Starving For Justice (Matthew 5:7)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:07.950 Matthew, Chapter Five, beginning in the first verse. This is the word 2 00:00:07.990 --> 00:00:11.669 of the Lord and, seeing the multitudes, he went up on a mountain 3 00:00:11.710 --> 00:00:16.109 and when he was seated, his disciples came to him. Then he opened 4 00:00:16.149 --> 00:00:20.510 his mouth and taught them, saying blessed are the poor in spirit, for 5 00:00:20.629 --> 00:00:25.579 theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they 6 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:30.579 shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 7 00:00:31.620 --> 00:00:35.659 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be 8 00:00:35.969 --> 00:00:42.130 filled. Blessed are the Merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are 9 00:00:42.130 --> 00:00:46.850 the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the Peacemakers, 10 00:00:47.210 --> 00:00:51.320 for they shall be called Sons of God. Blessed are those who are 11 00:00:51.399 --> 00:00:57.200 persecuted for Righteousness Sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are 12 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:00.640 you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you 13 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:06.750 falsely? For my sake, rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is 14 00:01:06.870 --> 00:01:11.950 your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who are before you. 15 00:01:12.189 --> 00:01:15.269 Thus far, this reading of God's holy word. The grass withers in 16 00:01:15.349 --> 00:01:19.140 the flower fades, but the word of our Lord endeures forever. Please be 17 00:01:19.260 --> 00:01:30.060 seated. Well, this morning we're going to pick up on my somewhat irregular 18 00:01:30.180 --> 00:01:37.329 and from time to time series on the beatitudes. It's nice because each one 19 00:01:37.849 --> 00:01:42.049 can be set aside on its own, but when you read them together you 20 00:01:42.250 --> 00:01:47.599 find that they actually build toward a common idea, and the common idea that 21 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:53.799 we see in these a beatitudes is Jesus is describing for us the characteristics of 22 00:01:55.040 --> 00:02:00.079 those who will be citizens of his kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus 23 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:05.670 is showing us what those who will respond to his Gospel message will look like. 24 00:02:07.549 --> 00:02:09.909 And what we find here, is we look at the beatitudes, is 25 00:02:09.990 --> 00:02:16.139 that they form the introduction to Jesus's longest recorded sermon, that's the sermon on 26 00:02:16.259 --> 00:02:22.819 the Mount and as we've been considering this introduction to the sermon on the mount 27 00:02:22.900 --> 00:02:28.099 through the beatitudes, we've noted that Jesus opens this sermon up with some very 28 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:35.050 unusual assertions. In the first four beattitudes, Jesus tells us that the Happy 29 00:02:35.090 --> 00:02:38.770 People, and that's what the word blessed means, if you recall, means 30 00:02:38.050 --> 00:02:44.879 happy or even supremely happy. Jesus is telling us that the happiest people, 31 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:52.960 the blessed people, are people who, first and foremost, are spiritual beggars. 32 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:57.960 The happy people, he goes on to say, are not only the 33 00:02:58.199 --> 00:03:02.830 sad, but they are the meek, even the starving. All of the 34 00:03:02.949 --> 00:03:07.990 beatitudes that we've looked at so far seemed to us, if you think about 35 00:03:07.990 --> 00:03:12.550 it, to be rather odd. They are counterintuitive. They are what we 36 00:03:12.669 --> 00:03:17.300 would think of as being the characteristics of happy or blessed people. What Jesus 37 00:03:17.460 --> 00:03:23.419 describes here is supremely happy. Really are people we tend to think of as 38 00:03:23.460 --> 00:03:28.610 down and outers. Or if you had these characteristics, you might think to 39 00:03:28.689 --> 00:03:32.810 yourself, well, perhaps I need to go see someone about antidepressants. That, 40 00:03:34.009 --> 00:03:39.849 the spiritually destitute, the miserable, the meet the starving, these are 41 00:03:39.889 --> 00:03:45.840 the people that he describes in the first four beatitudes, and they really don't 42 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:52.360 sound like spiritual giants. They sound like a pack of sad sacks. Then 43 