“Mercy For The Merciful”
Matthew 5:7
It is certainly apparent in our world today that one does not have to go very far to encounter a lack of mercy. Sadly some do not even have to leave home to find an unmerciful spirit. Our world is not so very different from the world in which our Lord spoke the Beatitudes.
In the Roman world in which Jesus spoke these words, mercy was despised and something to be ashamed of, if you expected to be a success. Mercy was considered a weakness. Listen as the Apostle Paul lists the characteristics of a thoroughly degenerate society he wrote, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; (29) being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, (30) backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, (31) undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful.” (Romans 1:28-31) The last characteristic that he names in such a society is one filled with people who lack mercy. Today we live in a fallen world among men and women, who are by nature selfish and evil. We live in a time and place where meekness is called weakness and kindness is called foolishness, it should come as little surprise that mercy is still not celebrated.
It is into such a world that Jesus speaks when he says, “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.” In yet another paradoxical statement Jesus promises it is the person who lives and walks in mercy that will be “blessed.” The word “blessed” means much more than happy. It is the idea of hearing the applause of Heaven or of being approved by God.
The idea of mercy is still a very misunderstood idea even in our "modern age." The question for us today is; "How can a person practice mercy in our post-modern society."
As we turn to the fifth blessing, we'll notice a subtle shift in focus. Just as the first tablet of the Ten Commandments concentrated on our relationship with God and the second on our relationship with people, so it is with the Beatitudes. In the second half of the beatitudes (the last four) we seem to turn from dealing with our attitude and relationship to God to dealing with our attitude and relationship with our fellow human beings.
Note with me three things about mercy!
First, The Meaning Of Mercy
So if we are to find the approval of God in being merciful the first thing that we need to do is to under-stand the meaning of mercy. We use the term “forgive-ness” almost interchangeable with the term “mercy.” But there is a slight difference, mercy is the source of forgiveness, and forgiveness is the expression of mercy.
We often think of mercy in terms of sympathy, kindness, or compassion. But mercy is more than just feeling compassion for someone in need. Mercy only exists when we do something to help. Jesus made this abundantly clear when He told “The Parable of the Good Samaritan.” As he told the story several men passed by the man who had been set upon by robbers and left beside the road, until the most unlikely Samaritan came by and actually help the poor man. Jesus then asked, “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” (37)
And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37)
So we are not to feel that we are merciful just because we feel compassion to someone who is in distress. Mercy is not mere sympathy, it is the deliberate act of feeling someone else’s need and seeking to relieve it.
• Extended From God To Man.
But we are not asked to be merciful out of the blue. What Jesus actually was saying was that we are to show mercy because we realize that have received mercy at the hands of God. In Ephesians 2:4 we learn that God has saved us “being rich in mercy.” It is God’s mercy not our worthiness that allows God to reach down in the middle of our sin and save us. The merciful person is the one who remembers their own sin, and how God forgave them, and understands the weakness of others and forgives them.
• Extended From Man To Man.
There can be no doubt that we are given plenty of opportunities to extend mercy to those around us.
It has been said that into every life some nuts must fall. Everyone has to deal with people who are just down-right peculiar. There are those whose elevator does not make it to the top floor, whose who do not seem to have both oars in the water, or just a few bricks shy of a load.
But being merciful means dealing with those who really tax your patience. Perhaps the best way to understand mercy is to see it in action!
Second, The Models of Mercy
As we examine the biblical models of mercy what we note is how mercy works itself out - somebody hurts us unjustly and we must respond to this hurt. Mercy does not come into play unto we have the power to hurt them back. We then have a choice and it is at this point love enters the picture, but because of what God has done in our heart we choose to extend mercy.
• Abraham Was Merciful To Lot
The first example that I want to use is Abraham’s courageous rescue of his nephew Lot (Gen 14). Lot had decided to move into the city of Sodom. It should go without saying that since Sodom was a wicked city, that Lot had no business being in Sodom in the first place. But the city was attacked by enemy kings and Lot and his family was taken captive and all their possessions were confiscated. Abraham could have said, “You got yourself into this buddy and you can get yourself out.” But Abraham chose mercy. He gathered his servants and went after and secured the freedom of Lot and his family.
