FELLOWSHIP AND SERVICE
Theological Foundations of Mercy Ministry

© 2003 Reformed University Ministries
Used by permission
THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF MERCY MINISTRY
by: Paige Benton Brown*
INTRODUCTION
I work at Vanderbilt University and am on staff with Reformed University Fellowship there. I’m also a
Presbyterian chaplain. In my second year at Vanderbilt, we got a new Episcopalian priest whose name
was Becca Stephens. The first time I met Becca she was telling the chaplains’ office, the group of
affiliated chaplains, about trying to garner their support for this vision she had for this thing called “the
Magdalene Project.” She had a vision. This one woman had a vision of gaining properties throughout
Nashville, renovating and restoring them, and through volunteer involvement and government grants
making these half-way houses for prostitutes coming out of prison. She began to give statistics of
prostitutes coming out of prison and their relapse rate into crime because they had nothing to come back
to when they got out. She had this vision for these homes: for prostitutes to come and do schooling, to do
GED education, to do job training, to live there until they could get housing and get back on their feet. And
she was giving this grand vision—this woman who is married to a country music singer. She’s got kids of
her own. She’s the full time Episcopal priest with her own chapel on Vanderbilt’s campus and she has this
grand plan in her mind. And as she was sitting there telling us this, do you know what I was thinking?
“Why is she ordained? I bet she is one of those liberals. This is just one of those social gospel, liberal
things.” I mean I completely tuned her out.
Perhaps some of you have that fear of even coming to a conference like this. All of a sudden you come to
a mercy ministry conference and it smacks of a social gospel. It smacks of theological liberalism. “They
don’t understand the Scripture; they don’t take the Scripture seriously enough.” As I was sitting in that
chaplain’s meeting that day, I want to tell you that I was the one who had the misunderstanding of
Scripture. I was the one who was not taking the Scripture seriously enough. The Scripture says very little
about women’s ordination. I believe that where it speaks it speaks clearly, but it is not a major theme in
the Scripture. Let me tell you what is a major theme in the Scripture: If you give someone a cup of cold
water in the name of Jesus you will not lose your reward. “That pure and faultless religion that the Lord
receives is this, that we care for the widows and the orphans in their distress” (James 1:27). That we are
to go and sell everything and give all we have to the poor and then come and follow him and we will not
lose our reward” (Matt 19:2 1). That he who gives to the poor lends to the Lord (Prov 19:17). That we are
told to excel in giving (2 Corinthians 8:7). We are told not to store up for ourselves “treasures on this
earth” (Matt 6:19). We are told that we can bring nothing into this world and that we will take nothing out
of it. Could it get plainer? Could it be more prominent? Ours is the misunderstanding of Scripture if those
things are not first and foremost, not just in our minds, in our hearts, or in our scripture memory work; but
actually in our lives. That is a major Biblical theme—Old Testament and New Testament alike.
Today I want us to take time and look at probably the clearest and most sobering passage of all in dealing
with mercy ministry. It comes to us in a section of Scripture called the Olivet Discourse. Let me tell you
what that means. As Jesus comes back to Jerusalem, for the final week of his earthly life you see him
almost as a changed man. Before he had been very patient and very veiled in his ministry. He comes
back in, the triumphal entry, and is turning things over in the temple and pronouncing woes on the
Pharisees. He is preaching literally, with power and venom about sin and unrighteousness and
wickedness. After he has pronounced very difficult things against the enemies of the Lord his disciples
come to him and ask “what is really going to happen?” What is really going to happen in the end? When
will all of these things come to pass?
And so he is on the Mount of Olives, with just his disciples, teaching them about these things. In Matthew
24 and 25 we find this Olivet Discourse. He begins teaching them signs of the end times, ways that we
will know when the end is near. And then we get to Matthew 25 and there is a succession of 3 stories,
parables or pictures that the Lord paints there. The first is the parable of the foolish virgins or the foolish
bridesmaids. Remember that half of them fell asleep. They did not trim their lamps. They did not keep
enough oil. They were not ready when the bridegroom came. This parable teaches us that readiness
matters. Our readiness for the Lord matters. The next parable is the parable of the talents. A man goes
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on a journey and gives his servants different amounts of talents: giving one five, another three, and
another one. Then he comes back and takes them into account. This tells us what readiness means. It’s
not just that it matters—it means that we are busy and that we are working.
We would be okay if Matthew 25 stopped right there, if the Lord’s teaching stopped right there. And yet he
takes us to another level and tells us a third story in Matthew 25 to tell us what our work is to be. That is
where we are: the eschatological (the end time) implications, the “final-thing” implications, the climax
implications of mercy. The interesting thing is we never think in terms of the big picture. We rarely think of
where we are going. That is why we don’t get excited about mercy, because what good is it going to do?
What difference is it really going to make? Our lives are just a mist; we don’t live here long anyway—why
does it matter? In our twisting of the Scripture, we look so often at the Lord’s return as a good excuse for
mercy not to matter. Why bother with feeding people, clothing people, giving them something to drink,
and visiting them in the hospital, when this earth is going to burn away and the Lord is going to come
again? And the interesting thing is, he calls us on this. In this passage he says that I am coming back and
that is the very reason we do ministries of mercy. It is the eschatological reason, the returning of Christ
reason, for this:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his
glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from
another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his
right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are
blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and
you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in
prison and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see
you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and
welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit
you?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these
my brothers, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no
food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me,
naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will
answer, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in
prison, and did not minister to you?” Then he will answer them, saying, “Truly, I say to you, as
you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into
eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Matthew 25:31-46
It does not get much plainer than that. In the midst of the Lord teaching about his coming again, giving
these grand, cosmic signs, and talking about building our spiritual résumé (in a certain sense) by
multiplying our talents in those things, this is where he says the work is. Of all the pictures that he could
have used, he uses this picture.