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:55.870 we turn our attention to the fifth through eighth beatitudes, and these do look 44 00:03:55.870 --> 00:04:01.830 a little bit more like what we would expect blessed people to look like Jesus 45 00:04:01.909 --> 00:04:06.509 says that they are merciful, that they're Pure, that their peacemakers, and 46 00:04:06.629 --> 00:04:12.180 so on. Now this does seem to be a bit more what we would 47 00:04:12.180 --> 00:04:19.100 think of is blessed spiritual people. But before we start to think that in 48 00:04:19.139 --> 00:04:24.569 the latter half of the beatitudes that were arriving at some more comfortable territory, 49 00:04:25.329 --> 00:04:30.250 I want to remind us that Jesus is disc bribing here not a system of 50 00:04:30.449 --> 00:04:34.410 morality. He's not saying be merciful, be pure, be a peacemaker. 51 00:04:34.449 --> 00:04:43.759 Rather, what he's describing in these last four beatitudes really are some of the 52 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:51.199 key characteristics of God's very nature, key characteristics of God's very nature that, 53 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:58.430 importantly, Jesus says, will come to characterize those people who accept his call 54 00:04:58.949 --> 00:05:04.389 to become citizens of his kingdom. And again, I think that as we 55 00:05:04.629 --> 00:05:12.300 peruse these will find ourselves surprised by what Jesus says here as well. So, 56 00:05:12.540 --> 00:05:15.300 for our time this morning, I'd like us to take a look at 57 00:05:15.339 --> 00:05:19.139 what Jesus means and verse seven when he says blessed are the Merciful, for 58 00:05:19.300 --> 00:05:24.689 they shall obtain mercy, and I'd like us to do this in two parts. 59 00:05:25.370 --> 00:05:28.730 First, I'd like us to see that what he is describing here is 60 00:05:28.850 --> 00:05:34.209 a divine characteristic, divine characteristic, and second, I'd like us to see 61 00:05:34.329 --> 00:05:41.959 that what he wants from us is mercy, not sacrifice. Divine characteristic and 62 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:46.279 mercy, not sacrifice. Now, because we're all familiar with the idea of 63 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:51.430 mercy, I think that we may tend to water down the impact of what 64 00:05:51.629 --> 00:05:59.310 this concept had to Jesus first hears that day. When we think of mercy, 65 00:06:00.910 --> 00:06:04.060 most of US probably think of it in terms of the law courts or 66 00:06:04.100 --> 00:06:09.860 something, and we think of mercy as clemency for a criminal, perhaps, 67 00:06:09.939 --> 00:06:15.500 somebody who has been judged and sent to prison but then has his sentence commuted, 68 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:18.810 or someone who, though convicted, is just let go right out the 69 00:06:18.930 --> 00:06:26.089 door. Or maybe you may think of it in terms of debt forgiveness. 70 00:06:26.610 --> 00:06:30.769 You know, a loan agency or something like that waves a debt that you 71 00:06:30.930 --> 00:06:34.160 have, and that's mercy. But in the Greek language the word is a 72 00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:39.240 bit more robust than what we tend to think of. I think the idea 73 00:06:39.319 --> 00:06:44.319 of mercy in the Greek of the New Testament is more significant and perhaps a 74 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:49.310 little more startling than our everyday English idea. Now, in the Greek the 75 00:06:49.790 --> 00:06:58.709 word for mercy is lass elos L us, and to understand that word we 76 00:06:58.829 --> 00:07:03.579 need to understand that it has both a positive and a negative connotation at one 77 00:07:03.699 --> 00:07:10.019 time. Has a positive and a negative connotation at the same time. Negatively, 78 00:07:10.180 --> 00:07:12.860 and I think this is what we tend to think of it as being, 79 00:07:13.579 --> 00:07:19.250 mercy has the idea of not giving something someone, something that they do 80 00:07:20.089 --> 00:07:28.970 deserve, not giving someone something that they do deserve. For instance, it 81 00:07:29.170 --> 00:07:32.560 might be not foreclosing on the house of a couple who failed to pay their 82 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:39.920 mortgage. Right you don't give them the bad thing that they do deserve. 