I had the opportunity to preach Sunday evening about the mercy of God.  Preparing for that made me think about the whole idea of mercy and what it is.  I looked up the word mercy in the dictionary and it gave the definition as “compassion: kindness or forgiveness shown especially to somebody a person has power over”.  While I would quickly agree that compassion, kindness, and forgiveness all have something to do with mercy, I felt that the definition given was just too weak . . . too inadequate for this characteristic of God that we call mercy. 

You see, I think the dictionary was missing a key element of mercy — at the heart of mercy is the fact that it is undeserved.  If we deserve the compassion, kindness, and forgiveness shown to us, then it is something we earned and not mercy at all.  No, real mercy comes when we know we deserve punishment, condemnation, consequences, or retaliation and it is not given out to us.  I used the following illustration Sunday night that I think many people can relate to.

A few years ago I was on my way to a graduation open house on a Sunday afternoon with my mind a million miles away.  I was in full time youth ministry at the time and Sundays were days that were jam-packed full of activities and responsibilities that kept my attention all day long if they were to be accomplished well.  Anyhow, this particular afternoon I was simply driving to my destination without paying much attention at all to my surroundings or where I was.  As we were nearing the house we were headed to, my wife tells me that the sheriff’s car that had just went by us just did a U-turn and was likely coming after me.  Sure enough, the flashing lights appeared in my rear view mirror and as I pulled over to let him by he simply pulled in behind me.  I was caught.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t really sure what I was caught at.  This section of road was actually a fairly notorious speed trap, so I assumed I was its latest victim.  However, I wasn’t paying any attention and didn’t even know for sure if I was speeding and if so how fast I had been going.  The officer soon approached my car window and asked the question, “Do you know why I stopped you?”  I don’t know if that is a normal question, but it seems like a strange question to me.  Especially at this moment because my answer was something like this, “I’m not real sure, but I would guess I was driving too fast.”  And so I told him the truth.  I was paying absolutely no attention to what I was doing and therefore had no idea how fast I was driving.  He took me back to his car to show me the radar reading and sure enough, I was doing 47 in a 35 mph zone.  I simply told him that if that is what it said, then I must have been doing that.  I apologized . . . I expressed my regret . . . I confessed my wrongs of driving too fast and not paying attention.  I acknowledged that I was caught and I was guilty.  And then the mercy came.  He calmly and mildly reprimands me and tells me to pay attention when I drive and watch my speed.  Thank you and have a good day!

Wow!  Individuals that know me and were also going to the open house, gave me a hard time about my little roadside visit.  When I told them the officer just wanted to chat about my driving habits and encouraged me to pay attention and do what I ought, they couldn’t believe it.  It seems that “everyone” who gets caught on that section of roadway gets a ticket.  For me, it was mercy in action.  I didn’t demand it, I didn’t really even request it.  I definitely didn’t deserve it.  I simply confessed my sin and humbly took responsibility for my actions that I knew were wrong.  Any other course of action would have made mercy unlikely at best. 

God is a lot like that.  Micah 7:18 says He is a God “who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance.  [He does] not stay angry forever but delight[s] to show mercy.”  God longs to show mercy if we would just come to him in humility.  A broken and contrite heart, He will not turn away.  His anger over our sin will melt away when he sees us come to Him in repentance.  God is always calling us to Himself, longing for us to recognize that we are guilty and in need of His mercy.  Mercy that is freely given to all who humble themselves and confess their sin as He is “faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

May you and I bring delight to God by being honest with Him in our need for His mercy.