Mirrors of Mercy
TCF Sermon
March 1, 2009
We hear every day about sin and sinners at work in the world around us. We see it on the news. We see sin at work in our neighborhoods. We see it in our workplace. We see it in the marketplace, whether that’s the mall, the restaurants we frequent, or elsewhere.
When we see sin at work in our world, when we see sinners, what’s our gut reaction sometimes?
I have a confession to make. My reaction is not always godly. Sometimes my less-than-godly reaction is because other people’s sin causes me inconvenience, or even serious problems in my life, sometimes through absolutely no fault of my own.
Sometimes it’s because the sin bothers me tremendously – it’s so heinous, so vile, so disturbing. Sometimes I think – “how can someone be so stupid?”
Sometimes, do you look at the news and think, “Lord come back soon,” or “Lord, lift me out of this world of sin and suffering.” Or, worse yet, “Lord smite these evil people.” That’s only, I guess, if you think in King James language.
I’m not going to ask for a show of hands, but I’ll admit that sometimes, I struggle with thoughts like these. Sometimes, these kinds of thoughts keep me from being the light of Christ in my various spheres of influence. It certainly keeps me from engaging with sinners sometimes.
What’s more, I see passages of scripture like Psalm 1, which tells us
Psalm 1:1 (NIV) Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
Or
2 Corinthians 6:17 (NASB77) "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you.
Or
1 John 2:15 (NIV) Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
These kinds of passages create a tension for us, don’t they? We may truly seek holiness in our lives, and in so doing, think that separation from the world means separating ourselves from the sinners in the world – not having anything to do with them. What’s more, we have an amazing fellowship of believers here at TCF. It’s certainly a lot more pleasant to hang out with you folks than it is to face the challenge of hanging out with blatant sinners.
Sometimes, I just don’t want to be around sinful people, people who aren’t seeking God or trying to follow Christ in their lives. It feels like too much trouble. So, we wrongly use these and other similar passages to justify a nearly complete separation from the people in the world, forgetting that Jesus also said in John 17:15:
John 17:15 (NIV) My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
and Acts 1:8 where Jesus told us
Acts 1:8 (NIV) …you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
We also read in 1 Corinthians 5
1 Corinthians 5:9-10 (NIV) I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.
So, we see that our pursuit of godliness and holiness, is not as simple as just separating ourselves from the world.
Please don’t take anything I’m saying this morning to mean that we should just hang out with sinners without having our eyes wide open to whether or not we’re the influencer or the influencee. There’s got to be a balance here, and we must be wise. If we’re hanging out with sinners, and as a result we’re sucked into their sinful lifestyle, then clearly we have a problem.
But, then I read a passage like the one we’re about to look at, and I have to admit, seeing the example of Jesus Himself, I’m deeply convicted, and must repent before God for my lack of mercy.
Turn with me to Matthew chapter 9, beginning with verse 10
Matthew 9:10-13 (NIV) While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?" On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ’I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Isn’t it true that we, as human beings, certainly have the ability to show mercy – it’s not as if we’re incapable of mercy – but that our more natural inclination is a lack of mercy?
Yet, for the great God we serve, mercy is a part of His nature. Jesus was the embodiment of that nature, and we see here an example that we are meant to follow.
A few messages ago, when we looked at the Burger King Church, I read a book in preparation for that message. I can’t really recommend this book, because, though I appreciate many of the observations of the author, and in fact, was convicted by them, I don’t really agree with some of his conclusions.
Nevertheless, I learned some things from this book, called They Like Jesus But Not the Church.
It turned out to be not so helpful in preparing the Burger King Church message, but very helpful in prompting much of my study for this message.
The author of this book, a pastor by the name of Dan Kimball, writes this:
"We are living in a culture that is increasingly open to Jesus, yet people outside the church are increasingly suspicious and untrusting of Christians and the church. One of the ways we Christians can change this trend is to ask ourselves if we are obeying Jesus’ prayer to be in the world, or are we living isolated lives in the Christian subculture."
I began to think about this idea of living in a Christian subculture. Until just nine years ago, I worked with mostly secular clients in my public relations business, and had a lot of contact with unbelievers in my daily life. But since then, I’ve increasingly been sucked in to this Christian subculture. Some call it the Christian bubble.
Now, I could probably defend that in part by saying, well, that’s my job. I’m supposed to relate to my church family primarily. And yes, that’s true.
But I also find that in those other arenas where I naturally have opportunities to rub shoulders with those who don’t follow Jesus, I’m more and more uncomfortable in those settings, so I’m less and less likely to do so if I don’t absolutely have to. So, I justify that by saying I don’t have time, because my priority must be the church.
But then I look at Jesus’ model here in this passage from Matthew. Certainly Jesus’ priority was building into the lives of his disciples, teaching them.
But that priority didn’t preclude taking advantage of, and even looking for, opportunities like this.
Here was a sinner, Matthew. A tax collector. Scum of the earth as far as most Jews were considered. Not just because they hated those who collected taxes from the Jews for the Roman authority, but because most tax collectors were seen as dishonest, and out for themselves.