83 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:46.269 They deserve eviction. You don't evict them. That's mercy. But it also 84 00:07:46.310 --> 00:07:50.629 has a positive connotation, and the positive connotation of mercy means to go beyond 85 00:07:50.949 --> 00:07:58.939 not giving them something they do deserve to actually giving them something they do not 86 00:07:59.980 --> 00:08:05.779 deserve. So, to continue that example, mercy and a biblical sense means 87 00:08:05.819 --> 00:08:11.819 that not only you don't foreclothes on someone's house, but then you go beyond 88 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:13.649 that. You say, well, you haven't paid your mortgage in six months, 89 00:08:13.689 --> 00:08:18.129 but we're not going to foreclothes. In fact, not only are we 90 00:08:18.209 --> 00:08:20.170 not going to kick you out, we're going to waive the rest of your 91 00:08:20.250 --> 00:08:26.240 mortgage and we're going to build you a gazebo in your backyard. That's mercy 92 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:35.000 and both senses. You don't give someone the negative thing they do deserve and 93 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:41.789 you do give them a positive thing they do not deserve. And as we 94 00:08:41.909 --> 00:08:46.990 read through the Gospels, of course we see Jesus doing this very thing all 95 00:08:46.389 --> 00:08:52.389 the time, don't we? In Matthew Chapter Nine, beginning in the twenty 96 00:08:52.470 --> 00:08:58.460 seventh verse, we read this. Jesus to parted from there and two men 97 00:08:58.700 --> 00:09:03.539 followed him, crying out saying, son of David, have mercy upon us. 98 00:09:03.659 --> 00:09:07.379 And when he had come into the house, the blind men came to 99 00:09:07.419 --> 00:09:11.250 him and Jesus said to them, do you believe that I am able to 100 00:09:11.330 --> 00:09:13.970 do this? They said to him, yes, Lord. Then he touched 101 00:09:15.049 --> 00:09:18.450 their eyes, saying, according to your faith, let it be to you, 102 00:09:18.370 --> 00:09:26.000 and their eyes were opened. These guys cry out to Jesus and he 103 00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:33.519 has mercy on them. He removes their blindness and gives them sight. In 104 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:39.909 Matthew Chapter Fifteen, we read this behold, a Canaanitish woman came out from 105 00:09:39.909 --> 00:09:43.110 that region and began to cry out, saying have mercy on me, O 106 00:09:43.350 --> 00:09:50.629 Lord, son of David, my daughter is cruelly demon possessed, and her 107 00:09:50.669 --> 00:09:56.299 daughter was healed from that very hour we read. These are just two examples. 108 00:09:56.500 --> 00:10:01.820 People were all the time coming to Jesus to Beg mercy from him. 109 00:10:03.299 --> 00:10:07.330 Each and every one of them comes and ask Jesus, a perfect stranger to 110 00:10:07.490 --> 00:10:11.009 most of them. In all likelihood, they asked him for something that they 111 00:10:11.090 --> 00:10:18.169 do not deserve. And in addition to this, though they may not have 112 00:10:18.250 --> 00:10:22.759 been aware of it, they may not have consciously thought of this, by 113 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:26.200 asking him for something that they don't deserve, they're also asking am not to 114 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:35.279 give them something they do deserve. In the shorter catechism, the Westmans to 115 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:43.750 shorter catechism question nineteen. It asks this, what is the misery of that 116 00:10:43.870 --> 00:10:50.100 estate whereinto man fell? And the answers this. All mankind, by their 117 00:10:50.220 --> 00:10:56.259 fall, lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse and so 118 00:10:56.460 --> 00:11:01.580 made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself and to 119 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:09.769 the pains of hell forever, all miseries in this life, death itself and 120 00:11:09.929 --> 00:11:18.129 the pains of hell forever. Now this is important. The answer in the 121 00:11:18.250 --> 00:11:26.039 catechism to that question. That is a truth that is so important to our 122 00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:33.149 lives that if we truly get a grasp on what it's saying they're that truth 123 00:11:33.230 --> 00:11:39.509 will transform the way that we think about our lives and it will really, 124 00:11:39.549 --> 00:11:46.429 really improve our walk with the Lord. And that's because what the Westminster shorter 125 00:11:46.549 --> 00:11:52.100 catechism is reminding us of is that, because of the fall and because of 126 00:11:52.340 --> 00:12:00.220 even the smallest and least significant sin that you or I have ever committed, 127 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:07.570 each and every one of us here this morning deserves all miseries in this life, 128 00:12:07.690 --> 00:12:15.960 death itself and the pains of Hell forever. Now we may acknowledge that 129 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:20.399 intellectually, we may know that to be true when I say, well, 130 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:26.039 yeah, that's a part of the Gospel, surely, but in our daily 131 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:33.909 lives, when we have awful things happened to us, how do we respond? 