Pentecost 2, June 11
There is a lot of mercy in our gospel today. Jesus shows mercy to tax collectors, sinners, a leader of the synagogue and a bleeding woman. The only people to whom he doesn’t seem to show mercy are the Pharisees. When they yell at him for eating with tax collectors and sinners, he answers: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
It’s easy to think that we are all good Christians and full of mercy for others, but are we? Let me tell you about my failings: I’ve recently been involved in a brouhaha at the library. I volunteered on the board of trustees for Timberland Regional Library for 9 years. An administrator was doing awful things, and I really wanted her to be fired so I wrote letter after letter to the current board of trustees, and I shared those letters on Facebook. I was careful to keep my comments civil and truthful. But I began to wonder if I was being a good Christian as I was surely not being very merciful toward this woman. I was finding it really hard to have any empathy for her. Then I found out that she was working to have me kicked out of all the library branches because of what I had written. Honestly, that was the end of my desire for mercy. This week she was finally fired. I had no mercy. So maybe I’m the wrong person to be preaching on this gospel!
‘Mercy, not sacrifice’. Jesus is quoting Hosea here. Now remember that an intrinsic part of worshipping at the temple included sacrifices. Mercy, not sacrifice. I believe he is saying that treating one another with mercy is what matters, not the rituals you keep or the church you attend.
Why is it such a big deal that he shows mercy to a tax collector? In his society, tax collectors were hated social outcasts because the money they were collecting went straight to the despised Romans who occupied their land. The tax collectors also often took a little extra money on the side for themselves.
A modern-day version of this might be the guy who took the $50,000 bonus to be an ICE agent because he desperately needs money. He just has to collaborate with the government to arrest migrants, many of whom are innocent of any crime. I find it hard to forgive that person. But Jesus would show him mercy, and we might find that problematic.
You see, Jesus is actively choosing to build his church with people who are regarded by their society as less than desirable. By inviting outcasts to his table, Jesus is extending to them God’s healing grace and love. Mercy.
In the middle of this conversation with the Pharisees a leader of the synagogue named Jairus comes and kneels before Jesus and begs him to raise his little daughter from the dead. Jesus immediately gets up and follows this grieving father.
The two hurry along in the middle of a crowd when Jesus suddenly heals a woman who has been bleeding for twelve years. All she needed to do to be healed was touch the hem of his cloak. Jesus has healed her bleeding but now, now, he surely heals her soul when he looks into her eyes and says, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” How must it feel for this suffering woman, this societal outcast, to be called “daughter” by Jesus?!
Standing by, the leader of the synagogue must have been fuming while Jesus stood patiently talking to this unclean woman. Surely his beloved daughter is more important than this dirty woman! But Jesus just walks on. They finally get to the house with the dead little girl. There are flute players and a grieving crowd making a commotion. Jesus shushes them, saying “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” The crowd laughs at him. Jesus approaches the girl who is so silent, so still, everyone believes she is dead. Jesus simply takes her by the hand, and she gets up.
There is so much going on in this gospel, with three different stories crammed together. There are several things about this way of telling the story that occur to me: first, isn’t this the way life is? Haven’t you had that happen? When you are just on a mission to get something done, you encounter all kinds of interruptions.
But what I love in this story is the relative importance of these three people: Matthew, a hated tax collector living on the margins of his society, Jairus, a leader in the synagogue, probably one of the most important people in the crowd that day and the impoverished, bleeding woman. Jesus embraces Matthew. Jesus stops helping the rich, powerful man to tend to the poor, powerless woman. To Jesus, all these people are of equal importance and value. And please notice that he doesn’t ask any questions about the worthiness of any of these people. He doesn’t judge them. He just offers mercy and healing.
I also wonder if this is a little ‘slice of life’ glimpse into how Jesus spent his days: eat with sinners here, rebuke Pharisees there, heal some folks, raise the dead. What a busy day. No wonder he often had to go off by himself to pray.
Here’s a time when I got a lesson in mercy: A while ago, Kevin was at the bank while my beautiful white Husky Luna and I sat outside on the sidewalk. I noticed Luna staring intently at an approaching man. I felt there was something about this man that seemed a little sketchy – the way he walked, or the way he was dressed. He seemed just a bit menacing to me. But as he came upon us, he turned to Luna and bent way over, almost bowing to her, to pet her gently on the head. Then he leaned over further and softly kissed her forehead. He murmured ‘thank you’ to Luna, then turned to leave. I replied, ‘Thank YOU’. I had judged him and I was wrong. This little exchange was such a moment of grace. Who knows what this man’s story was, but it was so sweet to have this gentle interaction and for me to be called out for judging. Mercy.
We all need mercy, don’t we? Mercy is a quality that is intrinsic to the nature of God. God forgives us and shows us mercy oh, about a zillion times a day for our less-than-ideal behavior. Maybe we can try to extend mercy in our lives by forgiving others, especially to those we deem unforgivable. I find myself working overtime to extend mercy and forgiveness to certain political leaders. I bet you can guess who!
Now I want to take a minute to speak to our graduates. This thing about mercy: it’s for you too. You’re getting ready to make some major life changes and it’s usually a bit of a bumpy road. Show yourself mercy. Remember that every single new student in your class is also a bit lost, maybe figuring out their roommate is WEIRD and wondering if they’re choosing the right major or the right college. If you meet other freshmen not feeling this way, stay away because they’re psychopaths.
Give yourself grace. Forgive yourself. Understand that God’s love and mercy for you are without limit. And remember that our little church will be praying for both of you every Sunday and we send you on your way with lots of love.