Hi Everyone,

Andy asked me to post my notes from what I shared on Easter Sunday. My notes were in my journal so now I have the pleasure of going over them again. What an honor it was to seek the Lord and speak what I think is on his heart.

MERCY

I have been reading through Matthew this year trying to learn more about who Jesus is and was. As I started to ask the Lord what he wanted me to share at Easter, I got snagged on Jesus words “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ “

This sentence is taken from “the calling of Matthew” Matthew 9:9-13

The Calling of Matthew

9As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

What is the definition of Mercy?

As kids, some of us used to play a game where one kid would hold out their hands, palms up, and the other would bend their fingers backwards until the kid who’s hands were being bent yelled “MERCY!”
Mercy definition- release the power you have over me

The world’s view of mercy- An act of pardon or acquittal. “He threw himself at the mercy of the courts.

Biblical definitions of mercy:

The Old Testament uses two different Hebrew words for mercy.
1)“Hesed”- steadfast love, covenant love. When this word is used of the Lord, it always occurs in connection with the covenant God established with Israel.
Isaiah 54:10 “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love [hesed] shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord who has compassion on you”

2)”Rachamim”- tender, compassionate love, a love that springs from pity. It is often used in conjunction with “Hesed. The root word of Rachamim is “rechem” meaning mothers womb. “Like a mother responding in love to the sufferings of her child”.

The New Testament uses the Greek word “eleos” when referring to mercy. Eleos is translated as loving kindness or tender compassion. The root word for Eleos means “oil that is poured out” According to an certain Orthodox Worship book the route word means “olive oil”. Olive oil used to be commonly used as a soothing agent for minor cuts and bruises. Mercy refers to the loving kindness of God towards his suffering children.

(The biblical definitions are from my google search. Many of the sentence are direct quotes from these websites http://www.thedivinemercy.org/library/article.php?NID=70
http://www.thedivinemercy.org/library/article.php?NID=37
Sorry for the poor sitation of quotes.)

In the Old Testament, God’s mercy was about keeping his covenant with his people Israel, who were unfaithful.

In the New Testament, God’s mercy is all about Jesus coming and living among us. It is Jesus compassion of sharing our lot. It is his compassion of showing us the Father. It is Jesus compassion of becoming the perfect offering for our sins.

Today we celebrate the greatest acting out of “eleos” tender compassion, of “hesed” steadfast covenant love, of “rachamim” a Love responding to the sufferings of his children.

What if God is saying to us: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I am the resurrected God. The King of all that was and is and is to come. What if he is saying: Please don’t bring me empty devotions. Don’t bring me (empty) tithes. Don’t bring me (empty) fasting. I want MERCY. I want you to be a people of steadfast, compassionate love! CRAZY love! Or so it will look from a human perspective. What if he is saying: Let me be what you cannot be. Let me teach you about mercy. Let me show you by my example and then in your heart, I will lead you to do the same. What if God is pleading with us: Please my people- become a people of MERCY.

As I prepared, I prayed for an example of this mercy in my own life. It wasn’t until the last night that he gave me that example. Gregg, my fine husband, had settled our 2 year old Frances down to bed and suggested I go in and say goodnight. This was after a fun night of playing with her little cousin and having her first chocolate Easter bunny. I went in to say goodnight and Frances woke up. Everytime I left and tried to come and work on this talk on the computer, Frances would start crying and calling me. I realized at this time that it was my chance to show mercy (compassion, mother’s love…). So I went in over the next hour and a half and was as merciful as I could be. I broke all our usual rules. Finally at about 10:15pm, I had to leave our way over-tired, unresponsive, crying hoarsely, toddler to the loving listening ear of her dad and escape downstairs. I went two floors down so that I couldn’t hear her.
I knew this was my mercy lesson, so I ask the Lord about it. “But she didn’t accept my mercy”, I complained.

Then the Lord said to me “So many won’t have my mercy just like Frances won’t have yours now.”

I felt frustrated remembering Matthew 9:13. “So why are you asking for mercy!? Why do you desire it instead of sacrifice if so many won’t receive it?! “

“Because I love, I love, I love” Was his response.

Steadfast…tender…love pouring out…

Blessings,

T