132 00:12:35.909 --> 00:12:41.429 We say why did this happen to me? Or we say I don't 133 00:12:41.509 --> 00:12:45.940 deserve that. Why I what did I ever do to be treated like this? 134 00:12:48.220 --> 00:12:54.620 And we become angry. We become angry at life, other people, 135 00:12:54.139 --> 00:12:58.889 God, we shake our fist at the universe, perhaps, who know. 136 00:12:58.970 --> 00:13:05.450 I whatever it is, we get angry, and what we do is we 137 00:13:05.610 --> 00:13:09.370 compare ourselves to other people. This is part of our problem. We compare 138 00:13:09.370 --> 00:13:16.360 ourselves to other people, particularly people we see as being less than we are 139 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:26.080 right and we say why me and not her? Well, look at how 140 00:13:26.190 --> 00:13:31.549 terrible she is. I don't do those things. Why me and not her 141 00:13:31.629 --> 00:13:37.590 or him? See, we think on a practical level that we don't deserve 142 00:13:37.830 --> 00:13:45.179 the bad stuff in our lives, but the fact of the matter is that, 143 00:13:45.340 --> 00:13:50.500 because we live in a fallen world and because we ourselves are fallen, 144 00:13:52.820 --> 00:13:58.490 we do deserve it. Each of US truly deserves all miseries in this life, 145 00:13:58.889 --> 00:14:05.450 death itself and the pains of hell forever. And so do every one 146 00:14:05.570 --> 00:14:11.919 of these people who cry out to Jesus for Mercy in the Gospels. But 147 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:16.600 see, in spite of that fact, what is Jesus do? He extends 148 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:24.830 His mercy to the people who ask for it every single time, though they 149 00:14:24.110 --> 00:14:30.710 deserve all manner of misery and woe, and though there's no sense in which 150 00:14:30.710 --> 00:14:33.990 any of them can say that they're really getting a raw deal in life. 151 00:14:35.309 --> 00:14:41.460 Nevertheless, Jesus responds to them and he lifts their burdens. They cry out 152 00:14:41.659 --> 00:14:46.700 for the righteousness that flows from his cross, the righteousness of his kingdom that 153 00:14:48.059 --> 00:14:52.409 we see him talking about in the preceding be attitude. And Jesus brings them 154 00:14:52.690 --> 00:15:00.169 his love, His mercy, His grace. They cry out to him, 155 00:15:00.210 --> 00:15:05.769 saying, in essence, oh Jesus, take from me the misery that I 156 00:15:07.009 --> 00:15:16.360 deserve and give me the mercy I do not deserve. And he does, 157 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:26.230 he does. But why? Why does he do it? There is no 158 00:15:26.429 --> 00:15:31.070 apparent reason for him to do that, really, is there? These people 159 00:15:31.110 --> 00:15:37.700 cannot deserve his mercy, they can't earn His grace, they have nothing to 160 00:15:37.860 --> 00:15:45.779 offer him in exchange for his lifting of their burdens. In fact, because 161 00:15:45.820 --> 00:15:50.690 he is the king of creation and because they, like us, are sinners. 162 00:15:50.730 --> 00:15:58.090 They are in fact rebels against the king and thus are his enemies. 163 00:15:58.529 --> 00:16:06.720 And yet when they cry out to him, he loves them and lavishes them 164 00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:15.399 with his mercy. Why? Well, to answer that, it might be 165 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:22.149 helpful to understand something of the sense of the Hebrew word that the New Testament 166 00:16:22.190 --> 00:16:29.909 authors rendered as ella us, as mercy. Now, the Hebrew word for 167 00:16:30.110 --> 00:16:36.299 mercy is cussid. I think I've mentioned this before. Perhaps you have to 168 00:16:37.379 --> 00:16:44.019 kind of clear your throat it's Hassid and he said is rendered in your English 169 00:16:44.059 --> 00:16:48.730 Bible as love or loving kindness, sometimes mercy. It's different ways in different 170 00:16:48.809 --> 00:16:52.570 places for various reasons. But if we were to try to render that in 171 00:16:52.690 --> 00:17:00.009 English in the most literal, exact way that we can chess, it would 172 00:17:00.009 --> 00:17:10.599 be defined like this steadfast, covenant, Faithful Love that never fails. Steadfast 173 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:18.869 Covenant, Faithful Love that never fails. Now this is perhaps the most important 174 00:17:18.230 --> 00:17:22.789 Hebrew word for you to learn. You want to do a by a word, 175 00:17:22.950 --> 00:17:27.750 study and use your strongs concordance. Use that word. It's amazing. 