Thema

Mercy Not Sacrifice

Douglas Jones

or all their benefits, modern technologies have, of course, numbed many of us from a deep appreciation of bodily rest. Sure, moderns talk about being "tired" and "overworked," but outside of third-world wretchedness, few of us face the exhausting work our great-grandfathers knew so keenly. Someone once described the chores of a common Puritan in the American colonial era, depicting all the intensive labor required every day just to keep one family fed, clothed, warmed, housed, and protected. That essay ended by noting that, of course, "the men worked hard too." We should always roll our eyes at ourselves if we complain about physical exertion while living with any electronic servants.

I raise this not to urge us to throw off the blessings of many technologies, though a torched "call-waiting" line here and there may not hurt. But like our numbness to rest, many moderns also harbor a numbness to peace . In a century dominated by mega-states with their mega-wars, we almost always immediately think of peace in purely political terms. Perhaps our modern concern with peace between warring States has conveniently misdirected our attention from the far more basic lack of peace between God and man. Many modern Christian conceptions of God almost make Him out to be a prostitute, loving any and all partners, winking at every crime. With such a distorted picture of God, we shouldn't wonder why we nod along when the Bible emphasizes peace. If God acts like a prostitute, then peace comes too easily. But the Bible holds out peace with God as the greatest gift imaginable, involving the highest costs possible.

We can only make sense out of Scripture's repeated emphasis on peace by understanding the immensity of God's wrath . Consider God's revelation of His wrath through the prophet Nahum:

The Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies. The Lord is slow in anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. . . . Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him. But. . . darkness will pursue His enemies (Nahum 1:2,6-8).

Criminals legitimately fear ruthless human avengers. How much more should guilty mankind fear an inescapable avenger, one who knows our hideouts before we get there and has vowed in justice to track and destroy us.

Against such a holy and furious avenger, peace would have a world of meaning. It would be our highest hope and deepest longing. It would rule over every other priority and subordinate every other plan.

Such a hope is the truth of the Christian gospel. As Scripture declares, "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men" (Rom. 1:18). Since God is merciful but cannot at all acquit the guilty, He provided His Son as a voluntary, sinless substitute on Whom to pour out His just wrath for our behalf"For it pleased the Father. . . to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him [Christ]. . . having made peace through the blood of His cross" (Col. 1:20). God has satisfied his just wrath against us by executing Christ. By that momentous act, God revealed Himself as both perfectly holy by punishing sin and perfectly merciful by embracing His people, or as the Scripture explains, God is "just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26). Peace genuine peace with God is now a reality for those in Christ"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). But for those outside, Christ will pursue them as the Holy Avenger who will appear "in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel" (2 Thess. 1:8).

With such an emphasis on securing peace between God and man, it is no wonder that God had previously described this glorious work of Christ as a "covenant of peace" (Ezek. 34;25; 37:26). When the time for Christ's appearing finally came, a heavenly host appeared declaring, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!" (Lk. 2:14). And when Christ entered Jerusalem, His disciples sang not so much of peace on earth but more importantly of "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest" (Lk. 19:38), for Christ would turn away the wrath of God and bring peace to heaven.

Imitating Peace

The centrality of peace to Christianity doesn't end with Christ's reconciliation of God and His people. That reconciliation is the glorious beginning, but peacemaking, in imitation of God, is supposed to fully characterize the Christian's life.

Some Christian traditions and non-Christian critics distort the biblical understanding of peace by absolutizing it; that is, making peace the unqualified, ultimate value of all of life. On such a view, everything else becomes subordinate to keeping the peace. Supposedly, we should never disagree or judge and always tolerate everything. But such an approach isn't imitating God's ways. God Himself didn't sacrifice His holiness and justice merely to make peace with man. Neither God, nor we in imitating Him, are to pursue peace at any price.

Similarly, Christ is our model of peace; yet as "the Prince of Peace" (Is. 9:6), He overturned tables, judged by God's commands (Jn. 4:18; Matt. 6:5; 11:22;12:33; 15:3), and even sarcastically condemned hypocrites (Matt. 23:1ff; Lk 11:39ff.)all this without sin. His Apostles judged likewise (Acts 7:51-52; 8:20; 17:22ff.; Rom.1:18-3:20; Gal.5:12).

