Happy Are The Merciful Series

The tallest Methodist church in the world stands in the loop of

Chicago. Skyscrapers of offices are around it, but stretching still

steeper into the sky is the slender steeple symbolic of man's aspiration

to reach God. Sometime ago bells were installed in this steeple in

order to peal out a Christian witness to those in the streets far below.

When the installation was complete, and the bells were rung, they

discovered that they could hardly be heard because they were so high.

The crowd thronged the canyon-like streets unimpressed because the

message of the bells went uselessly into the sky.

So much of what the church does goes uselessly into the sky because

it never reaches the man in the street. This is the very danger that

faces the Christian who hungers and thirsts after righteousness. He

can obey Scripture, and set his affections on things above, and aspire

to climb to perfection, but without the attitude of mercy which keeps

him relevantly and realistically related to his fellow man, he may

literally become so heavenly minded he is no earthly good. It is

possible to be so involved with your own righteousness that you

become narrow and harsh and holier than thou. Some of the old

Puritans got this way, and were such brutal perfectionists that in there

determination to be heavenly they made it hell on earth for those

around them. They lost all sense of tenderness, compassion, and

mercy for the sinner. This is the very thing Jesus does not want, and

He condemned the Pharisees for their cold and hard-hearted

righteousness.

In Matt. 23:23 Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Woe to you, Scribes

and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe mint and dill and cumin and

have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy and

faith." Jesus is not interested in bells ringing so high they cannot be

heard, and He is not interested in a righteousness that cares about all

kinds of details, but which neglects to meet the needs of the common

people. Jesus wants to make it clear what kind of righteousness it is

we are to hunger after, and that is what these next few beatitudes are

all about. A righteousness that is not merciful is not the righteousness

of Christ. A right relationship with God is always demonstrated by a

proper attitude toward man. If mercy does not characterize our

relation to others, there is reason to doubt that we are right with God.

John says we cannot love God whom we do not see if we do not love

men whom we do see. Mercy is love in action, and without it there is

no possibility of being happy in any true and lasting sense.

A merciful attitude has always been God's requirement for His

people. One of the outstanding Old Testament texts is Micah 6:8:

"He has showed you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord

require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly

with thy God." Jesus kept telling the Pharisees that God wants mercy

and not sacrifice. The New Testament letters are filled with

references to mercy. E. Griffith Jones wrote, "Mercy is the richest

fruit of the divine love. The Bible is full of it from the first page to the

last. It is ankle deep, as it were, in Genesis, knee deep in the prophets,

shoulder deep in the Psalms, and fathomless as midmost ocean in the

New Testament."

Paul says it was according to God's mercy that He saved us, and we

are urged in Heb. 4:16 to call upon God for more mercy constantly.

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we

may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." The poet

wrote,

O King of mercy from thy throne on high,

Look down in love and hear our humble cry.

Thou art the bread of heaven, On Thee we feed.

Be near to help our souls in time of need.

Thou art the mourner's stay, the sinner's friend,

Sweet fount of joy and blessings without end.

Our salvation, blessings, victories, and all that contributes to our

happiness comes from the mercy of God. Therefore, whatever opens

the door to God's abundant mercy is the key to happiness, and Jesus

says here that being merciful is that key. In other words, if we are not

merciful in our relationship to others, we choke off our own supply

line of mercy from God. The Bible is filled with texts that make this

clear. Prov. 21:13, "He who closes his ear to the cry of the poor will

himself cry out and not be heard." This says in effect, cursed are the

unmerciful for they shall be treated unmercifully.