Jesus, Friend of Sinners

Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically from the audio and may contain small errors.

Hey, good morning, Church. My name is Mitch Tidwell. It is a joy to be with you all. This morning, if you have a copy of God's Word, go with me to Matthew, Chapter 9. That's where we're going to be at this morning, is Matthew, Chapter 9. And I'm just going to go ahead and apologize for this being so nasally this morning. I did yard work in Texas yesterday, and this is just what happened. So I woke up with this. So it's great to be with y'all. And just want to thank Pastor Drew for entrusting me with this opportunity to get to share the word here. This is a really high honor and a privilege. And so I've already expressed that to him, but I will again through an email. But I'm really jealous that he's in London. That's one of my favorite cities in the whole world. But hey, this morning, we're going to talk about mercy. I think probably because as I've looked through the scriptures and just read the, you know,

see Jesus, I'm probably so, I'm so captured by the way that Jesus owes mercy to people because he just, he loves people at such a great cost. You know, and I look at my own life in the way that I love people. I want to love people if it's going to benefit me. I want to love people if it's not going to cost me a lot. When you look at the life of Jesus, He's always loving people and it's extremely costly to Him. And I think that's such a great word for us today, and especially in our society today, when there's so much judgment in the world, you know, I just can't, I think being people of mercy is what's really going to turn the tide in people seeing that, hey, God is real, that man, these people do, Christianity is real, there is something to it, and then I want to believe in it. So that's where we're going to go out today in Matthew chapter 9. But before we jump in there, just a little bit about me and my family.

This is a picture of me and my wife and my two boys. That's Olivia and then William and the yellow and Harrison. So there's William's two, Harrison's six months old and we're pretty content that probably for the next 10 years we won't get a photo with everyone looking at the camera at the same time. But it turned into a pretty good photo. That was Easter. But we live in North Fort Worth and born and raised there and me and my wife have been married almost five years and so it was funny as we actually went to high school together and knew of each other didn't know each other end up getting married you know 10 12 years after high school so it's kind of funny never thought I'd marry someone from high school but but I did she thought that I didn't I guess I thought that she was out of my league so I anyways she is out of my league but that's my crew and they actually would be here today but little guys got ran a

fever this morning. So they're home taking care of sick kids. So that's a prayer request for her. And also I work for the Southern Baptist in Texas Convention. I've been there about 10 years working in as our Collegiate Associate for the last six and a half of those years. And I just appreciate you guys being a part of that convention and your giving and cooperating because man I could just sit here all this whole morning and tell you story after story about how our cooperative efforts together doing ministry is impacting not just Texas, not just the United States of America, but the world for Jesus. And so just want to say thank you for that partnership as well. All right, let's jump into our text today. And Matthew, you know, when I was 17 years old, I was a senior in high school, just in Northwest, just right by the Texas Motor Speedway. And when I was a senior, my dad bought me a truck.

It was like my senior gift. And it was a Chevy Silverado, three quarter ton, six liter heavy duty. I mean, it was more truck than I needed, got like two miles of the gallon. It was amazing. I love that truck. And I had it for about, that would be so costly right now with gas prices. I was thinking about that. But I had it for about a month and a half, two months, and I'm driving to school. We lived, at the time, it was all just, it was rural up there in the Hasselaerie. It's not anymore, but it was rural. So we had just those country roads. And so I was driving to school, And I have my backpack down in my passenger floorboard. And I'm going to get something out of my backpack. And I don't know if you're like me, this is pretty dangerous, but when you're driving, wherever your eyes go, the steering wheel goes. And so I'm down in my backpack trying to get something out.

And before I realize it, I mean, that road's getting bumpy. So I look up and I'm halfway in the ditch, halfway on the road. So I freak out and I just hurry up and I turn the wheel as fast as I can. And well, what happens is I fishtail and then I'm back over here and I'm in the ditch on the other side of the road. Luckily no one's coming. And so I freak out again and I turn the wheel as sharp as I can and I get back on the road and I end up back in the ditch. I started in, except this time there was a tree there and it was just bam, just knell this tree and my truck's hugging this tree. And I wasn't thinking, you know, I wasn't thinking about my truck. I wasn't even thinking about myself. The only thing I was thinking about is, my dad's going to kill me when he finds out. He's going to destroy me. So I did what any smart kid would do is I called my mom. I said, mom, I rake the trunk.

