"Mercy Not Sacrifice"

(Matthew 9:9-13;18-26)

Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn

INTRODUCTION:

(Play Anchors Aweigh, Semper Paratus or Sea Cruise clips)

I hope that got you in the mood for the cruise of faith that we will be taking in the sermon today. I have to thank Navy Chaplain Robert J. Phillips for the inspiration behind this sermon. He wrote a sermon starter in Circuit Rider which took me back to my days in the Coast Guard and set me on this tack. Rev. Phillips reminded me of all the procedures we went through for getting underway or getting the boat or ship out into the water. Part of the procedure was starting the onboard generators, shifting power and disconnecting all the land lines, both electrical and telephone. We shifted the water lines from onshore connections to the tanks on board. We made sure everything on deck was secure, or tied down. And the last thing that was done, as soon as the last line was untied from the dock, was the "Shifting of the Colors." That was the last order. "Underway! Shift Colors." (1)

In case you don't know, the Colors refers to the US Flag. Every ship flies one. While in port, the flag is flown off the stern of the ship (or the rear). But when the ship is underway, the Colors are shifted to a mast on the highest point of the ship.

There are two reasons for this procedure and both came from the days of sailing ships, the days before radio and satellite communications. Other ships could tell immediately, whether in a ship was in port or at sea. And by hoisting the colors to the highest point on the ship, other ships could see what colors your were flying

and could tell from distance, whether or not you were friendly. And that often determined how they would act toward each other.

All of this corresponds to some of the events in today's passage of Scripture. We see the Colors shifted. And we see folks shift from being tied up and in port to getting underway in their faith journey. Underway with a new captain and with new colors.

I. IN PORT VS UNDERWAY:

A. There's a vast difference between being in port and being underway. A young ensign, after nearly completing his first overseas cruise, was given an opportunity to display his capabilities at getting the ship under way. With a stream of commands, he had the decks buzzing with men, and soon the ship was steaming out the channel en route to the states.

His efficiency established a new record for getting a destroyer under way, and he wasn't surprised when a seaman approached him with a message from the captain. He WAS a bit surprised, though, to find it a radio message and even more surprised when he read the message: "My personal congratulations upon completing your underway preparation exercise according to the book and with amazing speed. In your haste, however, you have overlooked one of the UNWRITTEN rules: 'make sure the captain is aboard before getting under way'." (2)

B. In today's passage from Matthew, we meet some people whose lives and faith were still tied up in port or they had gotten underway without the captain onboard or they were sailing under other colors.

We don't know much about Matthew other than like most of the Apostles, he had two names. Maybe like Peter and Paul, Jesus chose to change his name from Levi to Matthew. We do know that he was a tax collector. Not the best profession to be in to win friends back then. It meant that Matthew was sailing under different colors, Roman colors and not Jewish colors. And that made most people shun him. While his life sailed under other colors, his faith was tied up and in port. It was going nowhere, fast.

The same could be said for the woman with the hemorrhage. She was trying to sail under the correct colors. She wanted to sail under the correct colors. She tried everything she could to get onboard and get underway. She'd spent all of her money trying to get untied from this port that wouldn't let go. What made matters worse, was the fact that it was the very crew who she tried to be a part of whose laws made it impossible for her to belong. She was considered unclean and couldn't associate with her peers. She couldn't practice her faith at the synagogue or the Temple.

And then there's the leader of the synagogue. He was flying the correct colors. His faith WAS underway but it had run aground due to the death of his daughter. If you have children, you know how numbing even the thought of the death of child can be. If you've lost a child, then you know what I mean when I say this leader's faith had run aground. It's not that it quit. It didn't shift colors or change loyalties. It just came to a screeching halt and was stuck, going nowhere, looking for answers. In a sense, he was underway without the captain onboard.

II. SHIFTING COLORS:

A. Jesus entered the lives of these three people. And in so doing, he changed their lives forever. He got their faith underway. He lead them to the captain. And He helped them shift colors.

In describing his own life and faith struggles, Robert Louis Stevenson said, "When Christ came into my life, I came about like a well-handled ship." (3) That's what happened to these folks. They were untied from the port and set sail under new colors, the colors of Christ and the Kingdom. Their faith was underway.

