Have mercy

I’m a teacher. I have taught in high schools but am currently teaching at college. My subject is math, and I prefer to teach for about ten minutes, then get my students to do some work. Then I teach some more, and again I get them to attempt something. The pattern continues. And during all that, occasionally I find myself repeating something. Everything that I say is important, but anything I repeat is more important. Like, if you don’t get this bit then everything else could simply fall apart. And for this reason, I think when Jesus repeats himself, we need to pay close attention to what he is saying.

Jesus has finished his Sermon on the Mount, healed a few people, calmed a storm, and as he is calling Matthew to follow him, he says to the Pharisees “go and learn what this means: ’I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’”

Looking at it carefully, I wonder if sacrifice is the right word here. In context it seems to be saying Jesus desires compassion rather than religious observance. He is quoting from Hosea, which says “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” The sacrifice being referred to in Hosea was animals, as part of the Israelites worship of God. Our religious services, our worshipping the Lord, whether its loud or quiet, are not so important to Jesus. Being compassionate to others, that’s what he wants to see more of.

And even if we think of sacrifice in a more modern sense, it is still easier than being merciful. I sacrifice some of my money to help towards something I consider important. Perhaps the work of my local church, or to help after a disaster somewhere in the world, or to provide food for the homeless. All good stuff. I sacrifice some of my time to volunteer at a food bank, or to help in Sunday School, or to keep the pool open in my community. Again, things that I believe are important.

Then there’s mercy. Who deserves mercy? Well, nobody. Isn’t that the point. I recall reading about a woman who begged for mercy for her son, when Napolean had ordered that he be executed. Napolean informed her that he did not deserve mercy, that he should pay for his crime. The mother agreed with him and explained that was why she was not asking for justice, but instead for mercy. Mercy is often explained as ‘not getting what we deserve.’

In the UK if there are double yellow lines at the side of the road it means you must not park there. I had a friend who explained it differently: he said that it meant if you parked there, you were willing to pay a fine if you were caught. I think he was perhaps more honest than most of us – we know there is a speed limit, but we go over it hoping that we don’t get caught. And when we do get caught, do we deserve mercy? No. We knew what we were doing. But we like mercy. We are happy when justice is not applied so rigorously to us. Are we also happy when others receive mercy?

People who take things from stores without paying for them are one of the reasons for increased prices. Many of us are not in favour of mercy for shoplifters. People who dump their broken washing machine by the side of the road spoil the countryside for the rest of us. Those who come into our country and end up needing financial assistance …

Who deserves mercy? Jesus said it again in chapter twelve of Matthew, “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.” Jesus said it again. It is important. We need to know what these words mean, what it means that God desires mercy rather than sacrifice.

Walking with the Lord is not supposed to be about keeping lots of rules, it’s supposed to be about having compassion for one another. That doesn’t mean people should get away with killing someone else or stealing their property. But it does mean we need to find better ways of helping people change, helping people function well in society. We do not need to hold on tightly to what is ours, scared that if we share it with others there won’t be enough to go round.

Jesus wants us to have compassion for the poor, for those struggling to survive. Jesus wants us to have compassion for the widows, for the sick, for the immigrants, for the elderly, for the young, for anyone who needs it. He said it twice, so we know it was important to him. Now it needs to be important to us too.