“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
Ephesians 2:4-5 (NIV)
The church I attend recently hired a young assistant Pastor who is straight out of seminary. He wins the hearts of parishioners, just in being so friendly and engaging. If a person mentions a need for prayer or healing, he will pause right there in the lobby of the church, and say a prayer for them.
Last weekend he preached a beautiful sermon on mercy. His message stayed in my mind, and led me to meditate further on why God shows us so much mercy. Mercy is born out of love, and God’s love is the most extravagant of any kind of love.
Scripture tells us what love is. It says that love is the fulfillment of the law, which means if we pursue love, our motives and actions will also fall into place. It also says that love covers a multitude of sins, so we all need love to make up for our shortcomings.
Paul told the church in Corinth, that three things remain after everything else is gone: Faith, Hope and Love-but the greatest of all three, is Love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Faith leads us to God, the source of the greatest love, and love leads to mercy. Love, therefore, is the greatest of all gifts. It’s greater than wisdom, educational degrees and talents. Love raises us above our past failures, and exposes the triviality of our worldly successes. Love is the most generous donation we can invest in. To pursue love, first and foremost, will be our greatest investment for eternity.
We love only because God first loved us. His love is ‘extravagant’ because He spends it all on us, even on people who don’t love Him in return. He spent His love on us at the cross, in the dying breath of Jesus and His last drop of blood.
He spends His love on us throughout our lifetime, bearing with us in all things, believing all things for us, and taking no offense, even when we forget to acknowledge Him. God is patient, never giving up and He keeps chasing after us.
He knows the perfect time when His love can capture a human heart, that surrenders to Him and causes all of heaven to rejoice. After everything else fades away, His love will find a way into our lives and remain there.
About twenty years ago, my son, Michael, shared a contemporary Christian song with me, that really touched his life at the time, and led him to a turning point of faith. It’s a song by Darrell Evans, called, ‘Your love is extravagant.’
I recently played the song and the lyrics are beautiful to meditate on. God is patient and bears with us, as He is doing in the current phase of turmoil that Michael is in today, so I pray that the words of that song will renew every mind and heart who hears it.
We all need an occasional reminder that God is still reaching out for us. He wants to heal anger and remove pain, to replace it with His love, so that we can show the same mercy to others, that He has shown to us.
There is a need in the world to add more mercy to the desire for justice, because justice seeks for what is due or owed, but we may owe more than we can pay. Mercy, on the other hand, wipes the slate clean and erases what is owed, forgiving debt and sin. We should never want a world ruled by justice alone, without mercy.
God’s love leads us to a fountain of endless mercy, through Jesus. Through His love, we can withstand the storms of life, and only He can enable us to go out and show that same love and mercy to others.
Lord, help us to find the best way to invest our lives in love and mercy, just as you have generously given us. Amen