She's like, so you're okay, everything fine? I said, yeah. I said, I'm good, the truck's in bad shape, I'm fine. She goes, okay, we'll call your dad. I said, I'm not calling dad. She goes, okay, I'll call him. So I was probably like a mile, mile and a half from the house. So she calls my dad and here comes my dad. He's in his, meanwhile, this was 2004 and I was driving this truck was 2002. Here comes my dad driving his 1992 Chevy Silverado that we had named Spot because the paint had just chipped off of it and it was just spots of paint. So here comes him and Spot driving down the road, And I'm just kind of waiting to embrace this wrath of my father, of the judgment that honestly I deserved because that was stupid. Why was I getting down, like I should have just paid attention and waited until I got to school before I checked what was in my bag. And my dad comes up and he gets out of the truck and he's kind of walking around the vehicle and he's looking at me and

And I'm just like just kind of bracing for this of just like him to start reaming me out and He comes up to me and he hugs me and he says I'm just glad you're okay And I was not expecting that I mean I was it was like I could finally breathe again because I just Swore that he was gonna come in and be like what are you doing pay attention to the road? You know all those things like I just bought you that truck and he didn't he embraced me in a hug and he said I'm glad you're okay. And what he eventually did is we put the truck in the shop and you know what he did He paid for my truck to get fixed and and it was and and then I got the truck back and it was it was this this moment of Mercy in my life that that I messed up. I And I deserve judgment like it that was not smart of me. It wasn't a mistake Well, it was a mistake, but it was like it was just a really dumb mistake, you know, and I deserved the punishment

I deserved the judgment and I deserved to pay the penalty of that, but yet my dad stepped into my place and he actually paid for that truck to get fixed. Now, I'll let you know, he still reminds me of that even, you know, 12, you know, or six, 18 years later, but that's what, not 18, I don't know how long it's been, it's been a minute, but he still reminds me of that, but it was just of mercy. And I think like when I look at this world, like, man, I think this world is longing for that. all want that of like when we mess up and there's a penalty to be paid, we just kind of wish somebody would step into that situation, pay our penalties, so that we could go free again. And I think the world is really longing for that. We all want mercy. And if you look in our culture today, there's just a whole lot of judgment, right? I mean, just so much judgment. I mean, you even think over the last two years, you know, whether it's

the election of Republican Democrat, you had COVID with mass, no mass backs, no backs or even going into the Dallas Cowboys season this year. Does that really need to be our quarterback in the future? I'm weighing that, I'm trying to figure that out. What side of the fence am I on? And there's just a lot of judgment. In fact, you know what's funny? This is total side note, has nothing to do with this message, but kinda does. I ran into Ezekiel Elliott in the airport the other day, Nashville Airport. I was so pumped, I'm a major Dallas Cowboy fan. walk up to him, he blatantly ignored me. He would not even recognize me. I walked up to him. He wouldn't... And so now I've got so much judgment towards him. Like I'm judging that dude. I'm like, I unfollowed him on Instagram. I'm like, no, sir. I'm not a fan of you anymore. So there's judgment, you know, like we're... That's just... The world is kind of full of it. But you know, when I look at,

you know, what Jesus said in John 3, 17 through 18, here's what he said. He said, And for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God." So Jesus is saying, hey, the world is judged. God's done that. The world sits under judgment. And so Jesus didn't come to judge the world. He actually came to save the world. Why? Because the world is already judged. And so what his job is, and what our job is, is that we would see the world saved. Why? Because it's already under judgment. So friends, I think that God has chosen us to be ambassadors of mercy to a world that really is longing for mercy. It's longing for it. That God has chosen this church to be a beacon of hope

to lostness. And if we're gonna walk in that God-given identity as these ambassadors of mercy, these little Jesus' going out into the world and showing people that we need to be a people of mercy. And so today Jesus is gonna show us how we should be a people of mercy and extending that to a world. So jump on me to Matthew chapter nine and we're gonna be in verses nine through 13. I'm gonna read this and then we'll pray. I'll be in the Christian Standard Version.

