To dream the impossible dream,

To fight the unbeatable foe,

To bear with unbearable sorrow,

To run where the brave dare not go,

To right the unrightable wrong,

To love pure and chaste from afar,

To try when your arms are too weary,

To reach the unreachable star,

This is my quest, to follow that star,

No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,

To fight for the right, without question or pause,

To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause,

And I know if I'll only be true, to this glorious quest,

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm, when I'm laid to my rest,

And the world will be better for this:

That one man, scorned and covered with scars,

Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,

To reach the unreachable star.

 

     Why reach for an unreachable star? What’s the point? Isn’t it foolishness to fight an unbeatable foe? Many believe that the Man of La Mancha was crazy, out of his mind. He fought with windmills! He strove for what was hopeless.

     So, was Abraham crazy, too? When there was nothing left to hope for, Abraham hoped and believed. (Rom 4:18) He was 100 years old, his wife was 90. (14) What’s the point in hoping for a child anymore? He hoped because God said He would give Abraham a child. Not only a child, but a whole nation would be his descendants. But childless, 100 year old Abraham believed that God could do it. Listen to this, this is so good: “Abraham was convinced that what God promised, He is able to do.” (21) If God says He can do it, He can do it! Some unethical salesmen will promise you the world. But they can’t deliver on their promises. Even some well-meaning people make promises, fully expecting that they will be able to do what they say. But some unexpected obstacle arises, or their health fails, or what they promised turns out to be more difficult than they expected, and they can’t fulfill their promise.

     But Abraham figured that the Almighty God could do exactly what He promised He could do. And so, though humanly it seemed impossible, Abraham believed that God would give him a child. That’s why “it was credited to him for righteousness.” (22) Abraham got the credit for righteousness. We all want credited to our account what we deserve. If the IRS owes you a refund, you certainly want that credited to your account. Put it into my bank account! If we don’t get credited to us what we deserve, we get very upset, and do whatever we can to receive the credit we deserve.

     What was credited to Abraham’s account was not earned by Abraham. He received it by faith. It was completely due to God’s great mercy for Abraham. And the very same thing applies to us. As we have faith in God who raised Jesus from the dead, Jesus, who was handed over on account of our sins, and raised on account of our righteousness, our accounts receive the credit Jesus earned for us. (23,24) The debt we owed for our sins receives a complete credit from Jesus’ sacrifice for us.

     We get the credit, because of what God has done for us. That’s mercy! God is all about mercy. We wouldn’t have a prayer, if not for God’s having mercy on us. Our sins stink to high heaven. Our sins are revolting to God. Yet God still loves us, even though we are revolting sinners. Sometimes we wonder how God could ever forgive a terrible sinner... like a murderer, or a mass murderer. We don’t realize the depths of our own sins. The religious leaders in Jesus’ day didn’t understand their sin, either. They thought that by doing good things they could earn their way to heaven. They were so wrong. They thought they were very good. So naturally, they thought there was no room in heaven for people like tax collectors who worked for the Romans and stole from the people, they thought there was no room in heaven for prostitutes and other sinners of their ilk. Can you imagine their surprise when Jesus appoints Matthew, a tax collector, a terrible sinner, to be one of His inner circle, one of his closest disciples? And Matthew, so overjoyed at the mercy Jesus showed him, wants to throw a party for Jesus. So who does Matthew invite? The only ones he knew, and the only ones who would consider coming in his house: sinful people! What a terrible group of people gathered at Matthew’s house that day. The scourge of society. The riff raff. Bums. Ne’er do wells. The outcasts. The sinners. Criminals. And Jesus rubs shoulders with them. Jesus parties with them. Jesus treats them as if they were His friends. The self-righteous religious crowd is beside themselves. He welcomes sinners and even eats with them! Jesus should expel them all. He should get rid of them. He should have nothing to do with them. Jesus responded to all the barbs and insinuations very simply. “The healthy don’t need a physician, but the sick. Go learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mt 9:12, 13) You see those who think they are righteous, don’t think they need a savior. Those who know they are sinners, who know they are in need of forgiveness, know they need someone to forgive them, need someone to have mercy on them.

     God is known as the one who has mercy on us, because of Jesus. So it’s not surprising Jesus would spend time with the riff raff. He is all about mercy, about forgiving, about loving these people, about loving us.

     When Jesus says “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” He’s quoting Hosea 6:6. In Hosea God is telling His people He wants to have mercy on them. He’s fed up with their sacrifices. They bring sacrifices, but they keep on sinning. That’s repugnant to God. How can they bring sacrifices for their sins, and just keep doing it? How could they worship God, but live lives of sinfulness? God wants to have mercy on them. He doesn’t care about their sacrifices. He doesn’t need sacrifices. God wants their hearts.

     God wants you. God wants your heart. God wants to have mercy on you. So that God can forgive you, ask for forgiveness. So that He can forgive you, turn away from your sins! Don’t think that coming to worship will save you. Yes God desires worship, even as He wanted them to sacrifice in the Old Testament. But don’t think that sacrifices, don’t think that worship will save you. It won’t. Only God’s mercy saves, as we turn away from our sins and turn to God. For the physician to be able to heal us, we have to recognize that we’re sick. Jesus came to save sinners, of which I am the greatest.          

     I desire mercy, says Jesus. That means that not only is Jesus merciful, but also that we are to be merciful. When someone offends you, Jesus desires mercy, steadfast love, a willingness to forgive and restore relationship. When someone even intentionally hurts you, Jesus still desires mercy, not sacrifice. Usually in such circumstances we want to sacrifice the person who hurt us so badly. We want them to be burned. A whole burnt offering sounds good!

     But God desires mercy, not sacrifice. That’s such good news. Because that means mercy for us from God. And it means mercy from each of us toward one another. Jesus said, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. That’s the ways Jesus lived. Let that be your way of life, too.

June 5, 2005

I Desire Mercy, Not Sacrifice

Scripture references: Matthew 9:9-13, Hosea 15:5-6:6, Romans 4:18-25

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