“Have mercy on me, O God.” With these words from Psalm 51, Reverend Dr. Charlie E. Dates, opened his sermon at Centennial Chapel, delivering a powerful message of grace, forgiveness, and the unshakable mercy of God.
The heart of Dates’ message was drawn from Psalm 51, in which King David, despite his successes, found himself in desperate need of mercy. Dr. Dates made it clear—merit and mercy cannot mix. “It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’ve gone to school, your social credibility, or your political influence—the day will come when you have to ask somebody for mercy.”
Illustrating this truth, he recounted the well-known story of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who once held great promise but found himself pleading for a presidential pardon. “If a president can clear someone’s name so they can resume life, how much more can God?” he asked. “On a higher, heavier, holier level, God is able to clean your name too.”
Drawing from real-life experiences, he reminded students that at some point in life, their cries of “Lord, have mercy” will shift from the trivial to the deeply personal. “One day, it won’t be about a car that won’t start or your favorite football team losing. It will be true. Life will have caught up with you.”
Through King David’s story, the message turned to the weight of sin and the temptation to cover it up. The moment when the prophet Nathan confronted David with his wrongdoing was a stark reminder that “sin always costs more than you want to pay.” But instead of running from God, David ran to Him. Dr. Dates urged students to do the same. “The best time to seek God is not when you feel like your life is clean—it’s when you are aware of your brokenness.”
“Even the vilest offender is still a candidate for mercy with a corresponding call to ministry,” Dr Dates continued. “God still had something good for David,” Dr. Dates declared, emphasizing that redemption leads to a transformed heart and a renewed mission to share God’s mercy with others.
He continued by highlighting that no one is beyond redemption. “There is grace for your guilt,” he said. “You are not the worst thing you’ve ever done. If you live long enough, you’ll realize that the only way you make it through life’s challenges is by holding onto God through every season.” Dates challenged the students to resist cancel culture—both in how they view themselves and how they view others. “We do not and should not cancel one another when we find ourselves in need of mercy,” he emphasized.
Instead, he encouraged them to embrace God’s transforming power, drawing from David’s plea: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” This was not a request for a mere moral makeover, but for complete transformation. “When God delivers you from trouble, that is not the time to look down on others—it is the time to look upon them with compassion,” he said.
The sermon ended with a powerful illustration from his personal life. He recounted a moment when he was driving back from a family event, keeping pace with another driver in a red Corvette. As they both sped down the highway, a police officer clocked them, and the moment of reckoning arrived. Expecting to be pulled over, he instead watched as the officer targeted the other driver first. “She got between me and the law,” he explained. “Friends, that’s what the cross of Calvary is. Our Jesus got between us and the law and took the heat that belonged to me and you.” This vivid image left students reflecting on the profound nature of Christ’s sacrifice—an undeserved act of mercy that clears the way for redemption.
With that, he left the students with a final word of encouragement: “So we thank Him. So we praise Him. So we live for Him. So we obey Him. And so we thank Him for His mercy.”
Charlie Dates serves as the pastor of both Progressive Baptist Church and Salem Baptist Church in Chicago, IL.
To view the full video of this message, click here.
