God Desires Mercy Not Sacrifice

God desires mercy not sacrifice.  This gospel has Jesus claiming in no uncertain terms the way in which we are to live our lives, in order to honour God.  If you look through the Old Testament, Jesus comes from a society that placed great importance on ritual sacrifice.  In this gospel there is a direct call to question the importance of these practices, with Jesus calling for both social and spiritual reform.  Through this call to reform, when we read this gospel we can gain new perspectives and insights in the way we relate to God and each other in our everyday lives.

In this reading we see Jesus drawing on his Jewish teachings, quoting Hosea, Amos and Micah to emphasis his point.  This is a very powerful prophetic motif within the Old Testament.  Throughout history the role of the prophet was to demand reformation of societal power structures, speak out against corruption and oppression, to read the signs of the times.  Our tradition traces back to these prophetic roots, to these radical rebellious people that shaped our history and beliefs, they stood up for the marginalised and oppressed and helped define what was truly important in life.  Matthew places Jesus in the direct line of the prophets, quoting the prophet Micah...

With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?  Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?  He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and walk humbly with your God?

In this sentence the prophet Micah sums up over a century of prophecy, this is the tradition that Jesus draws upon with his statement “’I desire Mercy, not sacrifice, for I have come to call not the righteous but the sinners.’”  In the context of the gospel Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners and in the later healing story Jesus is showing compassion for the marginalised in his society.  We see him freely and tenderly associating with the marginalised, the oppressed and the unclean.  Actions like these were seen as contradictory to the social order at the time.  Through his actions Jesus is seen to be rebelliously going against societal norms, by valuing and showing special preference for the marginal and impoverished.  This story was also seen to be a direct call to spiritual reform.  It was of profound importance that Jesus let a woman who was bleeding touch his clothes, firstly she was marginalised simply due to her gender and secondly someone else’s blood was unclean.  For someone who held close to their Jewish heritage a situation like this would be dubious at best, instead Jesus turns to her and says ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well’, such tender words for a situation that is rife with calls for social and spiritual upheaval, for words that essentially were redefining the social order.  Jesus prophetically calls his followers to social and spiritual change through a message of love and mercy. 

So who are the marginalised and oppressed in our society?  And how do we follow the path of Jesus in relation to them?  Every day we see on television and in the newspaper images of oppression, war torn third world countries, those in poverty, the hungry throughout the world.  But these aren’t the only images of oppression in our everyday lives; there are more covert methods that we don’t necessarily realise that are right in front of us.  Every time we allow ourselves to stigmatize, to label and stereotype others, we are actively oppressing our fellow humans.  Every time we watch a television show that hunts down a group that are already struggling in life, that are already socially or materially impoverished, we are engaging in an act of oppression.  At times I find it hard to watch shows such as ‘A Current Affairs’ without feeling like I am participating in a cycle of oppression.  These shows find popularity by preying on the vulnerability of the already marginalised in our society, with exposes on teen pregnancy, dole bludgers, illegal immigrants, finding isolated cases and creating societal rules out of them.  People in these situations are already struggling in life; these shows make someone else’s misfortune a ‘news worthy’ event.  It is the call to follow Jesus and his radical message to social reformation that should allow us to break this cycle.  To refer to the sentiment that Jesus was referring to:  “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and walk humbly with your God?”’ 

We are called to rebel against this sort of behaviour and a society that belittles our fellow humans.  God does not require sacrifice, but mercy and love.  We can make the biggest donations, and go through the motions as much as we want, but it is all for nothing if we cannot love and show mercy to those around us.  It becomes empty sentiments, a superficial structure without any heart.  When we move beyond the idea of sacrifice and delve into the area of relationship, we discover that we honour God through the way we treat those around us.  We are made in the image of God and we all participate in Gods story, each of us are loved and valued by God equally.  This is a great responsibility to us, because it means that in order to adequately love God, we must love, value and respect each other.  Every time we are engaging in loving behaviour we are participating in the life and love of God, and conversely every time we denigrate someone we find Christ crucified. 

Korean Cardinal Stephen Kim Su-Whan beautifully sums up the churches mission in this world with his statement that looks at the social justice element of the Eucharist.  ‘The Church should light the sacred candle of the resurrection not merely through its preaching within it walls, but also through actions outside the walls of the church.  We should dedicate ourselves to the task of reviving conscience and justice, which will bless us with a brighter more just society.’

Every time we enter into Eucharist we are reminded that we are the Body of Christ, through participation and incorporation we receive the realised presence of God into our bodies, God is in us and we are in God.  We enter into ‘oneness’ with God and all creation, all humans throughout the world and throughout time, regardless of social institution, gender, age or cultural boundaries, we are unified.  We are commissioned at the end of the service, to ‘Go in peace to love and serve the Lord’, we must now go out into the world remembering that we are the face of Christ in this world, that Christ lives within us.  It is up to us to perpetuate the love and mercy of God.  Being a Christian is about rebellion, it is about radically loving without boundaries.  We have been called to follow Jesus; we have been invited into relationship with God.  It is up to us to remember his message of mercy and love, to realise that we are all precious and valued, and not to fall victim to a societal hierarchy of importance.  To remember what the Lord wants from us, to do justice, and to love kindness and walk humbly with our God. Amen.