharisees who were quick to judge. Jesus explained that the merciful will be blessed by God and obtain mercy in Matthew 5. He told multiple parables revolving around the concept of extending mercy to others in a variety of circumstances. He even warns His followers in the Sermon on the Mount that the style or measurement judgment you use on others will be measured back to you by God so be merciful and circumspect in your judgments (Matt 7: 1- 6). In fact, one of Jesus’ resounding messages during his three-year ministry was to extend mercy to others like God extends mercy to us. And yet still even after the Son of God taught on the concepts of mercy and commanded that mercy become an elemental part of the child of God’s makeup, extending mercy appears to still have been a problem for early Christians. James writes in James 2:13: For judgment without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Why then are these reminders and warnings found throughout the Scriptures? It appears that mankind – you and I – have a problem extending mercy. Unlike our Father, who is the source of all mercy, we are quick to judge, slow to forgive, and even slower to admit we are wrong. Unlike our Father, who actually knows all the hearts of men and yet still extends His mercy, we rush to early assumptions and conclusions in an effort to make ourselves feel better about our lives or perhaps our Christian walk. Unlike our Father, who shows us continual love, strength, and steadfastness, we are quick to falter in our interactions with others. Unlike our Father, who is perfect, we are not and yet we are the ones who struggle extending mercy, not God.

We too often act like the Pharisee in Luke 18 who was so thankful he wasn’t like that sinful tax collector. We go to worship, we offer money and other types of sacrifices to God, we keep “all” of His laws. Then, we look out at others and judge them mercilessly for their sins and their struggles and privately think “God, I thank you that I am not like other men..(Luke 18:11).  God’s message to us throughout the Scriptures is to NOT think or act that way. It lies in direct contrast to the very nature of God who is the extender of mercy to thousands upon thousands. Jesus provides the correct attitude in the parable by providing the tax collector’s prayer: “God be merciful to me a sinner! (Luke 18:13).” This is the attitude we should have about ourselves which will help put everything else into focus. Once we honestly look at ourselves in the mirror of God’s law and see that we are no better than anyone else, extending mercy to others should come easier.

Paul even warns us about attempting to justify ourselves by comparing ourselves to others: For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise (II Cor. 10:12). When we attempt to justify ourselves by comparing ourselves to other people and their lives and sins, we are not wise because we all sin and are all in need of God’s mercy. We delude ourselves into thinking like the Pharisee that we are somehow better than others and this attitude cannot be found in a Christian. God does not tolerate it.

While there is a place for righteous judgment and exposing /preaching against sin, that judgment and those teachings/conversations must be tempered with Godlike mercy. This is why James reminds us – mercy triumphs over judgment. We will all stand before the throne of God and I, for one, hope (and believe) that God’s mercy triumphs. I stand condemned before God. Nothing I can do and nothing anyone does that is “more sinful” than me will justify me before God. The only way I can gain access to God’s lovingkindness, compassion, forgiveness, and mercy is by obeying God and trying my best each day to live by the traits he ascribed to Himself back in Exodus:

Merciful. Gracious. Longsuffering. Forgiving. Honest. Good.

Without those traits, all my worship and acts of righteousness are meaningless to God.