Friday, May 6, 2011

Trying to Practice what Jesus Preaches

Scripture Verse that caught my attention today: Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.

Observation: It’s interesting that Jesus puts justice and mercy together in this statement; they seem so different.

Application: I was of the mistaken impression that justice and mercy are found together often in the Bible. A quick look in the concordance proved that to be untrue. In the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version) the word justice comes up 160 or so times and the word mercy comes up around 240 times, yet only once do they appear together (one notable exception might be Hosea 2:19 where they are included within the same phrase).

Be that as it may, how do justice and mercy work together? They seem to be opposites. Many of us would say that the killing of Osama Bin Laden was probably a form of justice. I doubt that many, if any, of us would describe it as merciful other than the fact that it was a quick death.

Yet Jesus says that justice, mercy, and faith are the “weightier matters of the law” and, apparently, they go together! Does justice involve offering mercy or does mercy involve seeking justice? Where does faith fit in?

Perhaps the most notable and overlooked thing about the passage is the word “practiced.” This side of heaven we will never discover the perfect combination of justice, mercy, and faith. But we can endeavor to practice putting them together. This could take a lot of practice.

Prayer: Lord, help us to practice what you preach. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included 2 Samuel 11 & 12, Psalm 51, and Matthew 23)

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