Hello Church Family,
Although we did not meeting this past Sunday, I wanted to post the message I prepared. This is a time when we can trust God to show us how he wants us to respond day by day. There is such a need for love and expressions of God’s grace and mercy. May we be those expressions!
If you or someone you know needs anything, or needs to talk and pray, please contact me
God’s Peace and Care for you and your families, Pastor Lola
LUKE 18:9-14
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9-14
NEEDING MERCY
Springford: March 15, 2020.
This whole Covid 19 health crisis is a time when we learn a lot about ourselves. It can be an opportunity to serve and to treat each other with care and compassion and mercy. Unfortunately, we see that it can also bring out the worst in people-suspicion, selfishness, hoarding, and people’s harsh judgment and mean spirited responses to those who make these choices.
I recognize that we are being advised to practise social distancing as a means of bringing this pandemic under control, but what we see here in this story that Jesus tells is a kind of social distancing that the self righteous Pharisees practised all the time and Jesus condemns this. Here we have a pointed lesson directed at those who were, “confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else.” (vs. 9)
This is an entirely accurate description of the Pharisee in the parable who prays, “God I thank you that I am not like others… or even like this tax collector”. (vs. 11) Then he goes on to give evidence of what he thinks proves how good he is, that he is better than others.
The Pharisee talks about fasting twice a week. Fasting was not required in the Old Testament law except on the Day of Atonement. Pharisees also fasted on Mondays and Thursdays. And he is proud to say that he does not just tithe (give a tenth) of what he earns but of all that he gets or acquires (again the common practice of Pharisees-more than required).
Sadly, in giving more than required, this Pharisee still doesn’t have an accurate view of God and himself and what God does require from him. He has not come recognizing his sins and that he needs mercy. If the Pharisee was like the tax collector, willing to recognize his sins and his need for mercy, then he would be in a position both to receive mercy and to offer mercy.
The same is true for us. As long as our focus is on what others are doing wrong and how much they need God, we will not be
humbly admitting how much we need God. We cannot serve another person if we do not admit that we also need mercy.
I had a conversation this week with a man outside our local grocery store who was sitting there on the ground with his hat and collecting whatever people were willing to give. This has become increasingly more common. I have even seen a dispute between two individuals in need who arrived at the same time and were arguing over who could stay there and look for help from customers passing by.
This man that I was
talking with asked me, “Why do some people run by when they see me?
Do they think I’m a murderer or something”?
He sensed their
judgment and their fear. He was well aware of his need for mercy.
Perhaps other people somehow could not imagine that they might ever
be in his position and needing mercy.
If a Pharisee was there at our grocery store, he would have been thanking God that he was not like this homeless man. He would have been holding himself apart from someone so in need of mercy and failing to realize that he also needed mercy.
(vs. 13) The tax collector in Jesus’ story doesn’t even look up to heaven. He simply says, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” In knowing how much he needs mercy, this man does receive mercy from God.
How are we going to be available to serve and to show mercy if we distance ourselves from people and do not admit how much we need mercy?
God is not interested in a reciting of all the good that we have done. God wants us to understand that each one of us needs His mercy and grace.
So how can we serve God during this Covid 19 crisis?
-we can pray for all those experiencing anxiety and fear
-we can phone to check in with those who live alone and might need something or might just want to chat
-we can pick things up for those reluctant to go out
-we could send snacks or games to families who will have children at home for the next 3 weeks
-we can refuse to enter into conversations criticizing the selfish and irrational behaviour of others
-we can pray to understand how people are feeling and why people are reacting the way they are
-we can choose that although practising caution around associating closely with people, we will not distance ourselves and hold ourselves off from people in caring about them and loving them and wanting them to experience mercy
-we can learn during this time to see beyond ourselves and to confront what causes us fear and discomfort
God remains in control. God can arrange in the midst of this time of caution for us to actually know our neighbours and their needs better.
Instead of making it our focus to isolate ourselves and not get sick, we could make it our focus to discover new and creative ways to humbly recognize our need for mercy and to serve by showing mercy!
God can guide us in all of this because He specializes in showing mercy!
I am praying that God will guide each of us as followers of Jesus to pray these words of commitment we have been repeating each Sunday at Springford Baptist Church:
“HERE I AM, WHOLLY AVAILABLE. AS FOR ME, I WILL SERVE YOU LORD”