Stay Merciful
Jude had a passion for holiness. As we heard yesterday, he said “stay faithful”, but he didn't want this passion for holiness to give the people of God a holier-than-thou attitude. He didn't want it to make them feel superior.
He says this wonderful thing in Jude 1:22–23: “Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others, show mercy mixed with fear, hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”
Mercy Over Judgment
So yes, we hate sin. We stand for goodness and truth. We pursue a life of God-honouring holiness. But when precious people in our lives doubt or stray, we don't just cut them off. We show them mercy.
Now those apostates that Jude spoke of didn't treat people this way. In fact, he said of them in verse 12, "These people are blemishes at your love feast. They eat with you without the slightest qualm. They're shepherds who feed only themselves." Jude says they don't care for people, they don't reach out, they don't love anyone. They just look out for themselves.
Show Christ’s Love
But people of God who are humble and faithful are merciful too. They see a fellow person doubting, especially in our age of scepticism, or they see someone they know living a godless life, and they offer them mercy and love.
They may disagree with their lifestyle, they may hate the sin, but they don't hate the sinner. They give grace, they show love.
They try, as Jude says, to snatch such people from the fire by embodying the love of Christ to them. And they do it because they never forgot the mercy God showed them. I love this quote from Thomas Watson: "Every time you draw your breath, you suck in mercy."
Live With Mercy
Now maybe Jude learned this from Jesus. Remember Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy" (Matthew 5:7). Maybe that was ringing in Jude's ears as he wrote these words.
Maybe he learned it from his brother James, who said in his letter, "Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13).
Or maybe these three men—Jesus, James, and Jude—learned this from their own father Joseph, who could have been unmerciful towards Mary when she fell pregnant, but who showed her incredible mercy and love when she needed it the most.
So hear the words of Jude today, friends. Don't feed only on yourself. Don't only look after your own interests. Look for opportunities to reach out to others with the same mercy God showed you.
Be humble, be faithful, but don't be cruel and unforgiving. Be merciful and love others into the Kingdom of God like Jesus and Jude did.