And it says, Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the toll booth and he said to him, follow me. And he got up and followed him. While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? Now, when he heard this, he said, it is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Father, we love you. you for today for your word. As we hear your word would we obey it in Jesus's name. Amen. Alright so the first thing he says here is Jesus went off in the next season and named Matthew sitting at his tax booth he's doing his job and then

he calls to Matthew says hey come and follow me. Now this when you just kind of read that text it sounds like you know Matthew's doing his job and Jesus is like hey come hang out with me for a minute come stroll with me for a day come just hang out. And really when Jesus is following me, Jesus is not asking for this like just isolated stroll, he's asking for a commitment to Jesus. And so that when Jesus is following me, it carries a lot more weight than we initially read in the text. And so probably what has happened here is that Jesus and Matthew knew each other for quite some time before this. And Matthew had been kind of watching and possibly even following Jesus on the fringes, but yet what Jesus is asking him here is he's finally like, hey, why don't you come commit yourself to me, come commit and come be a part of my community. It would almost be like if somebody was just kind of visiting this church and

popping in on Sunday, popping out, but wasn't really committed to the core of the body of this church. But Pastor Drew said, hey, why don't you just actually come commit, become a member, like lean into this. That's what Jesus is doing here with Matthew. He's saying, hey, come be a part of my community of of this intimate discipleship community. So now this is pretty interesting because as you know, Matthew was a tax collector, which tax collectors were some of the most hated Jews in Jewish society. They were seen as traders. They were people hired out by Romans to collect taxes from the Jews. So they were seen as selfish traders to their people, to their heritage, because what they would do is the Romans would say, hey, you need to get like this much taxes. And they would collect that, but then what they would do is they would still collect on top of that, and so it was a very lucrative business.

They would work on the Sabbath, they would relate to people who were non-Jewish, they would eat with people who were non-Jewish, and they were just traders. So they were the epitome, they were synonymous with sinners. So you always see, you'll see throughout the gospel, tax collectors and sinners, like they're just two of the same. And so, you know, I think the kind of, the way that the Jews thought of a tax collector is probably the same way we would think of like a drug dealer or a sex trafficker, just gross. Like, hey, you know, you just don't hang out with them. We don't do that. And so that's what Jesus comes over and asks that guy to be a part of his community. Like, kind of unheard of. You know, there's not, if you're picking out the lineup of Jesus, like, you know, the guys that Jesus had picked disciples, Matthew's like the last guy you pick, but he picks him. And so verse 10,

it says, while he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples. So you see this like major, like fast-forward moment, and it says that Jesus is reclining at a table in the house, and there are many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples. So as Matthew is writing this, he is really emphasizing that there are a lot of tax collectors and sinners hanging out with Jesus in Matthew's house at this point. It's very significant. It says that he was reclining. In fact, I've got a picture of what reclining looks like, you know, in the Jewish culture. It's really a, this is kind of a low table on what they would do is they'd have that bread and drinks and things like out and they would just kind of like lay on each other. It's honestly just a little too intimate for me, but that's kind of what it looks like. They would just kind

of like lay on each other and it was this really in the Jewish culture to to eat together is a very significant act in the Jewish culture because when you is a Jew if you're eating at a table with somebody you're announcing that the blessing of God is on this person whoever is at this table. That's why Jews didn't eat with Gentiles. They didn't eat with people the Romans because if you're eating together that means you're saying hey we are community and we are under the blessing of God. So for Jesus to be eating with all these tax collectors and sinners is really this proclamation that Jesus is making is that these are my people. I love these people. It's a very significant moment for him to do that. So I think one principle that we see here with Jesus is that Jesus figured out a way to love lost people and be in close proximity to darkness without adopting its ways. And you think about if we're going to be a people that

are going to love lostness, love people that do not have a relationship with Jesus, we have to become comfortable with being in close proximity to it but not adopting its ways. And that's what Jesus did is he was able to sit down with the worst of society and share a meal with them and show love and compassion to them without adopting their ways. And so that's what Jesus is doing here in this picture. And so go to verse 11 and you see that there is this new group of folks that come walking up on this scene. I said, when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners. Okay, so you have this new, you have Jesus, his disciples, you have tax collectors and sinners, and now Pharisees roll up, and Pharisees were the religious elite of the Jewish people. They were, I would call them the religious police,