But Scripture doesn't start by emphasizing those situations when peace cannot prevail. We so often get it backwards. Yes, there are times when peace can no longer prevail in a situation, whether in the family, church, or state, but that should come at the end, not the beginning of the process. As the Apostle Paul commands, "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men" (Rom. 12:18). And the writer of Hebrews commands the same"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14).

Peace and mercy should dominate our character. And it should do so before all persons, not just the family of faith. Breaking the peace should be a last, regretful step. All Christians should stand out as ardent peacemakers, people seeking to keep the peace in every situation. The Bible isn't silent on peacemaking. It provides a wealth of material for living in peace with one another. Consider a few.

Abomination of Discord: The best place to begin exercising a healthy approach to peacemaking is to learn to despise its alternative. Proverbs gives us a short list of the things God especially hates. Missing from this list are many of the things that obsess much of contemporary Christianity. But prominent in this list is God's hatred of "one who sows discord among brethren" (Prov. 6:19). Such a person is an "abomination" to the Lord (v. 16).

If we can hate discord among the brethren as much as God does, then perhaps we will pause before politely passing on negative remarks about fellow believers. If we can hate discord as much as God, then perhaps we will have more courage in silencing the person seeking to pass on that "innocent" bit of gossip. The bigger problems of division and distrust always seem to start with small comments. Think. Would you make that negative comment if the person were standing before you? Would you want someone else making such a comment about you, when you weren't there to defend your name? Then don't say it. God hates discord among the brethren.

Never should a Christian enjoy the "thrill" of disagreement. Serious argument should never be a sport, where we play around with doctrines and persons. We should enter disagreements only reluctantly, like weathered soldiers knowing the horror of combat.

Putting Others in the Best Light: So often, we misinterpret another's innocent comment or facial expression in the most malicious light. We're sure that they intended to be rude or arrogant at that moment, when in fact they just had a rough day and were really thinking about something else entirely. This is especially easy when people have lost trust in each other. Then everything the other person does is read in the worst conspiratorial light. We seem to automatically want to gather every possible tidbit of evil that the other person could possibly commit. Notice how much better we look when the other side is transformed into a twisted relative of Darth Vader.

Reading someone's heart motives in the worst possible light is the height of arrogance. In drawing a distinction between Himself and man, God regularly describes Himself alone as the One able to "look on the heart," while man can only look on appearances (I Sam. 16:7). When we attribute evil motives to others, we are sinfully grabbing at a divine jurisdiction. Instead we are to turn away from "evil suspicion" (I Tim 6:4) and act with a love that "thinks no evil" (I Cor. 13:5). As always, would we want this other person to attribute evil motives to us in similar circumstances? Is there a better, more loving, motive we can attribute to that person? There always is if we truly want to persevere in love.

The Big Picture: One bumper-sticker quips, "Life is Short, and Then You Die." Death is always a handy framework for checking one's priorities. It makes the trivial seem ridiculous. Scripture provides similar benchmarks for realigning our priorities: "I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offer-ings"(Hos. 6:6). God certainly required sacrifices. But they weren't nearly as important as the weightier matters of the law"justice and mercy and faith" (Matt. 23:23).

The Apostle Paul had face-to-face revelation from God, and yet he still spoke of avoiding "disputes over doubtful things" (Rom. 14:1). Perhaps God's purpose in leaving us with some doubtful or difficult doctrines is to test our priorities, whether we bicker or not over things that seem clear to one group but not another. We should always be aware of God's tests of us. He says He tests us at times to see if we truly love Him, to see if we will imitate His priorities (Deut. 13:1ff.). How miserably we will fail, if we fight over the sacrifices and ignore mercy toward one another. If we fail at peacemaking by neglecting brotherly love, then we have missed the whole Christian life, and "it profits . . . nothing" (I Cor. 13:1ff.).

But in the biggest picture yet, we have that truth that peace prevails; the Lamb who made our peace with God stands also as the King of peace, a King whose peace can know no end, a peace that flows to earth's far ends (Is. 9:7; 66:12,13; Ezek. 47:1-9; Rev. 22:1ff.). Towards that goal He points us now"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God."