Mercy, not Sacrifice

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 1But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’
Matthew 9:11-13

Before I buy anything, small or major, I do a lot of research. I always include "the best_____". Because I want the best of everything. But this practice fails miserably if it were to apply to the people both in our lives and not in our lives. As a teacher, I want to be the best. I want to be better than my colleagues. But I don't say, I want to teach the best students who know mathematics and have an aptitude for the subject I love so much. Will I inspire those who are eager and already whetted to math? Will I be granted an opportunity to bring an intellect forth that for so long believed that math was nothing more than a dead collection of algorithms and formulas rather than the living, breathing, transformational subject it is? The answer is clearly no. As Christians, we our bound to God's love as His love is bound to us, through Christ, and ignited by the Holy Spirit. With this love, we are meant to seek those who are broken, overburdened, and in pain to ease their suffering. We must unshackle ourselves from whatever comfort or discomfort we live in. We must stand with those in whom we are meant to show love, compassion, and empathy, when it is the most challenging to do so. I once had a master teacher tell me that true teaching is keeping the student you most want to send home. Being a transcendent and transformational force in others' lives is freedom. 

-Kelly John Okla

Let us pray…

Almighty and ever living God, 
you invite us deeper into your world, your people, your Lent.
May this time be one of outward focus;
seeking you in those we often ignore. 
Help us live a Lent focused on freedom, generosity, and encounter. 
Give us hearts hungry to serve you
and those who need what we have to give.
Amen.