Message Recap
Anchored in our theme verse, Micah 6:8, we continued in our Love Like Jesus sermon series learning about what it means to love mercy. Megan Marshman began by reminding us that to "love mercy, we must act justly, and in order to do that, we have to walk humbly." Jesus is our greatest example of living this out.
To understand the concept of mercy, Megan defined the difference between grace and mercy as often the two get confused. Grace is getting what you do not deserve, and mercy is not getting what you do deserve. Often, mercy feels like something we want for ourselves but find it much harder to extend to others. As Megan said, "Grace and mercy are wonderful until you have to give them away."
In John 8:1-11 we see a woman caught in adultery brought before Jesus by the teachers of the law and Pharisees. Jesus stuns them all as He, being perfect, can be merciful while upholding the law. He never says she is not guilty and never suggested she shouldn't be punished. He flips the script and says that only the one without sin can throw the first stone. Eventually, she is left alone, just her and Jesus. And Jesus extends mercy to her.
Megan challenged us with the question: are you holding a rock? It can be much easier to judge someone else than to consider what we might deserve. But rocks don't hit sin, they hit people. Judgementalness just makes people stop coming to church, it doesn't change behavior.
Megan reminded us that Jesus could say I don't condemn you to the woman caught in adultery because I will be condemned for you. He combines mercy and justice perfectly, He is perfectly both.
Finally, one of the greatest lessons we can glean from this story is in verse 11. Jesus tells her he doesn't condemn her and she can go "leave your life of sin." Jesus's gift of mercy does not require us, or anyone to change first, but rather, we are mercifully forgiven, and then Jesus gives us the power to change.