MERCY IS DIRECTED TOWARDS PEOPLE
We see three big things here about the mercy that is called for as our primary work. The first is that mercy
is directed towards people.
MERCY DIRECTED TOWARDS PEOPLE IS REPRESENTATIONAL
This mercy is representational; these things are not actually done for Christ. If the Lord Jesus, in the
flesh, came walking into the room, we would all run to do them for him. We would give him anything to
eat, we would give him the clothes off of our backs, and we would give him all the money that we have.
He is so beautiful and wonderful that there is nothing that we would not do for him. But we are not actually
doing them for his body (and Christ is yet, even today, in a body). This is not mystical work. The book of
Hebrews says that some people unaware have entertained angels in disguise. We latch onto that verse
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too firmly, if you can say that about a Bible verse, hoping that we are going to find an angel in disguise.
Chances are very strong that it is not an angel in disguise. It could be; but chances are that it is just a
homeless person, that it is just a stranger, that it is just a prisoner, that it is just someone who is hungry,
or just someone who is naked. We are not talking about a mystical thing. We are talking about a
representational thing: unglamorous jobs for unglamorous people. We are not actually doing these things
for Christ; and yet, we are actually doing these things for Christ. He has so identified himself with the
needy, that doing these things for the needy is doing them for him.
I am a big fan and was very blessed by the life and work of Mother Teresa. She was someone who
captured my imagination as a young girl, and I’ve followed her through the news and through the media
over the last several years before her death. What she would say, if you ever saw her interviewed or ever
saw films about her, is that she looked for the Jesus in each person. Now I don’t know what she meant by
that. Perhaps she was right on the money; perhaps she was so near and yet so far. The question in
dealing with people is not their heart for him; instead, it is his heart for them. So often as a qualification for
mercy ministry we are looking for some spark of their faith, some spark of their respect for the Lord Jesus,
their respect for morality, their respect for Christianity, their respect for us, their appreciation of us. It is not
about their heart for him it is about his heart for them. Serving the needy is not like serving Jesus. Serving
the needy is serving Jesus. It is serving Jesus just as surely as singing songs, praying prayers, preaching
sermons, giving your money to the church, keeping the nursery, bringing pot luck, and evangelizing door
to door. That is why he says when you give to the Lord you actually are lending to the Lord. How can we
lend to the Lord when he already owns everything? That is how closely he has associated himself with
them. Don’t look for people who represent him best—just know that they represent him. That is a doctrinal
fact for us. Mercy is directed towards people because it is representational.
MERCY DIRECTED TOWARDS PEOPLE IS PRACTICAL
In the second place, it is practical. We like to talk theology. We like to talk motivation. God loves us;
therefore, we should love others and we should leave this up to people to decide however the Lord calls
them to live it out in their lives—not necessarily. I think the Lord is more specific than that in his word.
Practical Needs
First of all they are practical needs. No task listed here—clothing someone, giving someone something to
drink, giving someone something to eat, going to visit them in the hospital or prison, or befriending a
stranger—are miracles. They don’t require miracles. They are just the real needs of real people all around
us. This is not something you ever have to travel to see. This is not something you have to take your
spring break, family vacation, and your holiday time for: real needs for real people. How often we think
that this kind of thing is beneath us. It is not quite spiritual enough. Anybody can do that: unbelievers can
do that. And so we have left it to the unbeliever. They are kicking our rears in mercy ministry. I live on a
campus where they are the ones doing it. They don’t even know why; but they are still out there meeting
real needs for real people. We think that it is beneath us. We think that it is not spiritual enough for us.
C.S Lewis nails this in The Screwtape Letters. This is a story of demons writing each other: a mentor and
an apprentice, an uncle and a nephew. They are writing about how to keep this man from coming to
Christ and how to keep him from growing in his faith. Uncle Screwtape writes to Wormwood, because
Wormwood is concerned that it appears this man is growing. Uncle Screwtape writes and says, “Keep his
mind focused on the inner life. Keep his mind away from the most elementary duties by directing it to the
most advanced spiritual ones.” And that sounds so nice to us. That is a lie of the devil: keeping our minds
off the most elementary duties while we’re thinking these grand, spiritual thoughts.
I’ve got very close friends in Nashville who are a Caucasian couple who have adopted African-American
children. I can remember asking her one day why they did this. What is your hope for these boys? How
do you really think this is going to play itself out in this culture? Family-wise, marriage-wise, school-wise?
I was really trying to figure out what was making her tick on this. She put her hands on both of my
shoulders and said, “Paige they needed adopting.” That is why they adopted them. They didn’t sit down
and calculate what they were going to be like when they were 30 and 35. They were 2 and they needed
adopting. They actually needed a home.
© 2003 Reformed University Ministries
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I work with RUF and one of the most fun things we get to do is get together with other campuses and
have conferences. At the end of each school year we have a beach conference down in Panama City.
There is a young female student who has very advanced Muscular Dystrophy. She is completely confined
to a wheelchair; she can barely move her arms; and it is very hard to understand her. I remember thinking
the first time I ever met her that this is nice and all, but what a pain to have someone like that at the
beach. I mean, who let this happen? Don’t they understand that this facility is not set up for this? We are
on the beach and it’s hard to get around and it’s all spread out. But the way the kids in her campus group
ministered to her that week shames me. Picking her up, picking her wheelchair up, and carrying her down
to the beach. Girls sitting with her all day: never throwing the Frisbee, never playing volleyball, never
taking a walk—because if they did, she would be there all by herself. Sitting and taking notes for her so
that she could read things later instead of taking notes for themselves. Getting her up, getting her
dressed, getting her showered in a room of ten girls, putting her to bed, changing her diapers. And these
are college girls, not paid assistants. There was a need. They have a friend, she goes to their school, she
is a normal student, and she wanted to go to the conference. And because of them she got to come to the
conference. And of course my immediate response is “somebody like that shouldn’t be at this
conference.” Practical needs... things that we see around us all the time. People have needs. They may
not be as deep seated as the ones discussed earlier this morning, but people have needs and we need to
be sensitive to their specific needs.