176 00:17:29.630 --> 00:17:33.819 If you can get a grip on what Hess had means, you will come, 177 00:17:33.019 --> 00:17:37.740 I think, a long way in your understanding of the Lord in Hebrew. 178 00:17:40.259 --> 00:17:45.890 God's mercy is steadfast. It's like the rock of Gibraltar. It's a 179 00:17:45.049 --> 00:17:52.930 love that weathers all storms. Nothing moves it, nothing alters it, nothing 180 00:17:52.970 --> 00:18:00.519 can change in his love for me, not even my sin, not even 181 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:10.960 my sin. His mercy is stead fast. It's also covenant faithful. His 182 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:15.789 mercy is a mercy that God extends to us because he has promised to, 183 00:18:18.109 --> 00:18:25.950 not because we deserve it. God gives us mercy not according to my deserts, 184 00:18:26.579 --> 00:18:32.140 but at couror and not according to my obedience, not according to my 185 00:18:32.339 --> 00:18:37.940 disobedience. It has nothing to do with my performance. God gives me His 186 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:45.450 mercy because, way back in the mists of eternity past, the father and 187 00:18:45.650 --> 00:18:48.690 the son, not God and Man. Get that out of your head. 188 00:18:48.890 --> 00:18:52.410 The covenant is not between God and Man. The covenant is between the Father 189 00:18:52.890 --> 00:19:00.160 and the son. They made a covenant together and in that Covenant between the 190 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:04.079 Father and the son, the son asked for you and me to be his 191 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:10.309 own. and Jesus told his father. He said that in the day that 192 00:19:10.470 --> 00:19:15.670 they sin, in the day that they lose fellowship with us, he said, 193 00:19:15.710 --> 00:19:22.309 I will take the full weight of their sin and they're guilt so that 194 00:19:22.430 --> 00:19:27.460 they might be rest. Sword to me is my covenant, people. His 195 00:19:27.779 --> 00:19:36.140 Covenant Faithful. Mercy is covenant faithful because the father does not give us what 196 00:19:36.420 --> 00:19:41.490 we deserve, rather, because we stand in the Covenant which Christ has made 197 00:19:41.609 --> 00:19:48.690 with his father, the Covenant in which we are beneficiaries, not participants. 198 00:19:49.250 --> 00:19:57.640 Because of that, the father gives us what Christ deserves, because Christ is 199 00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:07.549 taken upon his own shoulders that which we deserve. It is steadfast, it 200 00:20:07.710 --> 00:20:15.349 is covenant, Faithful Love which never fails. And so in his earthly ministry 201 00:20:17.029 --> 00:20:25.380 it was this which motivated Christ to give those people mercy. He sees them 202 00:20:25.579 --> 00:20:30.940 in light of the Cross. He sees them, he sees us in light 203 00:20:32.099 --> 00:20:36.289 of who we will be in glory, not who we are now in this 204 00:20:36.609 --> 00:20:44.329 mire. This means that when we see Jesus ministering to people, he takes 205 00:20:44.450 --> 00:20:49.519 from them what they do deserve and he gives them the healing and love and 206 00:20:49.799 --> 00:20:56.079 ministry that they do not deserve, because their father in heaven sees them in 207 00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:03.200 the shadow of the Cross. And so in his earthly ministry, Jesus gave 208 00:21:03.430 --> 00:21:11.390 His mercy liberally to everybody who asked, regardless of whether or not they would 209 00:21:11.430 --> 00:21:17.589 later turn to him or turn on him. And he did that in order 210 00:21:17.670 --> 00:21:22.259 that he might show them the kind of steadfast, covenant, Faithful Love that 211 00:21:22.380 --> 00:21:30.500 the citizens of his kingdom receive. And that that's pretty awesome, isn't it? 212 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:37.049 That the that the news doesn't get any better than that. But we 213 00:21:37.250 --> 00:21:42.170 can't stop there, because if that's the what, we always have to come 214 00:21:42.250 --> 00:21:48.759 round to the soul what. There's always a soul what to a what, 215 00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:52.519 just like there's got to be bad news too good news, otherwise it's just 216 00:21:52.720 --> 