• Joseph Was Merciful To His Brothers
How would you have responded if your brothers had treated you as badly as Joseph’s treated him and then suddenly you had the power to repay them? Joseph chose mercy. It was mercy that Joseph showed after being so badly treated by his brothers that caused him to accept them and meet their needs. When years later Joseph literally had his brother’s at his mercy as they appealed to him for grain – he demonstrated exactly that – mercy.
• David Was Merciful To Saul
David had been anointed as the next king of Israel. The problem was the current king Saul would not just step aside gracefully. In fact he made it the mission of what remained of his life to kill David. On two occasions the power was given into David’s hands to kill Saul (1 Samuel 24, 26). But it was mercy that motivated David to spare the life of Saul, not once but twice.
• Moses Was Merciful To Miriam
It was mercy that Moses showed, after his own sister, Miriam had not only questioned his leadership but rebelled against him. It was mercy that caused him to plea for her healing from the leprosy that the Lord had given her (Numbers 12:13).
• Jesus Was The Most Merciful Of All
Jesus came to offer forgiveness to men for their sins, and instead of gratitude he found hostility and hatred. The hostility of his enemies only increased as his ministry moved forward, in fact the closer He got to Calvary the more His enemies opposed Him. Yet to the very end His mercy only increased to match the intensity of His enemies’ hatred. He even extended mercy to those who drove the spikes through His wrist and feet.
Third, The Motivation For Mercy
So what is the Lord promising when He says, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy?" Perhaps no other Beatitude is misunderstood as frequently as this one. Let’s look at two misconceptions and then two truths about extending mercy.
• Misconceptions
Acts Of Mercy Do Not Earn God’s Mercy
Perhaps predictably some have misunderstood this verse to teach that one can merit God’s mercy by performing acts of mercy. Because the verse says,
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" some think it teaches that forgiving is a condition of being forgiven. In this verse the “they” is emphatic meaning, “they and they only will obtain mercy.”
In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus seems to express the same idea, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. (15) But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” But does it mean only those who forgive will be forgiven?
If you and I are to be judged strictly on those terms none of us would be forgiven and none of us would ever see Heaven. What I do believe Jesus is saying is that forgiveness or mercy is not a condition of being forgiven but an evidence of it. But the end result is just as serious, if I am not forgiving or merciful to others there seems to be only one explanation, “I have never really understood and accepted the mercy of God in my life – therefore I am yet in my sins and I am unforgiven.”
John Stott puts it this way, it is “…not because we can merit mercy by mercy or forgiveness by forgiveness, but because we cannot receive the mercy and forgiveness of God unless we repent, and we cannot claim to have repented of our sins if we are unmerciful towards the sins of others.” [John Stott. “Essential Living: The Sermon on the Mount.” Leicester, England: IVP, 1988) p. 47]
Mercy Shown Is Not Always Reciprocated.
Some have also drawn the conclusion that this is some kind of promise of an earthly reward for the merciful. The shocking truth is that we can be merciful to others and they may or may not be merciful to us in return. Jesus is not trying to get us to be merciful so that they will be merciful to you – He is saying you are to merciful to others regardless of the outcome.
The ultimate example of this truth of course is Jesus Himself, if mercy carried its own reward, they would have never have cursed Him, spit upon Him and nailed Him to a cross. From the people He extended mercy to He received none at all. In His dying moments He prayed for God to forgive His executioners. He died anyway!
Mercy is not just a human virtue predicated upon the expectation that mercy given will lead to mercy received. Although showing mercy does not always produce mercy, mercy does result in the approval of God!
• Two Truths.
You Can Only Extend Mercy After You Have Received It.
The starting point must be, that we first exper-ience the mercy of God ourselves. You cannot offer to anyone something you have not received.
Failure To Extend Mercy Leads To Misery.
In Proverbs 11:17 it says "The merciful man does himself good, but the cruel man does himself harm." Do you want to be really miserable? Then just be without mercy! Do you what to be really happy? Be merciful! An example of this truth can be seen in the story of “The Unmerciful Servant”(Matthew 18:33-35. The unmerci-ful servant put himself and his family in prison because he could not forgive a friend. The most miserable prison in the world is the prison of our own making, when we refuse to show mercy. Such people find themselves; tortured by anger, choked by bitterness, and consumed by revenge. Such is the punishment for one who tastes of God's grace but refuses to share it!
