I don’t know why it irritated me so much. I was at the bank to open a checking account, and the clerk who was helping me was talking awkwardly around the lozenge she had just popped into her mouth.
The real issue wasn’t the lozenge. It was her blasted inefficiency. We were almost to the bottom of the page in what felt like an eternal process when she realized she had used the wrong form.
We had to start over.
The bank clerk had just committed the unpardonable sin, at least in the eyes of a Westerner like me. She had wasted my most valuable commodity — my time.
We finally got the proper form filled out and I left, grumbling to myself about what lousy customer service I had received that day.
Because, at the end of the day, it’s all about how well others serve us, right?
Jesus said,
“…the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” –Matthew 20:28
Wait, what?
It doesn’t sound like Jesus was all about getting good customer service. Maybe that’s why he said this to me as I drove away from the bank that day:
Why don’t you just have mercy on her?
Busted. This incident happened nearly thirty years ago, and I remember it like it happened last week. The Holy Spirit has a way of gently thunking us over the head with lessons that are meant to last a lifetime.
Why don’t you just have mercy on her? On him?
It still applies to so many situations — for me, and I’m guessing, for you, too.
- The waitress who messes up your order.
- The phone rep with the funny accent you can’t understand.
- The team member who made the project late, and it’s costing everyone.
God is really big on mercy. He doesn’t tolerate it well when we refuse to extend it.
In Matthew 18:23-35, Jesus tells a parable about a servant who receives mercy from the king concerning his own debt, but then throws a fellow servant (who owes him a much smaller debt) into prison.
This makes the king, who represents God, very angry.
We do well to remember that we all blow it, on a regular basis. We need the mercy of others.
Like the time I came back from a trip to the grocery store and realized, to my horror, that I was twenty minutes late for a piano lesson I was supposed to teach.
I was so embarrassed and proud that I rushed into the lesson without apology. I felt too stupid.
When we measure people’s worth by how well they perform, yet anxiously hope others let us off the hook when we blow it, we’re being hypocrites.
We labor under the law instead of dancing in the freedom of grace.
In our culture, here’s where that leads:
Our American love affair with efficiency and performance blinds us to the very people God has called us to serve.
We get caught up in the petty details of how well we are treated or not, instead of noticing the person standing right in front of us.
What if we stopped holding people up against our petty little measuring stick? What if, instead, we truly saw them?
What if we were more like Jesus?
Jesus looked for opportunities to serve. He didn’t bother with complaints to the management.
Jesus is rich in mercy. I want to be more like him.
I’m so grateful he is saving me from my selfish self. You?
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What a great life lesson! As I was reading this post your upcoming Parenting Workshop was on my mind so this line jumped out at me as a parent, “Our American love affair with efficiency and performance blinds us to the very people God has called us to serve.”
I remember how hard it was with small children to sacrifice efficiency and performance and encourage my kids to help me with projects. It would be so much easier to get them out of my hair so I could get it done but parents serve their kids through relational teaching. I also loved your reminder that Jesus is RICH in mercy. As a parent I want to be rich in mercy. I’m looking forward to your Parenting Workshop!
So true about kids! And so important to have mercy on them, as Jesus does on us.