that they were very, they were highly educated, that they knew all the Old Testament, they had memorized it, that they were very, obviously very educated, but also what they would do is they would say, hey, if this stage is God's law, and we don't wanna trespass, we don't wanna break God's law, what they did is they put up a bunch of extra-biblical laws to keep them from breaking the actual law. And so what they did is they put all these rules on top of one another and on top of society so that the Jewish people would live within God's law. And so now they roll up and they see Jesus hanging out with the worst of society and their little police, religious police sirens go off. Because they're like, okay, here's this guy who says he's God, says he can forgive sins, yet he's hanging out with the worst of worst of society. That doesn't make sense. So they're like looking, so they don't ask Jesus, they ask his disciples, what in the

world is he doing with these folks? And so verse 12 Jesus hears it and he responds to him. Now when he heard this verse 12 he said it is not those who are well who need a doctor but those who are sick. And so Jesus kind of starts teaching a lesson here because they're looking at this like those people they break God's law. They get outside the bounds of God's law. So why in the world would you go hang out with them? And Jesus makes a point. He said, friends, those who have it think they have it all together. They don't need a doctor. They're not calling the doctor. But the ones who need the doctor are those who are sick. He said, so this is like the very reason I came is to save people just like this. Like Like this is my mission. I came to seek and to save the lost. Like this is the purpose for which I came. This is why I'm hanging out with them. And so Jesus knew that the only way for lost people to experience God's love was to actually

be with them and show them God's love. He invited the most unlikely people to be in community with him. So Jesus knew that if sick people were to become well, he needed to be in close proximity to them. And so we see these two principles of how Jesus interacted with lost people is that one, that he loved them, that he loved them but he didn't adopt their ways, but he knew that if they were really going to know that he loved them, that he had to be in close proximity to them so they could see that in a real tangible way. He needed to be in close proximity. And so he continues on with this lesson with the Pharisees in verse 13. He says this, go learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice for I came not to call the righteous but sinners. So the Pharisees were professional learners. They were the educated and Jesus is like, hey, I've actually got another lesson for

you that you need to go learn and this is it. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. I came not to call righteous, but sinners. And the reason why Jesus is telling them this is because the Pharisees really had a faulty understanding of God's love. Again, like I said, they give this was the God's law. They had these extra biblical laws in place. And so what they did by doing this is they found themselves further and further away from the lostness of the world. And so it was like, hey, God loves you, But don't get too close. Now, when I was courting Olivia to be my wife, if I shouted across the room, I love you, and she wanted to come talk to me, I was saying, no, no, no. You stay over there. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Now, I know that maybe Apple's orange is a little bit there. But what I'm saying is, man, when we have a lost world, we could put on a billboard, or we could put on our Facebook,

God loves you. But people aren't going to feel the substance of that until it's tangible, and it's close, and they can see it and they can feel it. And that's what Jesus is getting across here to these Pharisees. He says, you know, they believe that by separating themselves from simple people, that they would be loving God and protecting themselves. And I can understand that. I remember as 23 years old when I came to faith in Jesus, I was living a pretty dark lifestyle. And there was a period of time that I needed to, when I got saved, I needed to separate myself from those people because there were some things God had to get right. But the thing is, God didn't separate me and put me in the wilderness just to stay there and separate myself from lostness, but to send me back out as a missionary to a lost world that needs to know the love of Jesus. They need to know it in a real, tangible way.

What these Pharisees did is they got so caught up in the practice of religious sacrifice to be godly that they never had a heart that showed mercy to people. And their religious sacrifices became more about their appearance before men and women, rather than a heart that God found pleasing. And if you wanna read about that, go to Matthew 23, and man, Jesus just lets them have it, man. The Pharisees about, they're whitewashed, you know? They're whitewashed toons. It looks pretty on the outside, but on the inside, they're dead. And so, in this statement here where Jesus says, I came to call righteous, not to call righteous, but sinners, this actually seems ironic, but what Jesus is kinda saying here, is he's kinda referring to respectable outcast because the Pharisees certainly weren't righteous in their standing before God even though they thought they were. But here's the point Jesus is

getting across. Jesus says, I desire mercy not sacrifice. So that little one-liner is from Hosea 6'6". So Jesus is telling them, hey I want you to go learn something. He pulls that one-liner knowing that a Pharisee will know exactly what he's talking about because a Pharisee is highly educated. And so what Jesus is doing is he's teaching them a lesson and what he's telling them is say, I want you to go back to the book of Hosea and I want you to learn that lesson again. And here's the lesson of Hosea. Hosea is a book where God calls this young man, I'm gonna give you just the synopsis. Hosea, and he says, Hosea, I want to use you to send a message to the nation of Israel. Now what young man, what an awesome opportunity for a young Jewish man. God says, hey I want to use you to change the trajectory of a nation. It's like, awesome God, let's do this. What do you need from me? You need me to