I grew up in a little town in the Mississippi delta. When somebody died, you took a casserole. That was
the unspoken rule. Normally when you went over there you couldn’t even find a place for the casserole.
Why? Because there are so many casseroles and so many angel food cakes; and yet, everyone walks
up, knocks on the door, hands over a casserole, and walks away. Chances are when someone has lost
someone, a casserole is not their greatest need. They have not lost their ability to cook or go to the
grocery store. They need someone to grieve with them. It doesn’t say that you clothe the hungry or that
you take something to eat to the stranger. We feel like if we are doing anything, that is better than doing
nothing. That is not true! Are you actually doing the something that somebody needs? I mean practical
needs. Are we thinking practically? Are you someone who makes casseroles, or does rapid visitation? Or
do you like babies, so whenever someone has a baby, you go and visit the nursery [though that is not
such a bad thing]?
But we are talking about meeting bigger needs than that here. I don’t know how many of you have ever
heard someone talk in a disparaging way, or talked about it yourself, about meeting felt needs. “The
problem with this ministry, group, church is that they are just meeting felt needs.” The problem with that
language is that there really are needs that are felt. There is nothing wrong with felt needs. It is not felt
needs as opposed to real needs—those are real needs. It is felt needs as opposed to the needs that we
are too sinful to feel—the needs of our heart. And so it is not an either/or. Felt needs are the doors to the
unfelt needs. It is this practical stuff that is the road to someone’s conversion. It is the road to someone’s
actual growth because this what they need right then. Someone sent me this poem, a friend of mine who
is a bleeding heart social worker who has been such a blessing making me uncomfortable in my life.
I was hungry and you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger—
Thank you.
I was in prison and you crept off quietly to your chapel to pray for my release—
Nice.
I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance—
What good did that do?
I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health—
But I needed you.
I was homeless and you preached to me of the shelter of the love of God—
I just wish you had taken me home.
I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me—
Why didn’t you stay?
You seem so holy, so close to God, but I was still very hungry, lonely, cold and still in pain—
Does it matter?
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That is me! The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear someone share about being abused
growing up is, “Thank God my father didn’t abuse me. I’m glad I’m not like them. Thank God something
like that hasn’t happened in my church and torn my church apart. I’m glad I’m not like them.” Do I care
about the fact that she is saying this is actually happening to people? Practical needs are all around us.
Practical Recipients
This kind of mercy is practical in its recipients. Look back at the passage and notice what it actually says:
“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was
a stranger and you invited me in.” Who are these people? They are people that are close enough for us to
see. They are close enough for us to feed, for us to clothe, for us to visit, for us to befriend. Uncle
Screwtape writes again to his nephew demon: “Everyone has malice and benevolence, encourage him,
[the human] to aim malice at those closest to him and benevolence to those far on his circumference.
Malice thus becomes very real and the benevolence becomes largely imaginary.” We are so moved by a
commercial we see of starving children or something that we hear about, or someone’s situation. We
might even send money or clothing, and again those are not bad things, but what about the people that
we actually see? The place in the world that the Lord has actually placed us. We will travel to do urban
ministries but we will not do them in our own city. We will send our children, and go ourselves, to
volunteer at a camp for the disabled, but we have no time for the disabled in our own communities. We
will go halfway around the world to do short term mission trips but no one will befriend international
students on our own campuses. We won’t do it for the people right in front of us. It seems like too much of
a commitment. Let me go for a week. Let me send a check. Let me go for just a visit.
As I said I grew up in the Mississippi Delta. And the Mississippi Delta is known for everyone having on
hose and lipstick everyday, and having mint juleps and that sort of thing. [It is somewhat of a caricature,
but not fully.] I mean when you do something in the Delta, you do it right. The interesting thing about
Cleveland is that it is a very short distance from Parchman, the state penitentiary. You do not usually
think of sophisticated Delta ladies as those called to prison ministry. I really have no idea if the ladies in
the Cleveland church were called to prison ministry or not. The Lord put us next to a prison and those
women have done prison ministry for I don’t know how long. Going and having Bible studies with those
women in Parchment. Do they feel called to prisons? NO! But there is a prison next door. That is the
interesting thing—what is going on in your own community? Who are the recipients the Lord has called
you to because He has placed them right there in front of you? We will serve in the abstract. We will do a
walk-a-thon, we will go to a benefit banquet, we will go to a blood drive, we will be a sponsor for
somebody. But what about the person standing on the corner with a can? What about the person helping
you clean your house? What about the cleaning crew in your building? What about the person who is
frustrating you because they are holding up the elevator or holding up the airplane because they are in a
wheelchair? What about the newly divorced women in your church? What about the family sitting on your
pew with a disabled child? These are the people God has called you to. I don’t care what your gifts are.
The people you are to serve are the people you see. “Because you saw me and you did nothing,” says
the Lord here. We are called to people that He has actually placed in our lives. Do we care about a cause
or do we care about our neighbor? To say that I have a heart for interracial ministry, to say that I have a
heart for disabilities or that I have a heart for the inner cities is just crazy. There is no such thing as a
heart for the inner city. There is only a heart for persons. My heart for the inner city is not doing anyone
any good. My heart for small children is not doing anyone any good. Which small children, which inner
city people, which African American people, which Asian people? Do we care about a cause or do we
care about our neighbor? Practical needs, practical recipients and practical in its timing.
Practical Timing
It is practical in its timing here. These kinds of service are constant. If someone does not have something
to eat one day, and they are starving to death, chances are that they are not bringing in a paycheck the
next day. If someone does not have something to wear, probably one outfit of clothes is not going to get
it. This is not once a year, this is not a Christmas project, this is not Angel Tree, this is not “I gave at the
office.” There is nothing wrong with those things, but they are not what this passage is talking about. We
had a student at Vanderbilt who was part of an Asian minority group who was so emotionally troubled.
