Thinking in 3’s - Jude 22,23 - Have Mercy

Thinking in 3’s - Jude 22,23 - Have Mercy

Typically, when we hear the phrase “Have mercy,” it sounds like the petition of a poor believer to God for help and relief. That is an appropriate prayer. But that is not what we have here. Here at the end of this letter letter called Jude, we are twice told in a list of three that we ourselves are to “have (show) mercy” toward others.

Jude ²² And have mercy on those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

We do not live in a merciful time. We live in a time of accusation and condemnation. The rules are changing almost daily about what one is allowed to say and not to say. People are becoming supposed experts at defining the motives of others, though they could not possibly know for sure.

And yet the Bible says what it says. Christians are to be different from the world. And one of the ways that we are to be different is to show mercy.

“Have mercy on those who doubt.” We might wonder why people can’t be more settled in their faith. Why can’t they just take God at His Word? We can go on and ascribe spiritual weakness and immaturity to such people. Well, perhaps they are weak and immature. And that is exactly the kind of people to whom God instructs us to have mercy. That is how family works. That is how the church family works. We are not to be a community of condemnation. Sure, we want to help weak Christians grow stronger and become more mature. But we do not do it by scolding and condemning. Rather, we feed, we build, we encourage - and we show patience. We have mercy. 

The second phrase says that we are to “save others by snatching them out of the fire.” We do not ordinarily think of ourselves as saviors, since Jesus is the only Savior. So I would take this reference to be to seek to extract a person from an immediate peril, probably a moral peril, into which they have fallen, or over which they are teetering. Pull them out of the pit, or drag them back from the edge. You have not saved their soul. But you may have assisted in giving them an opportunity to get things straightened out in their lives. Sometimes people don’t need a slap in the back of the head. They just need some time, one more opportunity to do the right thing rather than the wrong thing.

And then, thirdly, we come back to mercy. “Show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” This seems to have two parts to it. First, don’t isolate yourself from the “stained” person. That would be easy to do. Just keep separating yourself from sin, and from obvious sinners. But that is not what God says to do. To show mercy means to get involved with people who have sin-problems. But with regard to the second point, do so with fear. I believe this entails fear for your own self, for your own purity, that you not get caught in the temptation which dragged down the person you are trying to help. Galatians 6:1 seems to make this same point: 

Gal. 6:1   Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.