November 16, 2008
What Does the Lord Require? To Love Mercy
Micah 6:8, Luke 10:25-37
What is "LOVE"?
This morning we’re going to talk about love. Typically when we talk about "love" in
the church we like to talk about the three different Greek words for love:
 Eros: Sexual love: "The passionate love that desires the other for itself"
 Phileo: Friendship or family love: "it embraces all humanity and entails
obligation"
 Agapé: Love that gives freely, selflessly, completely, with no thought or
concern for repayment. "It is active, not self-seeking love."1
We can appreciate that there are these different types of love. There is a
difference between the healthy sexual love between spouses (eros) and the love
within an extended family (phileo). There is a difference between the love you
might have for a work of art (phileo) and a self-giving love that leads you to help
out someone else who will never know you helped them and cannot possibly repay you
(agapé). In church we often emphasize agapé. This is the love which characterizes
God’s love for us. This is the God-so-loved-the-world-that-He-gave-His-only-Son
kind of love. And this is the love with which we ought to love one another. It is a
selfless, self-sacrificing love that seeks the best for the other person. The New
Testament makes a big deal of this kind of love,
But in the Old Testament, to the Jews, love is simply love. The Hebrew word for
love is ahaba, which includes all kinds of love, in one integrated concept.
Consider the Song of Songs (Song of Solomon) – a book of the Bible we rarely
discuss! At one level it is a beautiful, passionate expression of love between a
husband and his wife. It is about love (‘ahaba ) – eros, phileo, agapé all rolled into
one passionate celebration of life together, because in a good marriage all three
kinds of love are inextricably bound together. At another level the Song of Songs
is interpreted as a metaphor for the love between God and his people – a passionate
celebration of God’s love for us and our love for God.
Which is the best interpretation of the Song of Songs? – a straightforward
expression of the excitement and wonder of human love? Or a metaphor for the
deep love God has for us, which we ought to have for God? Who knows!
1
G. Kittel & G. Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Abridged in one volume by G.W. Bromiley,
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985), p.7.
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The beauty of the Song of Songs is that it can be interpreted either way! Here are
some familiar verses that can go either way:
 "He has taken me to his banqueting hall; his banner over me is love (ahaba)”
(2:4)
 "Many waters cannot quench love (ahaba); rivers cannot wash it away …"
(8:7)
Married couples ought to read it now and then! But so should we all, to reflect on
the passion of God’s love for us.
In Hebrew thought, ahaba – love – is love in all its facets. It is the love between a
man and woman: "Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only
a few days to him because of his love [ahaba] for her” (Genesis 29:20). And it is
God’s love for his people: "because the Lord loved [ahaba] you … he brought you out
… from the land of slavery” (Deuteronomy 7:8); "I have loved (ahaba) you with an
everlasting love (ahaba)," declares the Lord (Jeremiah 31:3).
There are many similarities between God’s love for us and human love. Husbands
and wives get jealous when love is unfaithful; God gets jealous when love is
unfaithful (“I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God" (Exodus 20:4-5)). Men and
women pursue those they love: so does God (see Hosea). Love – both human and
divine – is patient, kind, and longsuffering (read 1 Corinthians 13 in both ways).
Sometimes we intellectualize our love for God (like the Greeks), and lose some of
the passion and emotion of that relationship (like the Hebrews). It is helpful to
think about the Hebrew concept of love for God – a holistic, passionate, emotional
attachment to the Creator, Sustainer, Deliverer, Saviour, and Lord. If you recall
the movie/musical Fiddler on the Roof and think of Tevya’s relationship with God –
that kind of personal, authentic, love relationship is what the Old Testament
celebrates.
So why are we talking about love? Look again at Micah 6:8: "He has showed you, O
man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love
(ahaba) mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Do you love mercy? Do you get passionate about mercy? Does the lack of mercy
make you angry or jealous? Do you chase after mercy?
What is "MERCY"?
The word translated "mercy" is hesed. It can be rendered: "mercy," "kindness,"
"loving-kindness," or "unfailing love."