00:22:00.359 news. So here's the question. What does all of this have to do 217 00:22:00.039 --> 00:22:06.349 with you and me in our daily lives? Well, it has to do 218 00:22:06.549 --> 00:22:11.269 with us, because this is the same kind of mercy that God is calling 219 00:22:11.349 --> 00:22:18.579 on us to live out. That's why he's talking. He's talking about us 220 00:22:18.579 --> 00:22:22.059 in the beattitudes. This is what the citizens of my kingdom will look like. 221 00:22:25.099 --> 00:22:30.049 In Matthew, Chapter Nine, verse, starting in the ten first we 222 00:22:30.170 --> 00:22:37.289 read this. Now it happened is Jesus sat at the table in the house 223 00:22:37.730 --> 00:22:42.049 the behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with him in 224 00:22:42.170 --> 00:22:48.039 his disciples, and when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, 225 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:53.839 why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? When Jesus heard 226 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:59.829 that, he said to them those who are well have no need of a 227 00:22:59.910 --> 00:23:04.990 physician, but those who are sick go and learn what this means. I 228 00:23:06.230 --> 00:23:11.869 desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not call come to call the 229 00:23:11.990 --> 00:23:18.700 righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now, in this passage, Jesus is 230 00:23:18.900 --> 00:23:26.460 reaching out to people who deserve nothing but woe and misery. Matthew makes a 231 00:23:26.579 --> 00:23:30.890 point to tell us these are notorious sinners. These are the Ne'er do wells 232 00:23:30.970 --> 00:23:37.089 around town that everybody knows are guiltiest sin. These are people, in other 233 00:23:37.170 --> 00:23:44.480 words, who clearly deserve whatever bad end befalls them. But instead of giving 234 00:23:44.519 --> 00:23:52.119 them what they deserve, which is ultimately rejection by God and eternity separated from 235 00:23:52.119 --> 00:23:56.910 him in hell, rather than giving them that rejection, Jesus does the very 236 00:23:56.150 --> 00:24:02.230 opposite and he sits down to eat with them and to have fellowship with them 237 00:24:04.430 --> 00:24:10.619 and when he's asked about it by these selfrighteous Pharisees, he pretty much jumps 238 00:24:10.660 --> 00:24:15.700 down their throats. Don't, don't read whatever Jesus says in the gospels like 239 00:24:15.819 --> 00:24:21.059 we kind of picture it, you know, like he's some sort of kind 240 00:24:21.059 --> 00:24:25.690 of dirty hippie who's just sitting around like, oh, man, go figure 241 00:24:25.730 --> 00:24:29.410 out what this means. He's not like that. We tend to read it 242 00:24:29.609 --> 00:24:36.009 like that. But Jesus is a passionate man and he says to them, 243 00:24:37.089 --> 00:24:45.400 go learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. That's an 244 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:51.000 angry sort of comment, it's a sarcastic sort of comment, it's abiding sort 245 00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:55.549 of comment what he's saying in essences. You look here. Why don't you 246 00:24:55.589 --> 00:25:02.230 go figure out what this means? You conceated sons of Billil. I desire 247 00:25:02.829 --> 00:25:08.539 mercy, not sacrifice, and Jesus jumps on these guys like this because he 248 00:25:08.859 --> 00:25:15.579 wants us to understand that it was for this very purpose that he came into 249 00:25:15.579 --> 00:25:22.769 the world, to show undeserving people the steadfast, covenantful love of the father 250 00:25:22.970 --> 00:25:27.690 that never fails. He wants to teach us that what he wants for us 251 00:25:29.609 --> 00:25:37.279 is for us to act toward others according to what Jesus deserves for them as 252 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:44.920 their covenant Lord. And when he's saying this, he's quoting from Jose has 253 00:25:45.079 --> 00:25:52.549 six. Josea six says this. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and 254 00:25:52.710 --> 00:25:59.309 the knowledge of God more than bird offerings. Let me ask you this. 255 00:26:00.910 --> 00:26:06.819 Have you ever had someone just ride you, you know, just just rail 256 00:26:07.099 --> 00:26:15.579 on you with complaints and criticisms and an endless laundry list of all your failures? 