Mercy

Readings for today: Deuteronomy 4-7

Over the course of my life, I have been blessed to spend time with some truly great Christians. Men and women of profound spiritual depth who have exerted a shaping influence on the church and the world through their speaking, teaching, and writing. Their names are well-known. They’ve founded and led great ministries, churches, and organizations. Some of them have passed from this life. Others are still very much engaged in their work. And for reasons I still do not know or frankly understand, they have chosen to spend some of their valuable time with me. It’s deeply humbling to be on the receiving end of such mercy. It was not something I achieved. It was not something I earned. It was not the result of my hard work or effort. I simply lucked out. For whatever reason, they chose me.

I think of these experiences as I try to wrap my mind and heart around the words we read in our text for today. “For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him? And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?” (Deuteronomy‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭CSB‬‬) It’s been decades since that first meeting between Moses and God at the burning bush. In that time, Moses has seen the most breathtaking miracles. He watched God take a rag-tag group of slaves and turn them into a nation. He watched God humble the greatest ruler of the greatest empire in the world. He bore witness to God’s love and mercy as He carried His people through the Red Sea and delivered them to the Promised Land. He grieved at the faithlessness of God’s people that caused them to wander in the wilderness under judgment for forty years. His life has been rich and full and blessed in so many ways. Perhaps the most marvelous thing of all is that Moses never loses his sense of awe over God’s mercy. Here he is at the end of his life and he still can’t get over the fact that among all the nations of the earth, God chose Israel. 

Not only did God choose Israel but God remains faithful to Israel. Despite her constant whining and complaining. Despite her hard hearts and stiff necks. Despite her many sins and acts of unfaithfulness. Despite the fact that God knows she will fail over and over again. He remains true. He lives up to His promises. “But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart and all your soul.  When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, in the future you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them by oath, because the Lord your God is a compassionate God.” (Deuteronomy‬ ‭4‬:‭29‬-‭31‬ ‭CSB‬) God is so good. His mercies endure forever. His covenant love never fails. 

Why does God do all this? Is it for us? On some level yes. God has chosen us from before the foundations of the earth to be the object of His great love. But more than that, God has chosen us to be His instruments of mercy as well. His great desire is to use us to draw an unbelieving world to faith. God wants the whole world to look on us in wonder and awe just like Moses. To stand and stare in disbelief that the God of the universe would choose a people for Himself. Forge them through fire and trial and struggle and war into a people for His own possession. A chosen nation. A royal priesthood. Set apart to declare His glory to the world. “Indeed, ask about the earlier days that preceded you, from the day God created mankind  on the earth and from one end of the heavens to the other: Has anything like this great event ever happened, or has anything like it been heard of? Has a people heard God’s voice speaking from the fire as you have, and lived? Or has a god attempted to go and take a nation as his own out of another nation, by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?” (Deuteronomy‬ ‭4‬:‭32‬-‭34‬ ‭CSB‬‬) Friends, there is no end to the mercy of God. If you seek Him, you will find Him. If you turn to Him, you will find His arms wide open. If you ask Him, He will come into your heart and into your life and you will be saved. 

Readings for tomorrow: Deuteronomy 8-11

God Doesn’t Live in a Box

Readings for today: Matthew 9-10, Psalms 85

I love theology. I went to one of the top theological schools in the world to get my degree. I received my doctorate from another top school. I continue to study theology for a living. I am passionate about the subject. Right theology is critically important because what we think about God matters. It matters here on earth as well as in eternity. Wrong theology can be abusive and terrorizing. Right theology can be incredibly freeing and life-giving. And of course, there’s a whole spectrum in between. And that’s why I’ve taken theological stands over the years that placed me at odds at times with the prevailing authorities in the denominations I’ve served.

In today’s reading we see what happens when theology gets in the way. When theological principle becomes more important than ministering to the needs of people. We see what happens when we desire to be right over the desire to be merciful. Jesus is attacked by the scribes for claiming to forgive sins. He is attacked by the Pharisees because of the company he kept. He is even questioned by the disciples of John the Baptist over a lack of fasting. The final insult comes when he is accused of casting out demons by the power of the devil himself. What did Jesus do to merit such treatment? He healed a paralytic. He ate a meal with a tax collector and his friends. He healed a woman with a serious medical issue and raised the dead. Finally, he cast out a demon from a demon-possessed man. One would think the scribes and Pharisees and other religious leaders of his day would rejoice over what Jesus was doing. His miracles were signs of the inbreaking power of the Kingdom of God. But their theology got in the way. They had used their knowledge of the Law and the Prophets to put God in a box and they expected Him to stay there. But God cannot be controlled. He is untamable. He is not safe. He continually breaks through the boundaries we set for Him through our limited understanding which is why we should always approach Him with deep humility.

Sadly, the spirit of Pharisaism is alive and well today. I have seen it and experienced it on any number of occasions. I have been accused over the years of any number of things simply because I don’t believe God can be limited to any human theological “system.” Now don’t get me wrong. I absolutely believe God will never contradict His Word but the Bible is not a systematic theology textbook. The God who reveals Himself through Jesus Christ and in the pages of the different books that make up the Old and New Testament is a wild God who proves over and over again that He simply will not allow us to fence Him in. It’s why Jesus’ words today are so important, “Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” If only we could learn how to embrace God’s love as well as God’s law! He would take us to places we’ve never dreamed and do things through us we never thought possible.

Readings for tomorrow: Matthew 11-12, Psalms 86