August 30, 2024
Mercy -- Part 5
2 Chronicles 28:16
08/30/2024
15 And the men who have been mentioned by name rose
and took the captives, and with the spoil they
clothed all who were naked among them. They
clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them
with food and drink, and anointed them, and
carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys,
they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho,
the city of palm trees. Then they returned to
Samaria. (ESV)
Two thousand seven hundred years ago, the prophet Oded and
the princes of the kingdom of Israel called for mercy to be shown
to the captives of a raid on the kingdom of Judah. Two hundred
thousand men, women, and children had been captured and taken to
Samaria to be enslaved.
The army who had brought the captives to Samaria listened to
the Word of God and the princes, repented, and entrusted the
captives to the men who called for mercy.
And the men who have been mentioned by name rose and
took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all
who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them
sandals, provided them with food and drink, and
anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them
on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at
Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to
Samaria.
God calls us to be merciful, to love our neighbors as
ourselves. This is impossible by our own reason and strength
because we are by nature sinful, we are by nature selfish, we are
by nature power-hungry. Yet God, in His mercy, has sent His
only-begotten Son to pay the price of our sin, to redeem us from
the powers of this world, and to give us everlasting life. As we
confess our sin, as we are showered with God's grace and love,
like Oded the prophet and the princes of Israel, we will desire
to reflect God's mercy in this world.
Where do we learn of God's mercy? He graciously has given
us the Church to proclaim His love, to bring us the forgiveness
of our sins, and to comfort us when we are distressed. Please
join us on Sunday morning at Trinity Lutheran Church as we gather
at 9:00 a.m. to receive God's rich gifts of grace and mercy. May
our Lord grant you peace. Amen.