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Mercy means to show kindness to others. God shows kindness (hesed) to Hagar
when His angel comforts her (Genesis 16). God shows kindness (hesed) to Lot when
He saves him from the destruction Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:19). Hesed is
a practical part of human relationships (see David and Jonathan in 1 Samuel 20:8).
"Mercy," like justice, is not a difficult concept to understand! But what is
interesting in Micah 6:8 is that we are not told, "What the Lord requires of you … is
that, when pushed into a corner, as a last desperate act, perhaps, if you have to
show mercy …" But rather, "Love mercy …" Remember how you felt when you first
fell in love! You couldn’t stop thinking about the other person! You couldn’t keep it
to yourself! You would do anything in the name of love! Your world was turned
upside down! It changed your life! "Get that excited about mercy," says God!
Perhaps the most famous illustration of mercy is Jesus’ parable of the good
Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The context of Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan is
this: "an expert in the (Old Testament) law" stands up to test Jesus and asks,
"What must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25). Note the man knows the
answer; he’s just testing Jesus! Jesus is quite aware of the situation and turns the
table: "You’re the ‘expert’ – what is written in the law?" The lawyer replies: "’Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
strength and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’" (Luke 10:27).
"Good answer!" says Jesus – "Do it and you will have your eternal life."
The man was flustered. With the "do it" part; Jesus hit a raw nerve. The lawyer
"wanted to justify himself" so he said, "And just who is my neighbor?" Why is he
asking the question? Because if he has to "do it" he wants to know who he has to
"do it" to (or, perhaps, more importantly, who he doesn’t have to do it too!). It’s an
"if … then" issue. If he loves the right neighbour, then he will get eternal life.
Jewish legal experts loved these kind of sticky debates about the specifics –
defining everything in very precise terms. After all, you wouldn’t want to do more
than you need to!
In this context, Jesus tells the parable of the good Samaritan. Note two things:
1. Who the neighbour is – anyone in need, regardless of race, religion, gender,
social status, age, etc. The Samaritan has every opportunity to excuse
himself from taking responsibility (like the priest, like the Levite [a servant
to the priests]), but he didn’t. He went out of his way to do something.
Freely and willingly he took the initiative to get involved in a situation where
a person was in need.
2. What love looks like – it’s mercy/kindness/unfailing love (that will come back
and pay the debt), with no expectation of repayment or reciprocity. It is
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hesed. The Samaritan, whom the true Jews thought were virtual heathens,
was obeying the Old Testament command! The Jews were not!
When Jesus asked the "expert," "Who was the neighbour?" the lawyer replied,
"The one who had mercy (Greek eleos = Hebrew hesed) on him." Jesus did not let
the man off the hook: once again He says, "Go and do likewise" (Luke 10:37).
Do you love mercy?
I want to come back to the question I asked earlier: Do you love mercy? Do you
get passionate about mercy? Does the lack of mercy make you angry or jealous?
Do you chase after mercy? What does that look like for us?
Of course it means that if you specifically see someone in need, help! Did you see
that car rear-end the other on the on-ramp to Whoop-Up Drive? Are you tempted
to say to yourself, "Don’t get involved …" What would Jesus say? "Do it!"
Do we know of a need in our church – someone who needs a call, a visit, some
practical help? Do we know of a need in our community – to coach soccer, to cleanup the playground, to visit shut-ins? What would Jesus say? "Do it!"
It means actively looking for needs. We know we have missionaries overseas … find
out what their needs are so you can pray for them (use the prayer requests in the
bulletin). We know there are people in need in our city … find an opportunity to
volunteer to make a difference (talk to me). Actively find out if there are needs in
children’s ministries or other programmes. Jesus would say, "Do it!"
Even closer to home: what does it mean to “love mercy” in your home? In your
relationship with your kids? Your parents? Your siblings? Your grandchildren?
Your grandparents? What does it mean to “love mercy” at work? At school? In
your neighbourhood?
Do you love mercy? God’s challenge through Micah is: "Love mercy" (get passionate
about it!). Jesus challenge is "Just do it." How can you get passionate about mercy
this week? How are you going to "do it"?
Copyright 2008 by Bruce Martin
First Baptist Church
1614 – 5th Avenue South, Lethbridge, AB T1J 0W3
(403) 327-2082
bruce@firstb.net
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