How to be unmerciful - two ways of going about it!

In Matthew 12:7 Jesus said to the Pharisees:

If you had known what these words mean, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned the innocent.

There are two ways of not showing mercy, or denying people mercy. The first, and the most obvious, is to have a judgemental spirit. So if we become aware of someone sinning our response is to condemn them. This is something that is part of our fallen human nature, and we all need to be on our guard against this. We can even take this a step further, so if someone has not actually sinned we invent a sin! This is what the Pharisees were doing here. We all need to be on our guard against this attitude within us, but we recognise that it is a wrong attitude.

So the first way of not being merciful is that we condemn people for real or imaginary sins. But there is a second and less obvious way of denying people mercy, and this is to deny that people are sinners. If we say that people are basically good and just need a little help, or to be given a little slack, then we are actually denying them mercy. For if we are not guilty then there is no need for mercy. To be merciful is to give some good thing to someone that they do not deserve. This is most obvious in progressive or liberal “Christians” who do not seem to accept that man is fundamentally sinful. If we are not sinners, if we are not guilty, then why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Why did God need to forgive us if are sinners? But this tendency is found in all of us, for if we know Christ and know that His grace, His mercy, His undeserved favour has been given to us, we do not want to go around condemning people, and rightly so. But just as we were desperately in need of mercy (and are daily in need of mercy), so is our neighbour. Moreover, the gift of mercy is a fundamental part of the gospel, it is a fundamental part of what the cross is all about. 

Jesus died for an undeserving people in order to give them the gift of eternal life.  We rightly do not want to be judgemental, condemning all around us, but at the same time we need to see our neighbours, our work colleagues, the man or woman in the street, as someone who is in need of God’s mercy, and for whom God would willingly show mercy. Both in ourselves, and with others, we need to see that the gift of the gospel is that we come face to face with our sin, yet instead of being condemned we are forgiven and receive new life. We need this for ourselves, and our neighbours need it just as much as we do. Jesus came to heal the sick, not the healthy.

O Lord, may the people of this land receive mercy, and may we have hearts that can lead people to receive your mercy.