She was not the emotionally-troubled type that endears you to her. She was the kind of person that was
bitter and just repulsive. She had been in a major physical accident when she was younger and she was
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very disfigured. This girl was nothing but difficult. She was unattractive in every possible way, and I did as
little with her as I could to still felt okay about my job. She came to RUF so I owed her a sit down chat and
a meeting every now and again. This girl was younger and there was a senior girl who was in the best
sorority on campus. She was busy, busy, busy. She was seriously dating a guy to whom she is now
married. She had so much going on. Her senior year she went to dinner with this girl twice every week.
This girl had no one else to be with. And so my friend takes out of her time and goes with her twice a
week just to be with her. That, is an ongoing thing.
One of my heroes in this world is a woman named Libba Dean who lives in Cleveland Mississippi. She
has been suffering with rheumatoid arthritis as long as I have been alive. She has one severally, mentally
handicapped child who has never been able to live with her. She lost her husband a number of years ago.
Libba suffers so greatly with rheumatoid that she has not been able to feed, clothe, or do anything in all of
my memory. She has now had both of her legs amputated. She lives in long-term care in Bolivar County
Hospital, but Libba is at church every Sunday because people go and get her every Sunday. That is not
convenient for anyone, but they just go and get her. That need is not going to go away. She is not going
to have legs again. She will never be able to care for herself. And either Miriam or Deb, one of these
folks, goes and gets her every single Sunday.
I have a friend named Ron Koustas who lives in New York City and spent thirteen years in a homosexual
lifestyle. His partner died of AIDS. He is now a believer and so was his partner before he died. He has an
amazing testimony. Ron left a social, fast-paced job as a society editor in New York where he was one of
the Top Ten New Yorkers of the year. He now works for the postal service in New Jersey so that he has
time to organize volunteers, on a completely volunteer basis himself, and go serve meals at AIDS
hospices every week. That is what he is doing now with his time. That need is not going to go away. It is
going to go on and on and on. You know this. If you have people suffering with chronic conditions and
illnesses in your church, they are not going to go away. If you have strangers coming in, which I hope
they are always coming into your church, they are not going to go away. People are not going to break
out of prison. I mean these needs are there. The timing is on going and on going and on going.
A story is told of a rookie reporter whose very first job ever was with a small-town newspaper. The editor
sends him to cover a wedding (because he figures that this is a safe first job for this kid). So he sends him
to cover the biggest wedding of the year for the wealthiest family in town. The editor sends him off and in
just moments he is back at the office. The editor says; “What’s the deal here?” And he says “Well, I drove
up to the church, and as I drove up, the bride and her father came up in a limousine. As they were
walking into the church, a black car with four hooded men peeled up, got out with guns, shot the bride’s
father, held the bride hostage, threw her into the black car, and drove away. So there was no wedding to
cover, so I came back.” You can imagine what the editor thought about that. The whole point of a good
reporter is that you have to have a nose for news. If that reporter did not realize that that was news, his
career was not going to last very long. Likewise, we have got to have a nose for need. “Oh, I feel called to
do this” and “there is nobody like that in my church,” and “there is nobody like that in my community.”
There are people bleeding and breaking all around us. Do you actually have a nose for need? Let me
read you something amazing that someone sent me:
If we could shrink the earth’s population to a village of 100 people, with all the existing human
ratios remaining the same, it would look like this: There would be 57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14
people from the Western Hemisphere, and 8 Africans. 70 would be non-white and 30 would be
white. 70 would be non-Christian and 30 would be professing Christians of any kind. 89 would be
heterosexual and 11 would be homosexual. 60% of the entire world’s wealth would be in the
hands of only 6 people and all 6 people would be citizens of the United States. 80 would live in
sub-standard housing. 70 would be unable to read. 50 would suffer from malnutrition. One would
have a college education and one would have a computer.
Your nose doesn’t even have to be very good. There is need everywhere around us. Do you know where
you are in the global economy? Do you know where you are in your local community? Do you know the
privilege in which we live? Practical in its timing—an ongoing thing. If you cannot immediately think of
needs that you can be meeting, then you are not thinking and you’re not looking. Mercy is directed toward
people.
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MERCY IS DEMONSTRATED BY YOU
Secondly, mercy is demonstrated by you.
PERSONALLY SERVING
Mercy is personal. This is the part we hate. This is not carried out by a second party. This is not
compassion that is once removed or twice removed or three times removed far away from us. Personal
contact is the primary requirement here. It is the number one thing you see. Someone is hungry and
what? You gave them something to eat. You gave them something to drink. You actually came to visit
them. You actually befriended them. You went and took care of them when they were sick. And our
excuse is; why bother, I really can’t do anything for them. It doesn’t say that I was sick and you healed
me. It doesn’t say that I was in prison and you busted me out. It is not saying that we are changing their
ultimate condition. It is that you are actually involved in their life. Our presence, not miracles, is what is
called for. We’re willing to do anything but be present. We will give any amount of money not to have to
deal with these people: not to have to meet them, not to have to sit with them, not to have to talk to them.
And so we just keep giving, giving—what can I give? I’ll give clothes, I’ll give can goods, I’ll give money.
And yet your presence is what is being called for here.
