Romans 15:1 (MSG)
Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status.
Romans 15:1 (ESV)
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
When I read this verse I, honestly, have two emotional reactions: I want to either cry or laugh. When I consider the usual attitude and response today of “the church”…to those whom they consider “weak”…those not in their zone of comfort…words fail me. Frankly either response of emotion I would affirm would be a failure on my part. Silence would be a denial of my heart’s conviction of The Word, and “pages” of assessment would be viewed as judgment on the “body”. Therefore, I am going to try and be as concise as possible…in one posting of thoughts on this matter.
Let’s look at:
Matthew 9:11-13 (MSG)
When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus’ followers. "What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riff-raff?" Jesus, overhearing, shot back, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders."
Matthew 9:11-13 (ESV)
And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
“I desire mercy”
Let’s move to:
Matthew 12:2-8 (MSG)
Some Pharisees reported them to Jesus: "Your disciples are breaking the Sabbath rules!" Jesus said, "Really? Didn’t you ever read what David and his companions did when they were hungry, how they entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat? And didn’t you ever read in God’s Law that priests carrying out their Temple duties break Sabbath rules all the time and it’s not held against them? "There is far more at stake here than religion. If you had any idea what this Scripture meant—’I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual’—you wouldn’t be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath; he’s in charge."
“I prefer a flexible heart”
Matthew 12:2-8 (ESV)
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."
“I desire mercy”
Verses 6 & 7 are very powerful in their message, from Christ, concerning mercy; he even goes further into the core of one’s heart and mind in his assessment. It is reaching to how “we” perceive the “church”, in general, and it’s role to their fellow man. Do you consider the church to be mainly a place of worship or a place of safe haven for all in need?
Psalms 147:3 (ESV)
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
He healeth the broken in heart—שבורי, the shivered in heart. From the root שבר shabar, to break in pieces, we have our word shiver, to break into splinters, into shivers. The heart broken in pieces by a sense of God’s displeasure.
* Note that even in this definition of the Greek, and in stating heart’s are broken by a sense of God’s displeasure- The scripture states: He heals the brokenhearted- he does not lay aside, or reject.
Matthew 12:25 (ESV)
Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.Matthew 12:25 (MSG)
Jesus confronted their slander. "A judge who gives opposite verdicts on the same person cancels himself out; a family that’s in a constant squabble disintegrates.
Sometimes I observe that “we”, the church, have become more known for our squabbling that for our mercy, in how we deal with our own; is this really what we think Christ desires of us?
Romans 3:21-23 (ESV)
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:21-23 (MSG)
But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us.
Forgive me if “concise” went on a little more than expected; this is a message that is embedded in my heart. I only pray, sincerely, that we all- including myself- reconsider how His Spirit wants us to move beyond “being incapable of living the glorious life God wills for us”.
“I desire mercy”
