Blessed are the Merciful...
If you don’t look out for yourself, nobody will.
I’m looking out for #1!
Roman philosophers saw mercy as a disease of the soul, a supreme sign of weakness. There is no reason to show mercy to others. After all, what’s the quickest way to being taken advantage of? Show mercy.
What, then, is mercy?
Mercy is compassionate treatment of others, especially those over whom you have power.
Mercy isn’t just feeling sorry for someone. It requires action. It isn’t aloof, sitting "above" others, saying, "Because I’m so great, I suppose I’ll condescend to help them." It’s not just false pity that helps someone just to make me look good. Mercy is compassionately meeting people’s needs.
We show mercy:
- mostly through physical acts: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick/imprisoned, give practical help needed.
- in our attitudes: no grudges, resentment, capitalizing on another’s failure/weakness, or publicizing others’ sins.
- spiritually: grieving for lost souls and through confrontation of their sin.
- through prayer for the lost/for Christians walking in disobedience
- proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Mercy comes from God. It isn’t one of our natural attributes.
Our nature tells us to grab as much as we can and do, but mercy asks us to do the opposite. To many in Jesus’ audience, mercy was considered to be the least of the virtues… if it was considered a virtue at all, and they would have only shown mercy to those who had previously shown them mercy. My brother always expected that response from me: when we fought, by virtue of his larger stature and chronology (he’s older and bigger than me), he would pin me to the ground. Then he’d demand from me: if I let you up, will you promise to leave me alone?
The premise there was: I’ll show you mercy if you promise to show me mercy in response.
Mercy does come naturally for God. In fact, it is part of who God is! God’s character can be understood through the Hebrew concept of hesed, which is best understood as mercy, lovingkindness, or steadfast love.
If you want to know about hesed, here’s something to consider. At the end of Exodus 33, Moses asked to see God’s glory. And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
In the next chapter, we read on that "Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin."
If you keep reading, you’ll find this same description: compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
- Numbers 14:18
- Nehemiah 9:17
- Psalm 86:15
- Psalm 103:8
- Psalm 145:8
- Joel 2:13
- Jonah 4:3
- Nahum 1:3
Jeremiah 9:24 says, "I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.
God doesn’t just show mercy; God is mercy. This is why God is the source of true mercy. How do we become merciful? By receiving it as a gift from God. How do we receive this gift? It only comes in the line of the beatitudes. First, being poor in spirit, in humility, you recognize your desperate need for God. Next you mourn your sin and the sinfulness of the world and you repent: turn from that sin. Then, in meekness, you surrender yourself to obedience to God’s will. Then you put your desire fully in God. Mercy flows out of this.
God’s forgiveness flows from mercy, and mercy flows from love.
Mercy deals with pain, misery, and distress – the consequences of sin.
Mercy deals with the symptoms of sin; grace deals with the sin itself.
Mercy offers relief from punishment, while grace offers pardon for the crime.
Mercy eliminates the pain; grace cures the disease.
Mercy says, "No Hell" while grace says, "Heaven."
Here’s the difficulty: Someone always pays for mercy. In this, mercy is related to justice. There’s a such thing as false mercy: pitying someone, but overlooking their sin. That’s not real mercy. You might find that statement offensive, because didn’t Jesus overlook our sin?
But Jesus paid for it, offering either punishment or pardon for our sins. If sin isn’t dealt with, it is left to fester. God’s mercy only comes with repentance, and is only found in Jesus Christ’s atoning blood. The Good News isn’t that God shook his head and said "Boys will be boys" or "humans will be humans." The Good News isn’t that God glossed over our sin and just pretended it didn’t happen. The Good News isn’t that God compromised His holiness: a holiness that will not stand sin. The Good News is that Jesus’ blood is the payment for sin.
Someone always pays for mercy.
You’re blessed if you are merciful, because if you are, then God will be merciful to you.
In Matthew 18, Peter asks Jesus how many times he’s supposed to forgive someone who sins against him. Jesus, in essence, tells Peter to keep on forgiving. To illustrate, he told a parable.
23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
Did you notice the last line Jesus said? "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
God showed us great mercy, and our response is to show mercy to others, and the goal of showing mercy to others is to receive mercy from God.
Ancient Rabbi Gamaliel is quoted in the Talmud as saying, "Whenever you have mercy, God will have mercy on you, and when you don’t have mercy, neither will God have mercy on you."
Hosea 6: 6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
Micah 6: 8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
This is what God requires of his people. And God rewards us by showing mercy to us – saving us through Christ. Saving us from the power and punishment of our sins.
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