So, when Jesus called Matthew to follow Him, Matthew followed. And apparently soon thereafter, Matthew gathered many of his sinner friends, and invited them to meet this man Jesus that Matthew had decided to follow.
So, despite the fact that the religious people of the day, the Pharisees, saw this as inappropriate behavior, Jesus sat down with these sinners at a meal.
If it was good enough for Jesus, then why can’t I look for opportunities just like He did?
I’ve never seen an empirical study of this, but anecdotally, it’s amazing how many non-Christians say they don’t know any followers of Christ.
With the book I just mentioned, there’s a companion video, in which 16 university students are asked what they think of Christians. In the interviews only 2 of the 16 people interviewed said they had friendships with any Christians.
If this anecdotal evidence is anything close to the norm, you know what that means?
That means that people’s impressions of Christians, and Christianity, are formed primarily by what they see in the media – from news, to TV, to movies. It’s informed largely by the scandals they see about professing Christians in the news. It’s shaped by TV preachers.
I don’t know about you, but as a follower of Jesus, I don’t really want to be identified with these things. When Fred Phelps and his church from Topeka picket at an American soldier’s funeral, or picket with signs that say that God hates fags, I don’t want to be identified with that. When a so-called pro-lifer kills an abortion doctor, I don’t want to be identified with that.
But if I don’t know or relate to any unbelievers, where else are they going to get their impressions of Christians?
I’ve been asking myself these questions, and this morning, I’d like us to all consider these kinds of questions.
Is it possible that we have unintentionally slipped into our busy Christian lives, and as a result, we hang out socially only with other Christians? Are we living in a Christian bubble? Worse yet, are we somehow uncaring at best, or hostile at worst, to unbelievers, and living not just in a bubble, but in the equivalent of a gated community?
That’s what the Pharisees exhibited with their question of Jesus. They asked Jesus’ disciples, “why’s Jesus hanging out with these sinners?” They weren’t so much seeking information as making an accusation – a value judgment.
How do we become a citizen of the bubble?
First, we become a Christian – we become followers of Jesus. We have what the book of Revelation refers to as that first love, and at this stage we’re like Matthew – generally eager to tell people about Jesus.
Then, and rightly so, we become a part of church life. We develop relationships with other followers of Christ, and maybe begin to lose touch with our non-Christian friends. You know me well enough, and have heard me preach often enough, to know that nothing I say this morning can undermine how firmly I believe this to be critical – that we be part of the local church. So far so good.
But, instead of becoming disciples of Christ in a local church, always remembering that we have a mission in our daily lives, a reason that Jesus doesn’t just lift us out of the world the moment we’re saved, we can stay inwardly focused.
Don’t misunderstand me. We MUST focus on growing in Christ. We must focus on the kinds of relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ that promote the kind of spiritual growth and transformation that Jesus is all about – transforming us into His image.
But when we stay only inwardly focused, we’re not allowing something important to be a part of our transformation. If we’re truly being transformed into the image and likeness of Christ, that should naturally include joining in the mission that Jesus came to do.
He said in this passage in Matthew, “I have come to call sinners.”
He said in:
Luke 19:10 (NIV) For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
Being transformed into His image doesn’t just include that needed inward focus on our individual relationship with Him, but joining Him in His mission. When we forget or neglect that, we become citizens of the bubble. We risk becoming like Jonah, who ended up complaining about his own needs, rather than rejoicing that God had used him to bring a whole city to repentance. We begin to complain and finger-point about the terrible things happening in our culture. We go into a subtle retreat mentality, where our church becomes more of a social-protection-from-the-world-club (although we don’t call it that).
There’s a certain irony in the fact that God transforms us into the image and likeness of Christ, at least in part for the purpose of being salt and light in the world, and the only place our light is seen sometimes is with other Christ-followers.
Many of you know the bridge illustration, often used to witness to people in an evangelistic context. It’s a useful tool, helpful in explaining to people that Jesus is the bridge to cross that great divide.
But, referencing this familiar witnessing tool, Kimball writes:
"In our post-Christian culture, people encounter a second chasm, the chasm of the Christian subculture. We have created this chasm with our rhetoric and our attitudes, which have led people today to harbor negative perceptions of Christians and Christianity that prevent them from trusting us and being interested in the gospel. The new chasm keeps them from ever getting to the sin chasm. And because we have become citizens of the bubble, having lost our understanding that we are missionaries in our culture and staying comfortably within our church walls and networks, the new chasm only continues to grow. People outside of the church who aren’t in relationships with those inside the church might never hear the gospel or get to see it lived out in someone’s life."
Why is that? Why have we created this subculture, this 2nd chasm, that hinders us from being able to communicate people’s need for the gospel of Christ?
Part of it is getting comfortable in our subculture. Frankly, it’s certainly easier to stay put in our Christian bubble. Let’s face it, the kind of relationship-building, that can lead people to Christ, is difficult. It takes energy. It takes time.
It’s easier to just give people a tract – not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that – and think our job’s done – we’ve done our evangelism. It’s easier to give money to missions – and of course, there’s nothing wrong with that – we encourage all of us to support missions with our prayers and our finances.
But, having a meal with sinners is tougher. Relating to sinners on a regular basis over time is more difficult.