Earlier this year I heard Sister Helen Prejean speak at Vanderbilt. Some of you might recognize her
name. She is the nun who is the author of the book and the basis for the movie Dead Man Walking. She
is on a national tour for the abolition of the death penalty. Though I do not agree with her politics in large
measure, it was very convicting to listen to her speak. She has been living her life in New Orleans with
people who are on death row and that is something that I have not done. She asked everybody who had
a Bible to turn to this passage. She read the passage and said; “You know what drives me crazy about us
Christians [Remember, she is a Catholic nun] is we want to spiritualize passages like this. When it says, ‘I
was in prison and you came to visit me,’ we say ‘well there are many types of prisons. You know there
are prisons of materialism, and prisons of depression.’ Anything to keep from going to a prison.” She said;
“We will do anything to keep from going to a prison.” She is right! When God says, “Sell everything you
have and give it to the poor” we think, “well that is not really what he means.” Or “giving to the poor is
lending to the Lord” – “that is not really what He means.” Or if you say “Go I wish you’d be warm and well
feed” and walk away—you basically deny the faith... “That is not really what he means.” It is what he
means! He means go to prisons. He means go to the hospitals. He means feed the hungry. He means
clothe the naked. He means befriend the stranger. That is exactly what he is saying and that means you
personally are going to have to do that. I personally am going to have to do that. We are to be a
reflection, pale that it may be, of the Immanuel principle. And the Immanuel principle is not “God for us” it
is “God with us!” That God is actually with us is why we are called to be with these other people.
A couple of years ago the Lord brought a Chinese graduate student to our group at Vanderbilt. He was
difficult from day one. He was older and would probably have been glad to tell you that he was only there
for the girls. He was there to meet younger, American girls. He didn’t even come for most of the Bible
studies. He would come at the end just to meet people. I had talks with him. Stewart, our campus
minister, had talks with him. It was a really difficult situation. We had a student who is more gifted in
ministry, if that is even the right language, than anyone I have ever known. Morgan took Whey and
befriended him. Morgan came into our leadership meeting one day and just started crying and said; “Y’all
need to pray for me and my attitude about Whey.” And I thought, “Your attitude about Whey?!” He said,
“I’ve really resented him, and I think that he has been causing problems in our group, and he has been
making girls uncomfortable. So I was going to take him to dinner the other night and to tell him all of this:
that he really needed to lay off. As we started dinner, he told me that he lived in New York for two years
and never had a meal with another person.” Two years, and never had a meal with another person. He
said, “needless to say, I did not give him my lecture.” Instead he befriended this guy. Whey was baptized
in a PCA church this summer because Morgan got involved in his life.
My best friend and roommate in Nashville is an attorney. She has a busy life. The first year she lived in
Nashville she lived in an apartment building by herself. She noticed this little boy who was always by
himself playing outside. She loves children so she went outside and befriended this child. She found out
that his father had abandoned him and had lost his mother in a very tragic way. He had been raised by
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his grandparents and his grandfather had just died. He was being raised by this lone grandmother, this
seven-year-old little boy. And so Amy just befriended him. She started playing with him on the weekends.
Well after just nine months she moved in with me on a completely different side of town and her
friendship with him has just blossomed. She has taken him home to her parents for holidays. She goes
over and rides bikes with him on her only day off. She goes over and climbs trees with him. She financed
him to go on a youth trip this summer. Joseph is going to turn into a great kid because this young, single
lawyer befriended this little seven-year-old boy that needed befriending. Personally getting involved in his
life. Whose life are you involved in? Who are you indispensable to? That is not a wrong theological
question to ask. We are so quick to say that we aren’t indispensable to anyone because the Lord is
sovereign, and He can do without us. He won’t do without you! He chooses sovereignly not to do it
without you! He sovereignly chooses to use you to do these things. You: your face, your body, your
hands, your feet, your presence. It has got to be personal.
PERSONALLY SACRIFICING
The second thing about it being demonstrated by you is that it is sacrificial. [It will just keep hurting. Just
stay with me through the pain.] These ministries are in no way self-serving. Look at this stuff. It is giving
food and water and clothing. These people are in the greatest need. They are lacking the barest
necessities. We are not talking about people who just need a hug or people just going through a bad time.
We are talking about people who have nothing at all! And yet it is at the point of greatest need that we are
tempted to ignore or abandon people. The disciples stayed with Jesus through some tense times. He got
arrested and they took off. It is at the point of greatest need.
I know of a church in this denomination that is a kind of stellar flagship church for the denomination.
When it comes to taking care of their own they do a great job. If you pass around a list at the women’s
ministry meeting—who will do meals for new mothers, who will provide the luncheon after a funeral, who
will take care of this visitation—they’ve got names and numbers, they’ve got plenty of people to do that.
There is a woman in this church that is incredibly difficult. She has chronic physical problems, emotional
problems, and dire financial problems. None of these things are going to go away anytime soon. The
deacons have been extremely involved with her. The church is basically supporting her completely. The
deacons have met with the women’s counsel to say—what we need is not any more money, we don’t
need any more physical care, we don’t need any more job opportunities for this woman. We just need
some women who will actually love this woman and get involved in her life. And then they met with the
women’s counsel again and asked the same thing. And then they met with the women’s counsel again
and asked the same thing, and there are still no women involved in her life because they would rather
take meals to new mothers. See the minute that mercy, instead of just assistance, is called for we going
running. We don’t want to deal with the chronic problems; and yet, those are the problems that require
sacrifice. It doesn’t say the sufferers here, the needy here, are deserving. That is what we are always
looking for. It doesn’t say that a precious child was hungry. Someone was robbed and that is why he or
she was naked. Someone contracted HIV from a blood transfusion. It doesn’t say that. We don’t know
why these people are hungry. Perhaps they are drug addicts and they have lost all their money (we tend
to stereotype these people anyway). We don’t know why. That question is never asked. We scream at a
girl as she goes into abortion clinics, but who is going to hug her when she comes out? See, that is the
ministry. That is the ministry. We lecture against homosexuality, but who is going to take care of dying
homosexuals that have contracted AIDS? People, this is going to call for sacrifice. Jesus washed Judas’
feet too. Think about it. He washed Judas’ feet too. The son of perdition who was to leave within hours to
betray him to his death: he washed his feet too and did not balk at it. We are not looking for deserving
recipients here. We are to sacrifice and we are to sacrifice in all areas of our lives. We are rich. I have no
idea what the status of your bank account is. You are rich. Don’t just sacrifice money. Sacrifice your mind,
sacrifice your thoughts, and sacrifice your date books. That is the thing. We will do anything except
rearrange our schedule. Except tell our children that they can’t be involved in one more activity because
we are going to be involved as a family in doing these kinds of things as well. To spend your whole life
doing these things.