Levi's name and life changed. In becoming Matthew, this tax collector shifted colors. he shifted from being in port of self satisfaction, to being underway on a journey of faith with Jesus. He shifted from being at a place in his life where all he did was salute the flag of faith without much thought to what it meant, to being underway. He shifted from following the wrong captain and in so doing became a "gift of God." That's what the name Matthew means. This "gift of God" would write about the Son of God and would lead others to shift Colors and get underway in their faith.

B. The woman with the hemorrhage had been moored to her problem so long that she was desperate. She desperately wanted to get both her life and her faith underway. She'd spent years with both the experts and the charlatans, looking for a cure. Along came Jesus.

Because of Jesus, this woman was able to get underway with her life again. It was because of the Mercy of God, not the spirit of justice. She had been living under the flag of justice. And it was the just thing to oust her from society. It was the just thing because that's what the letter of the law prescribed. But it cut her off from support: physical, emotional and spiritual support. It kept her moored to the dock of outcasts. She was cut off from fellowship the other women of the community because she considered unclean. And she was cut off from Temple and Synagogue. She wasn't just tied up. She was pretty much sunk. While everyone else saluted the flag of justice, she sought simply to be let on board the ship of faith.

When she touched the robes of Jesus, she was healed. She was clean and cut loose from the dock. She shifted colors and got her life and her faith underway again.

C. And the leader of the synagogue could get underway again, too. His faith was no longer high centered and aground. He let the true captain of the faith step into the helm of his life and his daughter's life. He healed the daughter and the leader shifted colors. His faith was underway again only this time with a new captain.

III. MERCY NOT SACRIFICE:

A. How did all of that take place, through mercy not sacrifice. Sacrifice deals with justice. It deals with math. It deals with who is in charge or the perception of who is in charge. Justice is a physics and mathematics question. The law and justice say: "If you do this, this is the punishment you will receive." Physics says: "For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction." Justice also says, "If you do this, this is what you do to put things right." In relation to God, that something was to make a sacrifice. The level of your wrong doing determined the type of sacrifice. The problem became that people thought they were in charge of their forgiveness. I mean, all you have to do is sacrifice a dove or a lamb and you're all square with God, right?

Mess up and you get thrown off the ship like Jonah. If you make the right sacrifice and the captain is happy; you get brought back onboard. We know it wasn't that simple but that's the way a lot of people thought. That's the way a lot of people still think. If I just pray enough or do enough or give enough to the Church then surely I can get back onboard or get forgiven.

B. But Jesus didn't come with a message of justice. He came with a message of mercy. Justice kept the sinners at bay but still lost, hurting, alone, moored to the dock of despair and under the wrong colors. Mercy allowed them to get onboard and get their lives and their faith underway with the true captain, God, at the helm.

They all shifted colors. They all got their lives and their faith underway. Jesus 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." And while those who were questioning Jesus stood there scratching their heads, trying to figure out what he meant, Matthew and Jesus went and showed two women what mercy was all about.

CONCLUSION:

According to the Gallup Poll, "Amazing Grace" is the favorite hymn of Americans. This hymn was written by the former captain of a slave ship. That "wretch," John Newton, eventually became an Anglican minister and worked to abolish the slave trade. Why? Because through Christ, he experienced mercy and forgiveness. So he shifted colors and began sailing under a new flag, with a new captain. (4)

When our lives become moored to the dock of despair. When we feel like our faith has run aground and isn't getting anywhere. Or we cut off and alone, it might be good to look at where the colors are flying in our lives. We may need to shift colors. We may need to call out to the one who offers "mercy, not justice." And the Good News is that He always listens. And He always answers with a merciful hand to get us onboard and underway on the journey of faith. Get onboard. Shift colors. Give Jesus control of the helm.

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.

____________________________________________________

Bibliography

1. Circuit Rider, March-April 1999, Vol 23, No 2 (The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, TN) p. 31.

2. James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p. 487.

3. Parsons Bible Illustrator for Windows, 1990-1997, Parson's Technology Inc.

4. "The Golden Age of Hymns," Christian History, no. 31.

Other References Consulted