3 WAYS HOW TO GO AND LEARN MERCY

King Solomon - which baby? — What is mercy? Whose baby is this?

Harry started his sermon reminding us of the story of the argument over a baby – who was the rightful mother; how Solomon knew that the real mother would show mercy and not let her child die.

“The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” (1 Kings 3:26 NIV).

Mercy is:

“compassionate or kindly forbearance towards an enemy or someone under one’s power”

In other words, mercy is “cutting you some slack”.

Jesus says:

“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” (Matthew 9:12-13 NIV).

Then the message hit home with these words:

Do you say? “I am glad I am not like that Pharisee.”

Do you compare yourself to others? Do we compete? Jobs? Money? Homes? Do we like to feel better than others? Am I smarter? better behaved? have a higher education? understand Scripture better?

Oh I have – I do. Instead Harry said we need to all be in the same boat because we are all equal in God’s eyes.

Do we do the same at church? Are we mediators for God? Are we helping others into the mercy of God? Or do we say what is she doing in “my pew”? Or why is that baby crying? Or what is that long-haired kid doing in my church?

So Harry gave us 3 ways to Go and Learn mercy:

1. Review the Mercy of God:

we are fallen, needy and sinful
we have arrogance, selfishness and pride
God is love
Christ died for all of us so we could be totally forgiven
God hates the “sin” but loves the “sinner”

2. To Understand that we are not here to Control other People’s Lives:

there is a long history of this control in the church
we tend to put glory into our flesh (our power, our wisdom)
instead we need to worship the Spirit of God
we need to meditate on the mercy of our God

3. Pray that we might Discern the Difference between Mercy and Sacrifice:

this will help us not burn out
it will get us back to Jesus, the well of life – our Saviour
don’t get caught up in “busyness” – instead draw from the well of God and use mercy
pray you can “pay it forward”