4/2/2025: Midweek Lent 4

LORD, HAVE MERCY

It is one of the most common prayers of God’s child. “Lord, have mercy!” Mercy is the withholding of punishment or negative consequences that a guilty person deserves. Thus, when we pray, “Lord, have mercy,” 1) we are acknowledging that we have lived in ways deserving of God’s condemnation and punishment, and 2) we are begging God to not condemn or punish us. How important is that prayer? If you cannot say it with sincerity, you cannot be saved. For if you cannot speak that prayer, you cannot possibly believe you need a Savior. Therefore, God gave us his law, in part, so that we would see our need for mercy. St. Paul writes, “I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law” (Romans 7:7). And God gave us the gospel that we might know he has shown us mercy.

Thus, it is good and right that in this solemn season of Lent, we would review God’s law as revealed in the Ten Commandments and connect it with Christ’s passion. We will how we have shattered all the Commandments and are deserving of punishment. However, will we also see how Jesus took the suffering we deserved upon himself. Seeing both, may the Spirit empower us to pray, “Lord, have mercy!” and confidently believe that in Christ, we have God’s mercy in inexhaustible abundance.

FOR FAILING TO LIVE WITH INTEGRITY

We use the word “integrity” to refer to something being in good condition. So, we talk about the structural integrity of a building or of a ship’s hull. We mean those things are “sound” and “whole.” We use “integrity” in reference to people too. Generally, if we speak of someone having integrity, we mean that there’s a wholeness to their character. Their morals are sound. If someone lives with integrity, it is not simply that they talk and behave decently. We would say the reason their behavior is proper is because their values and desires are proper.

The first six Commandments deal with our relationships with others: God and our fellow man. The final four Commandments get at the question of personal integrity. When someone steals, lies, or covets, it is a clear indication that their values and desires are highly improper. Such a person lacks honesty, empathy, and contentment. They say and do bad things because they are bad, not “sound and whole.” It is harsh, yet unfailingly true. Thus, when we break one of these Commandments, it is pointless to make excuses. Let us simply cry out, “Lord, have mercy, for failing to live with integrity!” And let us trust the Christ, who died so that we might be made “sound and whole.”

Our worship follows this pattern.

Midweek 1 ...............................For Our Incessant Idolatry

Midweek 2 ...............................For Demonstrating Irreverence and Despising Your Rest

Midweek 3 ...............................For Treating Others Like Trash, Not Treasure

Midweek 4 ...............................For Failing to Live With Integrity

Midweek 5 ...............................For Abusing Your Commandments

Pastor Adam Mueller preaches on Proverbs 6:12–19

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