Weighty Matters

In life there are matters that carry weight and thus deserve priority.  Jesus said that justice, mercy and faith are weightier matters that deserve prominence in our quest to do His will. He cautioned religious leaders from substituting justice, mercy and faith for works which though important may not reflect an equally aligned inner spiritual disposition. He was saying there’s need of congruence between our outward actions and our inner spiritual disposition.  He said,

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. (Matthew 23:23)

          Justice, mercy and faith are weighty matters because they cannot be done casually or routinely. To reflect justice, mercy and faith requires our emotional entanglement, a crisis on our personal opinion and what is Gods will for us in relation to others. If the church as His body lacks justice, mercy and faith then its an empty shell filled with only rituals and  showmanship but little depth of character. It’s a faceless church, a false religion that lacks God’s power because it defies the very principles upon which it’s established.

      

          In such a church the fear of God is foreign, there may be many solemn assemblies, great enthusiastic songs, with melodious instruments and emotional outbursts, yet the meetings are hollow. Though everything is beautifully set, the position of the Chief Guest remains conspicuously vacant because He is uninvited or even locked outside. It is virtually impossible to practice justice, mercy and faith if we do not honor the God of justice, mercy and faith. Its interesting that the Hebrew word for honor has the connotation of weight or literally taken 'to be heavy,' reflecting the concept of weight that Jesus raises in Matthew 23:23 to the pharisees and the scribes. 

 

         In other words justice, mercy and faith are heavy matters that really test how much weight the fear or honor of God carries in our lives. The deficiency of these three breeds deception in the pulpit and indifference in the pews. It introduces a different and confusing standard that is foreign to God’s word as Jeremiah outlines,  To crush under one's feet All the prisoners of the earth, To turn aside the justice due a man Before the face of the Most High, Or subvert a man in his cause -- The Lord does not approve. (Lam 3:34-36)