We find an example in the story, “The news-papers pointed out when Lavrenti Beria, former chief of the Russian secret police, was arrested and "liquid-ated," that this man was the victim of his own methods. Locked in the prison where he had locked others, subjected to treatment that he had taught his secret police, tried in the sort of trial he had helped to engineer, he was mocked by his own cruelty. It would seem ironical if, in his cell, he had looked in a Bible and chanced to see the words, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
Conclusion
There are three responses that we hear when we talk to others of the need to show mercy or extend forgiveness.
1. I can’t
He did not tell the disciples that they could pray, “Lord, forgive me my trespasses and I will try to forgive those who have wronged me.” Sometimes we excuse our lack of forgiveness on the grounds that the one who has wronged us does not deserve our forgive-ness. But the truth is; No one ever wrong you as you have wronged God. In Matthew 18:23-35, Jesus told the parable of Unforgiving Servant to illustrate this point.
When God’s grace comes into our heart it makes us forgiving. We demonstrate whether we have been forgiven by whether or not we will forgive. The bottom line is, if you refuse to forgive, there can be only one reason, that is that I have never received the grace of Christ. I am unforgiven.
2. I won’t
When John Wesley served as a missionary to the American colonies, he had a difficult time with General James Oglethorpe. The general was known for his pride and harshness. One time Oglethorpe declared, “I never forgive.” Wesley replied, “Then, Sir, I hope you never sin.” [R. Kent Hughes. Abba Father: The Lord’s Pattern for Prayer. (Wheaton IL: Crossway Books, 1991) p. 79]
Ray Stedman tells the story of one man’s explan-ation for his lack of forgiveness. He said, “A man once said to me, ‘I know I’m a Christian, but someone once did an awful thing to me – something I just can’t forget or forgive.’ I replied, ‘Are you sure you can’t forgive him?’ He maintained that he had really tried to forgive this man, but was unable to do so. As we continued talking, I said, ‘I know, I have found that we often use the word can’t what we really mean is won’t. Isn’t possible that what you are saying is not, “I can’t forgive him,’ but ‘I won’t forgive him?’ If it is really true that you cannot forgive this man, then it indicates that you yourself have never been forgiven and you are only kidding yourself about being a Christian.’ This shook him a bit. He thought it through and then, with a rather sheepish grin, he said, ‘I guess you’re right. I guess I won’t.’ It wasn’t long before he came to me and reported with joy that he had finally forgiven the man who had injured him.” [Ray Stedman. Talking With My Father. ( Grand Rapids; Discovery House, 1997) p. 73]
3. I am willing
Corrie Ten Boom shares about her experience in extending forgiveness in her book, “The Hiding Place.” She tells of a post WWII meeting of a guard from the Ravensbrook Concentration Camp where she and her sister has suffered many atrocities at the hands of German SS soldiers and where her sister had died. She wrote, “It was a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravens-bruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there- the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, the pain on my sister’s face.
He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing, “How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein,’ he said, ‘To think that, as you say, He has was washed my sins away!”
His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people…of the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.’
Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.
I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.
As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost over-whelmed me. And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.” [Corrie Ten Boom, with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. “The Hiding Place.” (Washington Depot, Conn; Chosen Books, 1971) p. 215]
The famous Scottish preacher of the 1800’s, Alexander MaClaren, finished his exposition of this verse by challenging his congregation to “move among men as copies of God.”
“Mercy For The Merciful”
Matthew 5:7
First, The __________________ Of Mercy
• Extended From _____________ To Man (Eph. 2:4)
• Extended From _____________ To Man
Second, The _________________ of Mercy
The best way to understand mercy is to see it in action!
• _______________ Was Merciful To Lot (Gen 14).
• _______________ Was Merciful To His Brothers
• _______________ Was Merciful To Saul
• _______________ Was Merciful To Miriam (Numbers 12:13).
• _______________ Was The Most Merciful Of All
Third, The ______________________________ For Mercy
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
• Misconceptions
Acts Of Mercy Do Not ______ God’s Mercy
(Matt.6:14-15).
Mercy Shown Is Not Always __________________________.
• Two Truths.
You Can Only Extend Mercy After You Have ___________ It.
Failure To Extend Mercy Leads To ________. (Prov. 11:17)
Conclusion
Three responses that we hear when we talk to others of the need to show mercy or extend forgiveness.
1. I ______________
2. I ______________
3. I am ______________________