preach thousands? You need me to be like Jonah, go see two hundred thousand people repent, and God says, no, I want you to go marry a prostitute. Alright, I think the phone was breaking up. Why don't you tell me that one more time? Says yeah, I want you to marry a prostitute and her name is Gomer. It just keeps getting worse, you know And so God calls him because here's what God says. He says here's the reason why I'm asking you to do this Jose is because Israel is my bride and I love her But she has been a faithful to me And so through your marriage, I'm gonna show Israel her and faithfulness to me And so I want you to go marry her. You're gonna love her and she is gonna be unfaithful to you. And so that's what happens. He calls Hosea to go marry Gomer, this woman who is a prostitute, and he marries her and she is unfaithful to him. They have three kids and she continues to prostitute herself out over

and over and over again. But yet God says in Hosea 3, 1 through 3, look what God tells Hosea to do after she, after this man. I think about, I mean, I want to, we got to put ourselves in Hosea shoes for a second. Hosea, young righteous man, wants to obey the Lord. God says, I want you to marry a prostitute. She's gonna be unfaithful too. You can't leave her. I don't want you to leave her. You think about that young man. I mean, what if I told my mom, hey, I'm called to the ministry, God wants me to marry a prostitute. It's gonna be a hard conversation. Mom's gonna be like, I don't know about that. You think about friends, think about family, think about the pressure socially that he was under, but I admire him so much of just following the voice of God. And he marries this this woman and he's facing this pressure and this alone and this isolation of like this is what God's calling me to do and then look we get to

verse 3 and this is what the Lord says after she is unfaithful to Him. He says and and the Lord said to me go again love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress even as the Lord loves the children of Israel though they turn to God's and love cakes of raisins. Let me read I think this is the ESV let me read this one just as the Lord loves the Israelites so they turn to other gods and love raising cakes. So I bought her for 15 shekels of silver and nine bushels of barley. And I said to her, you are to live with me many days. You must not be promiscuous or belong to any man and I will act the same way towards you. So God says, I know she's been unfaithful to you. I know that she does not deserve your love, but go again and show love to a woman who actually right now is being loved by another man. I mean, what a dark picture. But I want you to continue to go love her just as I love Israel, though they turn to

other gods. So what does he do? Verse 2, I bought her 15 shekels of silver, 9 bushels of barley. So he bought her. That means there's a debt over her head. So she was in this really odd, religious, sex slave industry. It was gross. And what he has to do is this is a penalty over her head that she's put herself in and he has to go and he has to pay that penalty over her head. Why? So verse 3, so you can live with me many days. You must not be promiscuous, belong to any man, I'll act the same way towards you. So they can be in this loving relationship with each other again. You know, God was calling Israel who was sacrificing to God, but their hearts were from him. At this point in time in Israel they were giving their hearts to Bel. That's an Old Testament false God and they were prostituting themselves out to Bel and what Gomer's act here was, though it's disgusting, it was thought to

be a sacrificial gift to God and very religious. And what Jesus is taking the time here to say to the Pharisees is, you're Gomer. You think you're loving me, you're not. And in fact, you're prostituting yourselves out to other gods and your own ideas, and you're really not loving me genuinely. And I want you to be like Hosea, and I want you to be a people of mercy that love me genuinely and that love people genuinely, are willing to pay the price to see people love me, just like Hosea did. So God tells Hosea, he says, don't stop loving her. So Hosea, what he does is he shows mercy by paying her slavery debt. She's the one, she had that debt over her head. She's the one that needed to pay that penalty. She was the guilty party, but yet we see that Hosea steps into her situation, he pays the debt over her head. Why? So they can be back in relationship again. So

this whole message that God's putting forward, and Jesus is teaching the Pharisees is this, is that God desired mercy, that which Hosea epitomizes in this pursuit of Gomer. And so God desires that our religion look like mercy and not empty religious rituals to look Godly. And so what Jesus is telling these Pharisees is, hey you're keeping yourself away from sinful people, you're calling it sacrifice to me, you're judging simple people around you, but I would rather you step in and show them mercy, just like I showed you mercy. You You know, friends, we are the tax collector. We are the Pharisee. We are a Gomer. And each and every one of us, if you place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, Jesus stepped in and paid your penalty. That you had a debt over your head that you couldn't pay, but he paid it. Why? So that you could be back in a relationship with him.

