I remember as a kid, my friends and l would fool around wrestling each other. It was understood that when you finally give up because your opponent has the best of you, the cry would be, “Uncle!”, to which there is no agreed upon origin as to why this was the custom. However, once this word was uttered, the one with the advantage understood he was to show mercy, as the other has given up.
Mercy, different than grace, is a demonstration of “compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm”. Grace, on the other hand, is unmerited favor, meaning we get something good that we don’t deserve or couldn’t earn. The key difference is that with mercy, the giver holds some sort of power over the receiver. It provides a sense of relief in that without mercy, the punishment will be rendered. Grace might appear more as surprise to the recipient, as an unexpected blessing.
How do we value mercy? Or said another way, how do we determine a value on mercy?
It depends entirely on the scale of forgiveness by the one demonstrating mercy. Here’s a brief example. You receive a letter explaining that there will be a debt paid on your behalf by the one to which it is owed. You’ll be notified the next week which debt it is. So, you wonder as you wait; will it be my electric bill, my credit card, my car payment or even possibly my mortgage that will be forgiven? Your reaction, enthusiasm and sense of relief and gratitude will be largely determined by which of those debts will be forgiven. The larger the debt, the greater the relief. So, the cost of mercy as it is given, is based on the size of the debt owed and forgiven.
One of the most well-known stories of mercy demonstrated is that of the Prodigal Son. Click on this link to read it in Luke 15:11-32, and here’s a summary:
There are two sons. The older always minded his father. The younger asked for his inheritance from his father (meaning he didn’t even want to wait for his dad to die) so he could go off an do his own thing. The father obliged and the son ran off with his newly acquired wealth, simply to squander it. The younger son found himself destitute and humbly returned to the father to ask for a job. The father’s response was to restore his younger son to his place in the family and threw a party to celebrate his return.
Jesus uses this story to explain the extravagant mercy shown by the father in the story, which seems to be more that any human father could muster – yet it is the mercy we are shown by our Heavenly Father. Romans 6:23 is clear and simple, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
If we’re honest, we know in our heart who we are. We know our secret thought life and our past history of wrongs. And if we understand that sinless God can’t accept us as we are, we can cling to this promise, “But God demonstrated his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” – Romans 5:8
We deserve the worst. It’s what we earn for the lives we’ve led. Yet Jesus, in his show of great mercy, paid the ultimate price. He could have rendered punish upon us, yet he chooses not to for those that love and follow him. We need only do one thing to start the journey, and that is to lean into this promise, “because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9
The cost of mercy delivered to us was Christ’s torture and death. Our response to a mercy so great should be to rejoice and be willing to do anything we’re asked – to submit to His will and follow in His ways.
So, think of it – if you’re mortgage was forgiven, hundreds of thousands of dollars, never a house payment again. What would be your response?
How much more is a life of peace, confident assurance, unconditional love and fellowship as well as eternal life in heaven worth to you? And what should be your response?
Richard Bahr 