COMPASSIONATE MERCY

 








If you would like to watch a video of this message that includes the scripture readings and prayers, please go to:  https://youtu.be/f_HQrxjVdF8


Psalm 100

Ezekiel 34:11-24

Matthew 25:39-46

 

I’m not saying it’s going to get wild today, but it is certainly going to get wooly.  Boy, do we have sheep today – sheep in flocks, stray sheep, hungry sheep, fat sheep and skinny sheep.  Throw in some goats and a parable about the second coming of Christ for good measure, and we have a message about the key to being prepared for Christ’s return – compassionate mercy.

 

It’s an unusual Sunday when three of the four lectionary readings have so much in common, besides sheep.  There’s God’s loving kindness and care and his faithful commitment to his relationship with humanity and our welfare.  Throw in mercy, and we have one of the essential characteristics of God’s unconditional love for us – compassionate mercy.

 In Ezekiel 34, God voices his extreme displeasure with those who have been entrusted with the leadership and care of God’s people.  These “bad shepherds” or “fat sheep” were indifferent to the needs of the people.  They misused their power and authority to exploit the people, to take the best for themselves and leave the poor hungry and defenseless, leaving them to be scattered and preyed upon by the enemies of God’s people.

 God’s compassionate mercy is not passive in nature.  God is faithful, and God will take action on behalf of the people.  Throughout the passage we heard today from Ezekiel, there are all these “I will” statements made by God:

·       “I myself will search for my sheep…”

·       “I will rescue them …”

·       “I will feed them …”

·       “I myself will be the shepherd of my people …”

·       “I will bind up the injured…”

·       “I will strengthen the weak …"

And it says that God will defend his sheep against injustice and bring judgement upon the unjust.

 Then in Ezekiel 34: 23-24, God makes this promise of compassionate mercy to them:

“I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them and be their shepherd.  And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be the prince among them; I, the Lord have spoken.”

That shepherd is Jesus, and Jesus is the greatest expression of God’s compassion and mercy for us.  As it says in John 3:17, “… God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world may be saved,” mercy is when one has the authority and power to punish or condemn someone, but instead chooses to forgive, to redeem the life of that person, whether they deserve it or not. 

Compassionate mercy is seeing the image of God in each person and honoring their worth.  It means going beyond what is normally expected.  It’s investing ourselves, our time and our resources in others in ways that provides for their needs and has a positive, transformational impact on their lives.

 We’re more than just a flock of sheep, we are the Body of Christ, entrusted with the mission of God and to love as God loves with compassionate mercy.  In the parable from Matthew, the “sheep” are the ones who, through their faith in Christ, have lived out God’s compassionate mercy in their relationships with the least among them.”

Welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, clothe the naked.  Visit the sick and those who are in prison.  Love as God loves, with compassionate mercy.



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