And that's what Jesus is getting across here. He's like Pharisees, you're judging this world. You're judging these people. I know they're sinful. I know they're messed up. I know they do not honor or love God. So if you sitting there judging this group of people is not gonna get them any close to the love of the Father. And so we have to dig in to realize that we have been people that have been showing mercy and so now we need to be a people showing mercy to others. We have to. And so here's my one point, I'm a bad Baptist, I got one point, here it is. We are people who lead with mercy, not judgment, because our Savior leads with mercy and not judgment. So in light of this, what is Jesus telling the Pharisees that this is what mercy is, this is what will change the world. It's choosing to love when everyone thinks it's stupid. It's choosing to love when you know it's going to cost you.

It's choosing to love even when the person deserves shame. It's choosing to love even when the person deserves rejection. It's choosing to love even when the person deserves everything they are getting, because mercy is love with a cost. always cost the innocent and never the guilty. That's the toughest part of mercy. The guilty always gets to go free, but at the cost of the innocent. So the wrong question for us to ask, and this is the question I ask all the time, is, is who is worthy of mercy? You know, don't you just look at people sometimes and you're just like, you know, are they worthy of my love? I don't know that I want to take a stretch on this person. I don't, this is going to be a little too costly for me to really love this person really, really well. We ask that, we kind of sit and say like, is this person worthy of that? And that's really the wrong question for us to ask.

The right question for us to ask is, am I a person of mercy? Not do they deserve it, because the thing is nobody ever deserves it. Not a single one of us deserve mercy. Nobody deserves mercy. The answer to that question is always emphatically no. But the question we can ask is, am I a person of mercy? If I could, if I could, I'm trying to keep this message to 30 minutes, but if I could, I'd go down to Luke 10, 25, 37, Good Samaritan, read the end of that. That is the epitome of what Jesus is getting across here. But we have to be people of mercy. And so friends, people need your mercy, not your judgment. That's how we lead in reaching a lost world. You know one of the greatest epitomies of mercy that I've seen probably as of late is you know back in 2018 y'all probably remember in the news the young lady Amber Guyger she thinks she's going into her apartment

it's not her apartment it's Scott Botham Jean's apartment she had a gun on her she shoots and kills him you know thinking that he was in her place and and anyway So she kills this guy innocently. And so she goes to trial for killing this man in his own apartment. And his little brother, Brant Jean, gets up on the stage and the judge allows him to speak to Amber, who killed his brother. And you can go look it up on YouTube. The video is really powerful. But this young man, he gets up on stage, or on the stand, and he looks at the woman who killed his brother and he begins to tell her, you know, I just say, I mean, he's looking at the person who just killed his brother and it didn't have to happen, you know, it didn't have to happen. He'll never get to see his brother again on the side of attorney. And I just think about if I was in his shoes, just the anger that I would have towards that

woman, just that I would never get to see my brother again. But here he gets up on stage and he looks at her and he says, hey, I'm not even speaking on behalf of my family, but you know, he goes, I just really don't want you to even receive judgment. He tells you that. And he says, what I want for you and what I think Botham would want for you is that you would know that God loves you and that you would give your whole life to him. And he said, I think that's, he goes, that's what Bauchner doesn't want. And then he looks to the judge and he said, can I give her a hug? And he comes down off the stand and he gives Amber a hug and he embraces her. And I thought, man, what an act of mercy. I don't know if I could do it. But here's this young man who, you know, even, you know, think about, I mean, who knows what his family said about that? Why are you hugging her? You know, you

know, you think about what the anger maybe his family had towards him and he just said, he said, I'm just gonna show this woman mercy. Even though she's under judgment, she's getting judged, she's spending 10 years in prison, she's getting it. But he steps into that situation, he gives her something that she does not deserve, he shows her mercy and it is a super powerful moment of of God's mercy tangibly in action in a young man.