One of my friends is the vice-principal of an inner city school in Memphis, TN. She is married. They have
plenty of money so she does not need to work at all. Her passion is this school. Her passion is for these
kids. I just stayed with her for a wedding a couple of weeks ago and it cracked me up. They live in this
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beautiful home. I walked in and the laundry had not been done in I don’t know how long, there was
nothing to eat—there is just no time for that. School is starting. She is trying to contact these kids and
meet with parents and get more people involved with the school. She sits up at nights, she can’t even
sleep, trying to think of what needs to happen—What about these kids? What about foster care for this
family? If I feed this family on Tuesday night who will I feed on Thursday night? How can I get to the
grocery store and stay for the after-school tutoring program? She is spending her life for this. It is her
passion. She is literally laying down her life to be with these kids. Her husband is right there along with
her and he is a very busy businessman. That is what it really means to sacrifice. You say, “How far do I
go?” That is always our question. We will sign on for anything, but how far to I go? You go every bit as far
as the need requires! You cannot do this for everyone but you can do this for someone. This is not
tokenism. This is not a checklist. This is not “I served there last year—I’m done with that. I did my time.”
Mercy is costly, and you most give until it hurts. And chances are that most everyone is this room has
never done that. Really given until it actually hurt, until you feel the burden of the needy. We are
commanded to bear one another’s burdens. You are not bearing someone’s burden unless you feel the
burden. You are to give until your lifestyle is altered. Whatever your lifestyle is, you are called until it is
altered. Perhaps you have given money recently so someone can have a meal. When was the last time
you went without a meal so someone could have a meal? See, that is the question. It does not say: after
your pantry is full, then feed the hungry; when there is an open day on your date book, then go to the
hospital; once things have gone out of style, then clothe the naked. When was the last time you gave your
favorite article of clothing away at the height of when it was in style? Instead, you say, “Look at me.” You
have a truckload of clothes that you would never put on again—you wouldn’t be caught dead in them. We
give these things away—How long have we had these canned goods? Do you think we can finally give
these things away? We are not ever giving until it hurts. It is not affecting us at all. It does not say after we
are taken care of; instead, it is rather than us being taken care of, take care of someone else. The
Scripture does not rule out rich Christians. It rules out rich-living Christians. It does. There is no place we
are told that we should be rich-living people. The Lord has blessed us with wealth so that we might be
rich in good deeds. We have spiritualized the Scripture. The sweet widow walks up with two mites, with
two pennies, and gives all she has. “Isn’t that precious.” Do you realize that she just gave all she had?
She didn’t have money for groceries for that week. She didn’t have money for transportation that week.
She didn’t have money to call everyone she wanted long-distance that week. She didn’t have money to
go to the movies because she gave all she had. Mary comes and anoints Jesus’ feet and spends a year’s
wage on that perfume. What is that for you? Forty thousand dollars, one hundred thousand, three
hundred thousand dollars? Three hundred thousand dollars worth of perfume in an act of worship
towards God. We would say that is just asinine. We would say that is irresponsible. “What do you mean
that they gave so much away that they don’t get to have Christmas presents for their kids this year? That
is really going to cause their kids to resent them. You have to take care of your own family first.” This is
calling for sacrifice. We don’t even know what that means. We barely know what inconvenience means.
We definitely don’t know what sacrifice means. Do you want to know that eighty percent of the world’s
population makes under $1,500 a year? We are rich! We are rich in time, in homes, in money, in
resources, and in relationships. Will you give until it hurts? Take a stock today of your lifestyle. Don’t let it
be that way in a month. Maybe it is your exercise club, maybe it is one of your children’s activities, maybe
it is having extra money to go out to eat, maybe it is your entertainment budget, maybe it is clothes that
you love, or maybe it is your time. Change your lifestyle! Don’t be comfortable where you are. Understand
that if you do this you are not going to receive applause, credibility, money, or popularity. This is mercy, it
is not business. We run our mercy like a business. Who will see me? Who will know about this? What
return will I get for it? Do not serve to be seen by men, do not let your left hand know what your right hand
is doing. It is done and it is forgotten and we go on to the next thing.
My favorite book (and that is a bold statement) is The Hiding Place. The thing that is amazing to me
about The Hiding Place is that it is a true story and it does not have a happy ending. These two old-maid
sisters live with their elderly father above their watch shop in Holland. They were just normal Christian
people and the Lord gave them an opportunity, because they lived in Nazi-occupied Holland, to hide
Jewish people from the Nazis. It was not that they were gifted or they had a special love for Jesus. It was
because that was where the Lord put them and it was what they needed to do. They were arrested and
shipped off to a concentration camp. Come looses her father. She looses her sister. She looses most of
the people dear to her in the world. She looses everything. Her body is ravaged. She has no home when
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she comes out... and that is the end of the story. That is called sacrifice. The last line of that book says;
“Jesus can turn loss into glory.” But it is really loss. It is not that she gets out and they really didn’t die,
and everyone is united and everything is better off than before. Things weren’t better than they were
before. She lost everything for the sake of these people, most of whom, for safety reasons, she never
saw. They never thanked her. They never even necessarily knew her name. It wasn’t ever safe for them
to have contact with these people whose lives they saved. She lost everything—that is the end of the
story! That is what she was called to do because that is what sacrifice means.
MERCY IS DISPLAYED FOR GOD
Mercy is for people. Mercy is demonstrated by you. Thirdly, mercy is displayed for God.
