At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."

He answered, "Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." (Matthew 12:1-8 TNIV)

Mercy.

At first glance, the meaning of this word from our Lord may seem distant and difficult. However, let me suggest to you that despite all its talk of Sabbaths, Pharisees, priests, temples and consecrated bread, it is anything but distant. Difficult to live out? Yes! Distant and removed from where we live here and now? No! It is as close as what we all would surely agree is our greatest need.

Mercy.

Let me try to illustrate the truth of this word with the help of three true stories about real people in real-life situations that I have known. If you can relate to the reality of any of these stories then I believe you can relate to the reality of the power of this word from Jesus.

Story One:

She has a family to support. She has a decent job and she is diligent in doing it. It's the only thing she's ever done and the only thing she knows, but her work hours rarely mesh with the hours of assembly down at her church. Rarely are there openings in the field in which she works and cutbacks are not uncommon, so a person clings to a position if he or she can get one.

She loves the Lord a great deal, so come Sunday, her heart is always in one place while her body is in another. She feels trapped and she is weighed down with guilt. As she tells me of her conflict, she looks me in the eye with deep conviction and asks: "Am I lost?"

You see, the one who is offering mercy is in a quandary now because she cannot offer sacrifice.

Story Two:

They walk out of the leadership meeting smitten in spirit for the umpteenth time. The meeting has gone precisely as they could have predicted before they entered it — the majority of their time was wasted in haggling over some point of minutiae in one of their worship assemblies or about the condition of their building. The surface issues change through time, but the ultimate result never does — the church's leadership resources are squandered on discussing property and programs rather than wrestling in prayer for people. It appears that while wounded sheep are all about them, the leadership's chief concern is more about their temporary "sheepfold" rather than the sheep.

Depressed over their apparent inability to solve the problem and somewhat angry that such sin is allowed to continue among God's people, they come to me and ask me to pray for them about their spirit for they see something even worse rising up — they see themselves slowly becoming like the others. These are not young rebels seeking to make a play for power. These are earnest people of God beginning to question what truth is and what they're to be about. With tense voices and sweaty hands, they ask me: "Are we off base?"

What is at stake? Those who see mercy as supreme are now beginning to question their vision of mercy's supremacy.

Sacrifice is cheap compared to the offering of mercy.

Story Three:

Few consider the reality of their marriage vows as he has considered them. He and his mate enjoyed many years of health, but a cruel disease has now left his wife often bedridden and unable to care for herself. The illness has affected her mind, so that he has become the only person she will trust with the simplest of tasks. His responsibility in care-giving is greater than I have ever known for anyone. However, though once a leader in his church family, he is now harassed by several well-intentioned members who do not, nor cannot, fully understand the depth of his plight. Their thinly veiled insinuations that he could "come to church sometimes if he wanted to" have cut him nearly as deeply in spirit as watching a disease ravage his wife. As he lifts his head up from his hands and looks at me through bloodshot eyes, he asks: "Does the Lord understand?"

The one pouring his life out expending mercy has been brought to the very gates of doubt by some who believe sacrifice is a weightier gift than mercy.

Breaking Free by Beth Moore Moore teaches us to identify--and remove--the spiritual barriers that hinder our daily freedom in Christ.

David Smith is preaching minister in Baytown, Texas and edits "The Online Devotonal" at Your Church Can Grow!

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