And so friends, here's the question that I have for us today is are we people of mercy? Are we someone of mercy? Can we say that? Are we someone that just likes to hand out judgment? And so really I wanna end with two questions and then you guys can go ahead and come back up. And I wanna ask this right here is that Two questions. One, have you received the mercy of God? Because the thing is, is you can't give, you can't give what you don't have. And so are you someone who has received the mercy of God? I played church from 12 to 23. Thought I was a believer, checked my boxes

until I was 23 and I realized the depth of my sin, the mercy and the grace of God. And I realized that man, I had a debt that needed to be paid and Jesus paid it. He became Lord in my life. If you receive that mercy. And the second thing is, are you a person of mercy? Are you showing people mercy? Because here's the thing, sometimes the people that we hate and we distance ourselves from, the very people Jesus is calling us to serve. Is there someone in your life who's wronged you that you need to show mercy to? Is there a person you've been distancing yourself from because they're not like you?

Think about when I was an interim pastor. At a church in East Dallas, this is when I was like 26 years old. There was a guy in that church that gave me the hardest time. And I just wanted to be like, dude, I'm just the interim. You need to chill out. And finally I finished that interim. And that was East Dallas. I'm in North Fort Worth, so way across. I finished that about two months later. I'm in my local Home Depot. You know who I see? That sucker. And I thought, you know what, I ran into him and he goes, yeah, we moved here. You're kidding me. Lord, I'm a, you know, I thought, hey, I'm getting away from him. And it was just the Lord saying, hey, you got to be a person of mercy. He doesn't, he doesn't deserve it. He was wrong to you. But you got to love him. You don't have a choice, Mitch. You got to love the guy. And who's that person in your life? Who's that people group

in your life. You just, God's calling you to say, hey I know it's costly. I know, it's not easy. Mercy is not easy. It is the hardest thing you will do. You guys know that. You've had enough life and relationships, a lot of bitterness and unforgiveness. I feel like the older I get, sometimes the more bitter I get towards things. Things bother me more as I get older. I'm like, what happened? And we just get that way. But who's that person that you need to show mercy to? So if you would just take a second bow your head with me and let's just spend some time in reflection of what God's doing in our heart and I just want to ask you know The first question here is that man are your person beat up and need a mercy and I just want to say if that's you And you you need to call out to God for salvation today. I want to Give you the opportunity when we end We stand up for worship. I just want you to go to the back grab a deacon talk about starting your relationship with Jesus

God loves you. He doesn't want to be separated from you. In fact, He sent Jesus to pay your penalty so that you could have life and life abundantly. And your response is to repent, turn from your sin, and believe on the Lord Jesus for salvation. I want to give you that opportunity to talk to a deacon here at the end. So if that's you and we get ready to stand for worship, you just walk to the back, talk to one of the deacons here. But I also want to ask a question for some of us in here today is who's the person you need to show mercy to? Who's that person in your life? Maybe it's a people group, maybe it's a person that you've been bitter at, you've harbored some unforgiveness towards, or you're just afraid of the cost of what it would cost you socially, financially, whatever it is, to love that person. And I just want you to ask, you know, what's getting in the way of me showing that person

mercy? What is it? Who is that person and what's getting in the way? Take a moment to ask God that. Then I just want you to ask God if you're bold enough, if you're at this place, I don't want you to make promises to God that you don't mean, but if you're there, I just want you to ask God to say, God, would you just destroy this barrier so I can show this person or this people group mercy. Father we love you so much Lord thank you for the mercy that you have shown us that we were dead in our sin. Didn't deserve it, couldn't get out of it, but Jesus stepped into our situation, paid our sin debt so that we could be in a relationship with you. And Father would we as your people embody the ministry of Jesus and be a people of mercy. But God I know in order for us to do that we have to be a people that know the mercy that you have given us and know it richly. That we would see our sin in light of your

holiness but we'd also see the immeasurable grace of Jesus that is covered all of our sin and set us free. As Ephesians 2 10 said, to be your workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works in this world. So Father would you mobilize us to be a people of mercy to a world that is indeed a people of mercy. And I pray this sing Jesus. When do we stand for this last song as we close sin? Kings and kingdoms will bow, every chain will put their hearts together. Thank you for the way that you are fighting our battles God and for this message of mercy this morning, Father. I pray that it would really sew into our hearts, God, and just help us to lead our life with mercy this week as we go out into the world, Father. Thank you for your example. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, have a great week. It was wonderful being here. Bless you guys.