DISPLAYED AS EVIDENCE
A little boy came to his mom and said, “Mom, I absolutely have to have a new bicycle.” She said, “Oh,
really? Well I think you should go and ask Jesus for a new bicycle.” He said; “Oh really? I think I will.” So
he goes into his room, sits down and starts to write: Dear Jesus, I’ve been very good and I need a new
bicycle. Love Leroy. He looks down and he tears that one up. Then he writes: Dear Jesus, I’ve been okay
and I need a new bicycle. Love Leroy. He looks down in a fit of honesty and tears that one up too. He
starts over once again and writes; Dear Jesus, I really wanted to be good, I meant to be good, and I need
a new bicycle. Love Leroy. He gets all self-reflective and tears that one up. He leaves, walks down the
street to a Catholic Church, goes inside and sits down. He thinks to himself and meditates very seriously
for a while. As he is leaving the church, he passes through all these statues and takes one. He goes
home, sits down and writes: Hey Jesus, I’ve got your Momma. If you ever want to see her again you had
better give me a new bicycle.
If we are honest with ourselves, that is what this passage sounds like. It is a “Hey, Jesus I’ve got your
Momma.” Because, what does it sound like to us? This passage makes us nervous. If you got up in front
of a group of liberally-minded Christians and read nothing but this passage, that would scare me. It would
probably scare you too. Why? Because this sounds like works-salvation. You did these things; therefore,
come on in: heaven is all yours. You didn’t do these things; so forget you: you are damned to hell for all
eternity. It sounds like a manipulation thing. “Lord, I’ve done this so you own me. I’ve done your duties:
I’ve done your stuff.” You miss the point. We have not read closely enough. The mercy that is displayed
for God is evidential. Note the order of this passage. This is a courtroom scene, not before just a judge,
but before a King. Everyone who has ever lived is gathered before Him. Actually, this is a reverse
courtroom scene; the verdict is given in verse 33: “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will
separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the
sheep on his right and the goats on his left” (Matt 25:32-33). Why is that happening at the beginning of
the passage rather than at the end? This is in the beginning of the passage because the verdict has
nothing to do with the activities. The activities have everything to do with the verdict. That is the whole
point of the passage here. The actions are listed as proof. They are listed as evidence that the verdict is
true. Look at verse 34, the basis of the verdict: “Then the King will say to those on his right; ‘Come, you
who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of
the world.’” Was it prepared for them because they served? No, it was prepared for them before the
creation of the world. They have been blessed by the Father as their inheritance, not their reward. Who
are inheritors? Who are heirs? Children! It doesn’t say “Come you who served well” or “Come my
employees. You have earned your Christmas bonus. Now go, you get to go to heaven. You have done so
well.” That is not what this passage says. It is not what it teaches. That is never what Scripture teaches.
Their blessed estate is in no way dependent on them. It is only dependent on the good will of an adopting
Father. “Come you are blessed by my Father,” not you who performed, but “you who are blessed.” He
blessed them so that they could sacrifice. He did not bless them because they had sacrificed; he blessed
them so that they would. Are we the grave of God’s blessings? That is not what He blessed you for—to
take it and run. Or like in the preceding parable where the man took his talent and buried it in the ground.
You can’t present it back to God and say “here is my life. I know I didn’t do a whole lot; but I didn’t mess it
up either.” You don’t have that option. That was the wicked and lazy servant. Mercy is necessary to your
existence as a Christian. Mercy is absolutely mandatory for your existence as a Christian. How can I say
that?
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When Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, which is probably the most well-known mercy story
for us in the Scripture, what question prompted that parable? “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” His
answer: He tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. Very interesting. It is not that there is no way that we
will inherit eternal life without ministries of mercy; instead, there is no way that we have inherited eternal
life without ministries of mercy. There is no way! It is an impossibility according to the Scripture. That is
why the parable of the unforgiving servant is told as well. There is no way that you can receive mercy,
love, or forgiveness, and not give it away. There is no way that you can love the Lord your God with all
your heart, soul, mind and strength, and not love your neighbor as yourself. Those are not just two
commandments. They are the greatest commandments in the Law. This is a court scene and that is what
it is saying. Each and every action on the part of the sheep is a reaction. They are never initiators. They
are only responders. Every one of their actions is a reaction of unspeakable gratitude to the Father who
when they were in the greatest need was the only one who would embrace them. They were the needy.
They were the hungry. They were the thirsty. They were the naked. That is who we are. So their actions
are not anything they think are that great. They are just reacting to what he has done for them. Listen to
this old Negro spiritual:
“Poor little black sheep that strayed away, done lost in the wind and the rain. And the Shepherd
he say; “Oh hired man go and find my sheep again.” And the hired man say; “Oh Shepherd that
sheep am black and bad.” But the Shepherd, he smiled like that little black sheep was the onlyest
lamb he had. And the Shepherd go out in the darkness, where the night was cold and bleak. And
that little black sheep; he find it and lay it against his cheek. And the hired man frowned; “Oh
Shepherd, don’t bring that sheep to me.” But the Shepherd he smiled and hold it close and that
little black sheep was me.”
Do you know that? Do you feel that? Are you living in that kind of reality? You take hold of people, as the
surest evidence that you know that the Lord Jesus has taken hold of you.
