Mercy not sacrifice

Matthew 9: 9 - 13

I desire mercy not sacrifice

When Jesus approached Matthew, the wealthy tax collector got up and left everything to follow him. And in the celebration that followed, many other tax collectors and sinners came to enjoy table fellowship with Jesus. I wonder what attracted them. They had seen one of their friends undergo a complete change of values.......were they curious about this Rabbi he was now following? Did they also want to meet someone who could bring about such a change? Were they hopeful perhaps that they too might be freed from the bondage their choices in life had brought? Jesus mentions that it is the sick who know that they need a physician. He does not condemn those who are needy and are aware of their miserable condition. However, the religious leaders are aghast at his choice of people for table fellowship. They are 'holier than thou' in their attitude and they are the ones Jesus implies who do not understand God's mercy. Their religious righteousness based on making the correct sacrifices, and distancing themselves from the 'impure'.....gave them a sense of religiosity, but left nothing for those in real need.

I wonder how comfortable people feel with us once they know that we are Christians. Do they shy away because we are too 'holy'? Do we project a 'holier than thou' image to others? Or do we remain quite 'down to earth' and approachable, especially to the down and out? Are we easily scandalized by the sins of others, especially those sins we have never committed? Or do we realize that in God's eyes we too have sinned greatly yet are where we are simply as recipients of God's merciful love? I believe that the longer we are Christians the greater the danger of adopting the attitude of the pharisees. We are often (rightly) taught about leading holy lives because God is a holy God and will not tolerate sin in our lives. But this teaching needs to always be balanced by a felt experience that our God is 'compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love'. We should seek after holiness but in order not to become modern day pharisees, we need a humble, merciful approach towards those who have fallen. The journey is never a straight line even for Christians. May we always readily extend the mercy of God to those around us.