Our Need for Mercy

Let's face it: Some of us have done some pretty impressive things in the Lord's name.
   
One person reads the Bible for an hour a day. Another memorizes chapter after chapter of God's Word. Still another performs works of service that bring the comforts of food, clothing and shelter to people who need them.
   

"What other people think of me is becoming less and less important," he said. "What they think of Jesus because of me is critical."

But no matter what we do, nothing we accomplish is enough to relieve us from this one ambiguous law of the universe: All of us are sinners who need God's grace.
   
Take it from Karl Barth, a renowned European theologian who did more before he was 20 than most of us will accomplish in three times that many years:
   
"When once the day comes when I have to appear before my Lord, then I will not come with my deeds, with the volumes of my [Dogmatics] on my back. All the angels there would have to laugh. But then I shall also not say, 'I have meant well; I had good faith. No, then I will only say one thing; 'Lord, be merciful to me, a poor sinner!'"
   
John of Carpathos lived centuries before Barth wrote his classic works, but he understood our need for ongoing appeals to God's mercy as we make our pilgrimage through life:
   
"When you follow the Lord with burning love, it may happen that on the road of life you strike your foot against the stone of some passion and fall unexpectedly into sin; or else, finding yourself in a muddy place, you may slip involuntarily and fall headlong. Each time you fall and in this way injure your body, you should get up again with the same eagerness as before, and continue to follow after your Lord until you reach him."
   
Reading the wise words of saints like these, it quickly becomes clear that, no matter how many impressive-sounding things we all do, nothing is as impressive as God's surpassing love for us.
   
Cliff Richard, the British musician who has enjoyed more than his share of earthly accolades, has learned over time that his own accomplishments don't matter all that much.
   
"What other people think of me is becoming less and less important," he said. "What they think of Jesus because of me is critical."