Mercy
As the Collect for St Matthew’s Day suggests, Matthew was called from the selfish pursuit of gain to become an apostle and evangelist. But I want to focus our thoughts on the interchange at Matthew’s house later that evening, in particular verse 13 — “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’” Why does God desire mercy? And what is the connection between mercy and sacrifice?
The quote comes from Hosea, in a passage which challenges Israel’s fickle love and calls them back to a true acknowledgment of God. “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hos 6:6)
The Pharisees’ criticise Jesus for socialising with tax collectors and ‘sinners’. In his reply, Jesus implies that the so-called ‘righteous’ are too motivated by sacrifice, when they should be motivated by mercy. But why should Jesus (and Hosea) pick out mercy as the attribute pleasing to God rather than faithfulness or obedience or holiness or love or justice or faith?
One other part of the New Testament sprang to mind which relates mercy and sacrifice. And when I looked it up, apart from the verse in Hosea and two places where Matthew quotes it, there is only one other verse which connects the two. It’s Rom 12:1, which says “I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.” This verse suggests that sacrifice is motivated by mercy. Just as God’s mercy lead to the sacrifice of his son, so God’s mercy motivates the sacrifice of our bodies to him. This still leaves open the question of why God’s mercy should motivate our worship and the giving of ourselves to him, rather than because of his perfection, or his justice, or power, or some other aspect of God’s greatness. I think it is that God’s mercy assures us that our personal sacrifice will be well-received. Because God is merciful, we need not fear condemnation or embarrassment or shame. We need not cling fearfully to our own independence. Since God is merciful, it is safe to entrust our selves to him.
Given that imitation is the sincerest form of compliment, we can best acknowledge God, not by sacrificing to him, but by imitating his mercy. It will be our compassion for those around us, our forbearance towards those with whom we are in conflict, and our generosity to those over whom we have power which reflect to others the nature of the one we serve.
When Jesus called Matthew, he called him to a life of mercy. Mercy is central to the character of God and imitating that mercy is foundational to our true acknowledgment of God; our true worship. Mercy may well lead to personal sacrifice, indeed it perhaps always does so, but such sacrifice is the result of overflowing mercy, not of guilt or Law or religious duty.