We have the privilege of taking a group of students over Spring Break to New York City to observe
several different urban ministries. Probably my favorite place that we attend is called The Bowery Avenue
D. It is a transitional home for men. It is in a terrible part of town and the work they are doing there is
incredible. All the students were supposed to sit down and eat lunch with the men during lunchtime. I was
floating around helping and ended up back in the kitchen. This great big, handsome black man named
Herb was in the back cooking and singing and he asked me if I wanted a hat or apron? I got a hat and an
apron and he started asking me about Vanderbilt kids. My initial reaction was, “This is so great. What is a
nice guy like Herb doing in a place like this? How neat of him! How precious of him to be here.” Finally he
quit asking me questions and I said, “Herb how did you end up here?” He said, “Well, I came through the
program.” I asked him if he was homeless, and he said he was worse than homeless; he was in prison. I
asked what he was in for, and he answered, “Manslaughter... and I did it. Are you scared?” The amazing
thing is that after I knew that, I was looking at him with completely different eyes—which I should never
have done. The men start coming through the lunch line. These were some hardened people. They have
lived rough lives. They are screaming at him and asking him for seconds and grabbing things and being
rude to him. I asked if he always had to put up with this? He looked at me and said; “Does the good Lord
Jesus always have to put up with me?” Well, shut my mouth. What a privilege to meet that guy. The Lord
had done such a work in his life. He was the kind of person that if we saw him at night on the street we
would run in fear. And he was serving these people like a tender shepherd because he knew The Tender
Shepherd. He understood. The action on the part of the sheep is just evidential. It is not earning anything.
But the lack of action on the part of the goats is just as evidential. It is just as evidential of what their life is
like. Look back at their condemnation: “He will say to these on the left ‘Depart from me, you who are
cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” Why are they cursed? “I was hungry
and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you
did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not
look after me” (Matt 25:42-43). These people are condemned. Why? Because they did something evil?
No, because they did nothing and that was evil. We don’t like thinking about the sins of omission aspect.
These people are not criticized for one thing they did. They are condemned and cursed and damned for
what they did not do. They did nothing and that actually is evil! Just an overflow of our hearts—again they
are not earning or not earning anything. It is just an overflow of their hearts. It is so interesting—if you
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look at the passage—both groups say the same thing when the Lord pronounces their sentence and lists
the evidence: “Lord, when? I don’t even remember that.” The sheep are saying, “What do you mean—
when did I do that?” It is such an overflow of their lives. They weren’t building a resume—it is who they
were. The goats are doing the same thing. They are coming before him calling him “Lord.” There is some
degree of recognition of the Lord and they say, “Lord, when did I ever see a hungry person or someone
who needed clothes?” Ignorance is obviously no excuse here. It is an overflow of our lives and what we
worship. You are what you worship. These things are the natural bubbling up in their lives of where their
hearts are already. Where there is a changed heart, there is a changed life. Have your lives changed
since you came to know the Lord? Or have your habits just changed? Has your schedule just changed?
Have your lives actually been changed? That is the kind of transformation we look for.
A man named Lewis Laws was the warden at Sing Sing prison for 20 years in the early part of last
century. It went from being one of the roughest most notorious prisons to basically a humanitarian haven
at the end of his twenty-year tenure. When he was asked to explain this he explained that all the credit
went to his wife Katherine. Listen to her story: “Katherine Laws was a mother with three small children
when her husband became the warden. Everyone warned her from the beginning that she should never
step foot inside the prison walls—but that did not stop Katherine. When the first prison basketball game
was held she went. Walking into the den with her three beautiful kids, she sat in the stands with the
inmates. Her attitude was ‘my husband and I are going to take care of these men and I believe they will
take care of me. I do not have to worry.’ She insisted on getting acquainted with them and their records.
She discovered that one convicted murderer was blind so she paid him a visit. Holding his hand in hers,
she asked him if he read Braille. ‘What is Braille,’ he asked? She taught him to read. Years later he would
weep in love for her. Later Katherine found a deaf, mute person in prison. She went to school to learn
how to use sign language. Many said that Katherine Laws was the body of Jesus that came alive again in
Sing Sing prison from 1921 to 1937.” Then she was killed in a car accident. “The next morning Lewis
Laws did not come to work so the acting interim warden took his place. It seemed almost instantly that the
prison knew something was wrong. The following day her body was resting in a casket in her home ¾ of
a mile from the prison. As the acting warden took his morning walk, he was shocked to see a large crowd
of the toughest, hardest-looking criminals gathered like a herd of animals at the main gate. He came
closer and noted tears of grief and sadness. He knew how much they had loved Katherine. He turned and
faced the men. ‘Alright men, you can go as long as you just check in tonight.’ He opened the gate, and
the parade of criminals walked without a guard 3/4 of a mile to stand in line to pay their final respects to
Katherine Laws. Everyone of them checked back in that night: every last one.”
That is a changed life. Has your life really been changed by the Gospel? Not by mercy ministry, not by a
call to mercy ministry, but by being the recipient of a mercy ministry? Do you evidence that in your life? It
is all just evidential.
DISPLAYED AS A WITNESS
But beyond that, it is confessional. Mercy is displayed for God as evidence. It is also displayed for God as
a witness. It is confessional as well. This is a call for simple compassion in this passage. It is not less than
that, but it is so much more, because mercy is never not loaded. It is never “just mercy.” The things that
the Lord gives us that are the most intimate are also the most loaded. You know that there is no such
thing as casual sex. Sex is sex, but it is so much more. Mercy is mercy, but it is so much more. It is so
powerful because it is the chosen instrument of God. When you think of someone telling you to be a
witness you probably think of a mandate or something being commanded. Witness is never something
commanded. It is something promised. It is promised as a privilege—it doesn’t say, “go out and be my
witnesses;” it says, “you are my witnesses.” That is the privilege of the Gospel. You actually are God’s
ambassadors. That promise is claimed, that privilege is grasped when we go out and mirror the Lord
Jesus and serve the way he would in his name. That is our great confession. Mercy melts hearts. It plows
them ready for the Gospel like nothing else. The incarnation was the Lord Jesus, so high above us,
becoming lowly, like one of us, to be with us and point us to the Father. We are to incarnate the Gospel.
We go to people. We don’t live in their situation. We go to their situation willingly, gladly, consciously, and
incarnate the Gospel there. Giving it hands and feet and a smile and a face and a hug—to point people to
the Lord Jesus.
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Used by permission
The story is told of a young pastor about ten or fifteen years ago in Southern California named Jim Baker
[Not the Jim Baker you’re thinking of]. He had just gone t