Desire Mercy, Not Sacrifice

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’ Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.’ Matthew 9:9-17

We humans love to judge before we fully understand. We love to decide what is wrong with other people and situations without taking the time to get to know either. Ted Lasso, in a scene where he is playing darts, told everyone that people had underestimated him his whole life. "I saw a quote by Walt Whitman written on the wall, be curious, not judgmental." We are too often given to judging without knowing, never finding out why a person is acting or living the way they do. Jesus calls us to love the unlovely, to live with mercy, not judgement or sacrifice. Love and mercy along with curiosity are our best teachers.

Blessed Creator, you bring us into the world

so we might share your love and your mercy

and enjoy all the many facets of your creation.

We human love to be part of the in groups

shunning those who we fail to understand

and making life more painful for the suffering.

Make us merciful, compassionate and curious

so we might spread your love in this broken world

and bind the wounds of those who have been judged. Amen.