Another reason we have this subculture is perhaps the same reason Jesus gave the Pharisees in this passage in Matthew 9.
In verse 13, He said, “Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
The Pharisees were a lot of things, many of them good. But one area in which they missed the mark was pointed out here. They lacked mercy, apparently because they didn’t truly understand mercy. So Jesus said to them, go learn what this means. Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 here.
Mercy is a theme that undergirds all of the Word of God, OT and NT. Baker Theological Dictionary says of mercy:
"God’s covenant love and His mercy are integrally related. In this relationship, mercy then comes to be seen as the quality in God that directs Him to forge a relationship with people who absolutely do not deserve to be in relationship with Him. Mercy is manifested in God’s activity on behalf of His people to free them from slavery – it is neither theory or principle."
Mercy to the Pharisees was at best a theory or principle. To God, mercy is seen in the things He does - God’s activity on behalf of people. It’s so much more than theory or principle. It’s demonstrated. In Jesus, we see this embodied – lived out in the flesh. Jesus is the supreme expression of God’s mercy and grace.
"God desires a relationship with humankind, but must show mercy to them in order for this relationship to be built. People come into relationship with God only because God shows mercy to them."
Baker Theological Dictionary
If this is true, and I believe it is, then part of our mission as followers of Christ, is to be mirrors of His mercy.
"To show mercy is a characteristic of life in God’s Kingdom, a demonstration of Kingdom power. God has made it possible; therefore His people must do it. In so doing, they mirror the God who has saved them." Baker Theological Dictionary
Matthew 5:7 (NIV) Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Luke 6:36 (NIV) Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
The Pharisees didn’t understand mercy, in large part because they didn’t really think they needed it. When you think you’re good enough because of what you do or don’t do, it’s understandable that you might also be lacking in mercy.
After all, you were smart enough, strong enough, committed enough, to do those things that make you a good person. Why shouldn’t everybody else?
But when Jim preached last week on Ephesians 6, I remembered something important. We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood. When we remember that, and remember the deadly spiritual influence which the enemy has on our culture and on the individuals around us, when we remember that there is a force behind the evil of our day, we should also remember that unbelievers are held captive by that force. That understanding should cause mercy to rise up in us. That realization should also make us grateful that God showed us mercy, and cause us to show mercy to others as a result.
James 2:12-13 (NIV) Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!
The law that gives freedom here, described by James, is the law of grace and mercy. It’s the good news of the gospel.
Titus 3:3-5 (NIV) At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
That’s the kindness and mercy and love that Matthew responded to – and at the time he didn’t even know all the implications of that grace of God, that we now know. He just heard Jesus say, “follow me,” and he followed.
That’s the mercy that Jesus was demonstrating, and telling the Pharisees to go and learn. You know the Pharisees were offended by Jesus telling them to go and learn anything from the scriptures. They thought they had it all figured out.
Let me read this passage from the New Living Translation, which illustrates another nuance to this.
Matt 9:10-13 (NLT) That night Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to be his dinner guests, along with his fellow tax collectors and many other notorious sinners. The Pharisees were indignant. “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” they asked his disciples. When he heard this, Jesus replied, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to be merciful; I don’t want your sacrifices.’ For I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are already good enough.”
This translation captures something important. The Pharisees Jesus was speaking to considered themselves righteous, because they were so scrupulous about keeping the rules and regulations. But Jesus knew their hearts – and on many occasions called them out for their hypocrisy.
So, when He said He was calling sinners, not the righteous, He might well have meant by “righteous” – those who think they are already good enough.
We might read a little bit of irony into Jesus’ statement due to the context. We must ask ourselves if our consistent, or even occasional lack of mercy, is because we think we’re good enough? Have we forgotten where we’ve come from? Have we forgotten that these sinners we sometimes look down on, don’t want to be around, are in fact much like we are?
When we think of Jesus hanging out with sinners, (Kimball notes) it begs certain questions of us, as self-proclaimed followers of Christ.
Are we numb or neutral toward people outside the church?
Do we intercede daily for people outside the church?
Who are we praying for now who is not a Christian?
When’s the last time we had coffee or dinner, or gone to a movie and hung out with someone who’s not a Christian?
How we answer these questions is an illustration of whether or not we need to go and learn what Jesus told the Pharisees to go and learn. It may also be an illustration that we need this reminder that Jesus came to heal this sin-sick world, and that means those sin-sick people in this world, some of whom we might find it difficult to be with.
How do we respond? Let’s seriously ask ourselves these questions this morning. Do we understand mercy? Do we practice the same kind of mercy with others that God has practiced with us? Do we value relationships with unbelievers like God valued relationships with us, so much so that we’re willing to be uncomfortable, to risk, to sacrifice, for the sake of forging relationships with unbelievers, to participate in bringing others into God’s Kingdom?
Sometimes, when we become used to things, we forget their significance. We all pass under this sign (TCF has a sign on the doorway out of the building which says: You are now entering the mission field) on our way out of this building. Let’s look at this sign on the way out of our church building this morning, and ask God to give us relationships with some for whom we can be mirrors of His Mercy.
PRAY