257 00:26:17.500 --> 00:26:22.089 And then, when you just can't take it anymore, when you're faced 258 00:26:22.170 --> 00:26:26.609 with the fact that you're not doing, and you probably cannot do, whatever 259 00:26:26.650 --> 00:26:30.450 it is these people want from you, that you just get so frustrated, 260 00:26:30.569 --> 00:26:33.880 you get so hungry that you just say what do you want from me? 261 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:44.599 Anybody ever been there? You know that all of those pesky details aren't the 262 00:26:44.759 --> 00:26:49.789 real point. The endless list of failures on your part is actually being by 263 00:26:51.150 --> 00:26:56.470 used by that person to point you to something greater that they want from you. 264 00:26:56.990 --> 00:27:03.579 Oftentimes it's not done in a good way. It's bad. But whether 265 00:27:03.579 --> 00:27:07.500 it's being done in a good way, for constructive purpose, or a sinful 266 00:27:07.579 --> 00:27:11.900 way for a sinful purpose, you get to the end of your rope and 267 00:27:11.019 --> 00:27:19.170 you say what do you want from me? Well, here in Joseah chapter 268 00:27:19.410 --> 00:27:23.450 six, that's what God is saying, that he does to his people. 269 00:27:26.009 --> 00:27:30.480 This is the purpose of the law, to ride US and crush US under 270 00:27:30.519 --> 00:27:36.480 the weight of his demands until we cry out to him in despair. That's 271 00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:41.799 basically the summation of the John the Baptist Ministry. He came to show people 272 00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:47.029 how sinful they were so that they would cry out to God and ask what 273 00:27:47.190 --> 00:27:52.829 he really wants from them. And then Jesus tells us give your heart to 274 00:27:52.950 --> 00:28:00.539 me. In Matthew Chapter Nine, in Verse Thirteen, Jesus tells us what 275 00:28:00.700 --> 00:28:06.339 he wants from us. He wants mercy. What God wants from us is 276 00:28:06.460 --> 00:28:11.339 that we would allow his mercy, we would allow his steadfast, covenant, 277 00:28:11.420 --> 00:28:17.450 Faithful Love to go out from you and me to people around us who don't 278 00:28:17.569 --> 00:28:23.450 deserve it. If you want examples of what his this mercy looks like, 279 00:28:25.450 --> 00:28:29.319 all you have to do is look at how Jesus ministered to people and then 280 00:28:29.400 --> 00:28:33.720 ask yourself, how can I do what Jesus did in Matthew Nine? We've 281 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:40.480 seen already that Jesus shares his friendship, he shares his time, his fellowship 282 00:28:40.599 --> 00:28:47.549 with people who deserve to be rejected by him. And in our lives, 283 00:28:48.150 --> 00:28:53.829 Jesus's mercy is found similarly, whenever we are lifting others burdens from them and 284 00:28:55.150 --> 00:29:04.220 showing them the steadfast, undeserved love that they long for. Of the making 285 00:29:04.339 --> 00:29:10.170 of lists, there is no end, Solomon tells us, but or books 286 00:29:10.210 --> 00:29:15.250 in his case. But just to reel off a few ideas. God's mercy 287 00:29:15.450 --> 00:29:21.849 on the poor is when we lift their burden of poverty by helping them out 288 00:29:21.890 --> 00:29:27.640 of our abundance to be lifted out of their poverty. God's mercy on the 289 00:29:27.799 --> 00:29:34.559 lonely is when we lift the burden of their loneliness by befriending unlikable people. 290 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:38.750 It's one thing to love someone, it's quite another thing to like someone. 291 00:29:40.190 --> 00:29:47.509 Hopefully they go together, but befriending unlikable people in spending time with the lonely 292 00:29:48.230 --> 00:29:52.630 until they are no longer alone. His mercy on the hungry as when we 293 00:29:52.789 --> 00:29:57.579 lift the burden of their hunger by opening our pantries until their stomachs are full. 294 00:30:00.420 --> 00:30:03.980 His mercy on the ignorant is when we lift their burden of ignorance by 295 00:30:03.460 --> 00:30:07.329 teaching them how to read and by helping them to understand God's word, and 296 00:30:10.490 --> 00:30:15.730 so on and so on. God's mercy is new every morning, and so 297 00:30:15.930 --> 00:30:22.279 should ours be. God is calling on us, in this be attitude, 298 00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:26.880 to be merciful. He's calling upon us to love others with a love that 299 00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:32.440 does not treat them as they deserve to be treated. Rather, we are 300 00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:37.750 called to ease or remove the misery in their lives, the misery that scripture 301 00:30:37.789 --> 00:30:41.150 tells us that we all deserve, and to give them that which they do 302 00:30:41.390 --> 00:30:51.420 not deserve, to give them the love that Christ deserves for them. Remember, 303 00:30:52.220 --> 00:30:56.700 because of the son's covenant with the Father, the father has treated Christ 304 00:30:56.779 --> 00:31:03.369 as we deserve to be treated, so that now he might love us as 305 00:31:03.529 --> 00:31:10.809 Jesus deserves to be loved, and as the Covenant people of Our Lord, 306 00:31:11.089 --> 00:31:17.450 we then are called to treat others as though Christ has taken the misery and 307 00:31:17.650 --> 00:31:22.400 punishment they deserve and to love them with a love that Christ has earned for 308 00:31:22.640 --> 00:31:33.829 them. But we've said that mercy is a divine characteristic. So how, 309 00:31:33.990 --> 00:31:37.589 then, can we learn to show this divine characteristic of mercy to others? 