I know that the moment I use the word, “rights,” I am confronting a lot of people with a subject that is very dear to their hearts. Many Christians believe that having human rights comes from being created in the image of God. That may well be true. Even acknowledging this, we would also need to acknowledge that sinning against our Creator altered what is rightfully ours. In sin, our true entitlement is hell. Our relief comes through the cross where God’s judgment has been placed on Jesus so that we may experience his pure and infinite mercy. The God who would be right to bring eternal judgment on all of humanity has extended a glorious bountiful mercy to his children through the cross of Christ.
In Matthew 18:21-35 the parable of the unforgiving servant gives us a good glimpse of this very thing. After a servant had accumulated an insurmountable debt to his master, the master took pity on him and forgave him the debt. This servant then finds a fellow servant who owes him a smaller debt that may be paid off over time. His fellow servant cannot immediately pay the debt he owes and so he is thrown into jail. The servant who was given mercy from the master “refused (to show mercy to his fellow servant) and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.” He did what he was legally allowed to do to his fellow servant who could not pay him what he was owed, but he was more concerned with his own rights than showing his fellow servant the same mercy (albeit to a much lesser extent) than he had received.
The parable of the unforgiving servant tells us something about God’s attitude toward our perceived rights. God favors mercy. It is very evident that God is more concerned with us seeking to forgive and showing mercy than to stand for that which we believe is rightfully ours. This certainly does not sit well with many of us, but we cannot help but see that this is also the very heart of God.
When Paul talks about Jesus’ humility in his work of salvation, he states, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8). We should not skip over the words “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” Jesus gave up that which was rightfully his in order to save us from what was rightfully ours – eternal judgment. The very act of God’s mercy is displayed in him giving up his rightful place in order than we might know his forgiveness through the cross. God’s glory is displayed through his selfless love for those who sinned against him.
If we are to be like our Heavenly Father, our nature must be less about holding on to our rights and more about selflessly giving mercy and grace to those who would sin against us. To the unforgiving servant, the violation of his rights trumped mercy. Is that our story? In Christ it should never be. In Christ, mercy trumps rights. In Christ, mercy is our very character and mercy is what others should see most.