“The Son of God appeared for this purpose: To destroy the works of the Devil.” 1 John 3:8

1. Mercy
Against
Sacrifice

2. “The Son of God
appeared for this
purpose: To
destroy the works
of the Devil.”
1 John 3:8

3. "It came to me. My own. My love. My own. My
precious."
"Lost! Lost! My Precious is lost!!"

4. #1 Sacrifice is about chasing after
impossible Treasure (and destroying
those you believe have ‘stolen’ it)

6. “I must have this!”
“If only I can get
this…”
“Who stole it?”

7. “What causes fights and quarrels
among you? Don’t they come from
your desires that battle within you?
You want something but don’t get
it. You kill and covet, but you cannot
have what you want. You quarrel and
fight.”
James 4: 1-2

11. #2 Sacrifice is about sustaining and
‘feeding’ a violent system

15. “Somebody has to pay…”

19. Are we living in the
mode of sacrifice?
• Is there some ‘treasure’ we’re always striving
towards? Do we feel ENTITLED to something
without which we feel life is ‘cheating’ us?
• Are we sacrificing ourselves, our families, our
values, etc. for the sake of the ‘system’?
• Is there someone we’re always blaming and in
so doing victimizing?

20. “In a nuclear age,
the true enemy is war itself”

21. Is there an alternative to this?

22. “For I desire mercy, not
sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of
God rather than burnt
offerings.”
Hosea 6:6

23. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love
your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But
I tell you, love your enemies and pray
for those who persecute you, that you
may be children of your Father in
heaven…If you love those who love you,
what reward will you get? Are not even
the tax collectors doing that? Do not
even pagans do that?
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly
Father is perfect.” ~ Matthew 5:43-48

24. "Throw us in jail and we shall still love you.
Bomb our homes and threaten our
children, and we shall still love you. Send
your hooded perpetrators of violence into
our community at the midnight hour and
beat us and leave us half dead, and we
shall still love you.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

25. To love your enemy is to employ
mercy in the service of reversing
the system of sacrifice…

26. “The Son of God
appeared for this
purpose: To
destroy the works
of the Devil.”
1 John 3:8

27. “Sacrifice is the game the powers of
this world were playing with Jesus, and
apparently winning, according to the
old rules. God’s victory consisted in
breaking the hold of the game itself,
capturing captivity itself and fatally
deceiving the diabolical system.”
S Mark Heim

29. Love Your Enemy
• Giving and receiving kingdom-love as
fulfilment in life (no more ‘chasing’ after
fantasy-treasure, no more demanding
‘payback’)
• Stop the sacrifices and targeting (nobody
should be ‘fed’ to the system anymore!)
• Stop the shaming and victimizing (reverse
the violent cycle)

30. “Sacrifice and offering you did
not desire—
but my ears you have opened—
burnt offerings and sin
offerings you did not require.
Then I said, “Here I am, I have
come—
it is written about me in the scroll.
I desire to do your will, my God;
your law is within my heart.”
Psalms 40:6-8