310 00:31:40.390 --> 00:31:45.150 Well, it's right there in Joseah, chapter six, right after God says 311 00:31:45.190 --> 00:31:51.660 that he desires mercy. He says this, then, I desire mercy and 312 00:31:51.779 --> 00:31:59.460 not sacrifice and the knowledge of God. More than burnt offerings, we get 313 00:31:59.500 --> 00:32:06.089 the ability to show God's mercy to others as we see and believe more and 314 00:32:06.410 --> 00:32:12.690 more that we have first received mercy from him. So I want to ask 315 00:32:12.809 --> 00:32:17.400 else a couple of things as we bring this in for a landing. Do 316 00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:30.990 you really believe? Do you really believe that whatever bad stuff happens to you 317 00:32:31.630 --> 00:32:38.230 is deserved? Do you accept the hard teaching of scripture that the shorter catechism 318 00:32:38.390 --> 00:32:45.220 summarizes? Do you see that really you are a spiritual beggar who deserves nothing? 319 00:32:46.660 --> 00:32:51.940 Do you lament and mourn and weep, as James says, over the 320 00:32:52.059 --> 00:32:57.539 fact that you have brought all of this on yourself through your own wickedness? 321 00:32:59.650 --> 00:33:02.450 Do you see that you long for Eden but deserve the fire of Hell? 322 00:33:02.529 --> 00:33:12.650 And do you believe that, whatever it is that you have, whether it 323 00:33:12.769 --> 00:33:17.640 is life or health or shelter, whether it is money or children or food, 324 00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:22.640 even if it's just the simple experience of peace, you get to watch 325 00:33:22.680 --> 00:33:30.269 a desert sunrise, do you believe that every bit of it is nothing but 326 00:33:30.589 --> 00:33:37.549 the simple mercy of the Lord and not anything that you deserve apart from Christ? 327 00:33:39.549 --> 00:33:45.059 And do you, as a consequence, thank God, the because of 328 00:33:45.180 --> 00:33:49.660 the Covenant that Christ has made for you before the Throne of Almighty grace, 329 00:33:51.299 --> 00:33:58.490 that now all good things are yours in Christ Jesus? Do you believe that? 330 00:34:00.450 --> 00:34:06.809 Because if you believe these things, if you really really believe these things, 331 00:34:07.089 --> 00:34:10.960 then I will guarantee you that, is you ponder on the wonder of 332 00:34:12.119 --> 00:34:19.280 that wonderful mercy, that that same divine mercy will start to Herculate up in 333 00:34:19.480 --> 00:34:24.750 you like a spring until it becomes a river of living water that brings life 334 00:34:24.829 --> 00:34:29.550 and health and peace to those who are around you. For you see, 335 00:34:29.630 --> 00:34:37.030 when you really accept this good news, then you will begin to see the 336 00:34:37.269 --> 00:34:42.260 magnitude of God's mercy upon you. When you believe these things, you will 337 00:34:42.260 --> 00:34:49.099 begin more and more to appreciate this Wonderful Covenant Making, Covenant Keeping God who 338 00:34:49.219 --> 00:34:54.570 so loves you and me. You will look around at the world differently every 339 00:34:54.650 --> 00:35:00.769 day, in every breath, with every song or sunrise, with this song 340 00:35:00.889 --> 00:35:06.570 of every bird, with a every good and pleasant thing that comes your way. 341 00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:14.159 In all these things, you will start to rejoice in the mercy of 342 00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:17.519 your Lord, and then, as you do, you will start to want 343 00:35:17.559 --> 00:35:22.190 more and more to show his mercy unto others, so that they too can 344 00:35:22.309 --> 00:35:30.750 experience the joy of the mercy of Christ through you. You will see that 345 00:35:30.909 --> 00:35:35.510 you have become a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven and, moreover, you 346 00:35:35.590 --> 00:35:44.980 will be a citizen that helps make citizens of others, and that that is 347 00:35:45.139 --> 00:35:46.579 good news. Amen.