TITLE: I Desire Mercy…
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 9:13, “But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
OBSERVATION: Can you picture the Pharisee’s reaction when they saw Jesus and his disciples eating with the despised tax collectors and sinners? The Pharisees in Jesus’ day would have never entered the house of a known sinner, much less eaten with them. But Jesus’ response was a condemnation on those self-righteous men who were knowledgeable of the law but failed to fulfill it in their own lives. He challenged them to learn a verse of scripture that they were already familiar with, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, from Hosea 6:6. In this single statement Jesus had condemned generations of Pharisees and experts in the law who were leading the Israelites into a life of lengthy rituals and sacrifice, while forgetting to offer love and mercy to those who needed it.
APPLICATION: Today we live in a world much like in Jesus’ day. In our own community of Bend, it is estimated that eight out of ten people do not attend church or have any religious facilitation. In our own community we can also find Christian groups who ridicule and scoff at those who struggle in a life of alcohol and drug use, and a multitude of other vises that keeps them captive in sin and apart from our Lord. How would Jesus respond to these people? Assuredly with love and mercy. We need to do the same and spread God’s grace of love and mercy to all people, especially those who need it the most. Who do you know in Bend that needs some mercy?
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I thank you for your faithfulness and mercy that you bestow on me daily. I deserve far less, but because of your love you see me for what I can become in you, not what I am today. Help me to learn to be merciful to others in the same way.
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