EITHER Justice OR Mercy

As humans, I believe it is our natural inclination to take things for granted. I have several glaring examples in mind as I type this, the most recent involving a weeklong bout with Strep Throat. Let's face it: you just forget how wonderful it is to swallow without pain. The first time I can remember taking something for granted was when I was a freshman in High School. While playing soccer (of course!), I quite spectacularly broke both bones in my lower leg. Besides learning the value of actually wearing shin guards, this event taught me a tremendous amount about appreciating life, my body, and so many other small things. Things you don't think about until they are impossible to do: walking, wearing jeans, sitting with your legs crossed, sleeping on your side, taking a shower, scratching an itch, etc., etc., etc. Remarkably, something that happened some 14 years ago still serves to remind me not to take things for granted.
But, of course, I always find myself doing just that. Whether it is my family, my job, my health, my ruddy good looks, or countless other things, I never seem to appreciate all the good, and actually find myself expecting these things to be there always as though I somehow were owed them. The other day I was reading a book, The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul, and realized yet another thing that I take for granted: Mercy. By definition, mercy is "leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice." The 1897 Easton Bible Dictionary states the following:

Mercy is "compassion for the miserable. Its object is misery. By the atoning sacrifice of Christ, a way is open for the exercise of mercy towards the sons of men, in harmony with the demands of truth and righteousness (Gen. 19:19; Ex. 20:6; 34:6, 7; Ps. 85:10; 86:15, 16). In Christ, mercy and truth meet together. Mercy is also a Christian grace (Matt. 5:7; 18:33-35)."

Sproul states that it is human nature to take God's mercy for granted. After awhile, we even expect it. Just look at examples of when mankind received the opposite of mercy: justice. Since God is always just in his judgments, when anyone receives something other than justice, it has to be mercy. Justice is not mercy and mercy is not justice. They are not the same, and you cannot have both together. It is either/or, not both/and. You have either justice or mercy.
Sproul gives the Old Testament examples of Uzzah (cf. 1 Chron. 13:7-11) and the sons of Aaron (cf. Lev. 10) as cases where God's justice was showcased, instead of his mercy. If you remember, Uzzah was killed instantaneously for touching the Ark in an attempt to steady it on the ox cart, and the sons of Aaron were likewise killed for burning a "strange fire" on the altar. We are troubled by such cases because we believe that these people were somehow judged unjustly or too harshly. They didn't deserve the punishment they received.
Sproul further illustrates his point by giving the example (cf. p 111) of ten people, five of whom were shown mercy and five whom were shown justice. Is it wrong for God to show five mercy and five justice? Do all ten deserve mercy? Do any deserve mercy? How soon we forget (i.e. take for granted) that it is God's prerogative to show mercy on whomever he will show mercy. It's his call, and no one has any right to question his mercy. Again, if we were owed mercy, it would not be mercy.
Reading this made me realize just how much I had taken for granted regarding mercy and justice. I ashamedly admit that I expect grace. It is only on those relatively rare occasions when I receive the harvest of my own sowing, when I receive justice, that I truly appreciate mercy. God is a good God. He is full of mercy, compassion, and grace. He is love, so much so that we never fully understand it. But his mercy is not infinite. He is not obligated to show me mercy. With this in mind, my attitudes and actions will be much different. When I stop taking mercy and grace for granted, I am left feeling awe and reverence. I know that I am completely sinful and unworthy before the King of kings, the Holy Creator of the universe. I know that if I were to get what I deserved, it would only be death and punishment. The wages for my work on this earth are death. But thank God, his grace provides the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ, his Son.
I am left wondering: how different would my life be if I never took God's mercy for granted? How different would our churches be? How different would the world be?