In Matthew there is a story of a woman who threw herself on the mercy of God
Matthew 15:21-22
21 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”
Deut 4:31. For the Lord your God is a merciful God.
It is part of God’s innate nature.
Daniel 9:18. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.
The meaning of mercy.
The principal Hebrew word for mercy speaks of an emotional response to the needs of others. It means to feel the pain of another so deeply that we’re compelled to do something about it. In fact, people in Bible times believed that the seat of emotions was found in the intestinal area. That’s why the King James Version uses the phrase, “bowels of mercy.” William Barclay defines mercy this way: “To get inside someone’s skin until we can see things with his eyes, think things with his mind, and feel things with his feelings; to move in and act on behalf of those who are hurting.”
Mercy can be defined as: “good will toward the afflicted, joined with a desire to relieve them.”
This idea is captured in Matthew 14:14: “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” The word “compassion” means that Jesus was so moved that His stomach churned, or literally, “his bowels yearned” for the crowd. Notice that this churning led Him to do something about it. He saw the need and then He went into action. Mercy in theory is absolutely meaningless. Mercy must move us. In addition, the emphasis in this beatitude is on those who are inclined to show mercy as a lifestyle, not those who are merciful on an occasional basis.
I like Chuck Swindoll’s definition: “Mercy is God’s ministry to the miserable.”
1 Chr 21:13. 13 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
Neh 9:28. And many times you delivered them because of your wonderful mercy.
Ps 69:16. Hear me, O Lord, for Your loving kindness is good; Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
Luke 1:78. Through the tender mercy of our God.
Eph 2:4. But God who is rich with mercy.
1 Peter 1:3. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,
We are saved because God is merciful.
Titus 3:5 – 5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.[a]
Interestingly a lot of people who approached Jesus when He walked the earth pleaded with Jesus for mercy.
Mt 20:30. Blind Bartimaeus –
30 Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
31 “Be quiet!” the crowd yelled at them.
But they only shouted louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
32 When Jesus heard them, he stopped and called, “What do you want me to do for you?”
33 “Lord,” they said, “we want to see!” 34 Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Instantly they could see! Then they followed him.
Mt 17:15. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.
Mt 15:20. A gentile woman who lived there came to him pleading “Have mercy on me O Lord, son of David. For my daughter has a demon in her and is severely tormented.”
The Beatitudes
Matt 5:7
Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy
Consistent principle throughout the new testament
Forgiveness comes to those who forgive
Judgement comes to those who judge
Mercy is given to those who are merciful
Aramaic – Chesedh – means the ability to get right inside the other persons skin until we can see things with his eyes, think things with his mind and feel things with his feelings
Same sense as Christ’s mercy to us – as this is what he did for us
By showing this kind of mercy we are becoming Jesus to people.
So a reworking of the mercy Beatitude
Blessed is the man who has the ability to get right inside another’s persons skin and feel what they feel, think what they think, see what they see and then give that person mercy because in doing this they shall obtain mercy
The Lepers
Ten men cried out for God’s mercy – Luke 17:11-13.
These ten men were afflicted by leprosy, a disease that effectively rendered them to be “the walking dead.” The disease itself was horrible enough: it bleached the hair white, and caused a scaliness on the rest of the body, and caused sores and swellings. It caused the body to deteriorate from the outside in. In addition to the physical effects of leprosy, its’ victims were also social outcasts. The word leper literally means one who is stricken, which reflected the belief that the disease was a divine judgement. The lepers were to leave their outer garment torn as a sign of mourning, and to call out constantly “Unclean, unclean!” While they were allowed to live in open villages, they were never allowed to get too close to a clean person, nor even to greet them. Their life was a lonely, bitter exile from all human contact with their families or friends. These 10 men may have lived together in their misery, but somehow they heard that Jesus was passing by and they probably had heard that He could cure lepers. So when He enters the village they break the rules and go and meet with him
Luke 17:11-13
11 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. 12 As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, 13 crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”[b] And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.
15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” 16 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.[c]”
Ten men cried out for God’s mercy
Ten men benefited from God’s mercy
They cried out for mercy and they received it.
One man was transformed.
Once they got what they wanted from Jesus, they were finished with him.
It is not enough to need God’s mercy,
Not enough to benefit from God’s mercy,
We must be transformed by God’s mercy.
As we have come under the benefit of the mercy of God – we must be transformed into people of mercy.
The point is:- God is a God of mercy.
Are we benefiting from that mercy or are we transformed by the mercy of God?
Where we begin to be moved with compassion and mercy for those who are lost in the world.
We are the instruments of God’s mercy here on earth?
Creating a Community of Compassion:-
Chrysostom, an early church leader, stated that mercy imitates God and disappoints the devil. The message of the Bible is clear – if we say that we follow the Almighty, we must emulate Him.
Here are six ways that God wants us to be community of compassion.
1) Fall in love with mercy. Micah 6:8 makes clear that one of God’s requirements is that we are “to love mercy” and to lose ourselves in its exquisite beauty. The Hebrew word is used of a husband’s love for his wife and appears frequently in the Song of Solomon.
2) Demonstrate mercy. Zechariah 7:9: “…Show mercy and compassion to one another.”
3) Respond to mercy. Romans 12:1 states that because of God’s mercy, we are to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices.”
4)Put mercy on. Just as we get dressed each day, so too, Colossians 3:12 says that we are to “clothe ourselves with compassion.”
5) Ministry must flow from mercy. In 2 Corinthians 4:1, Paul links the mercy he has received to the ministry he has been given: “…since through God’s mercy we have this ministry.”??
6) Default to mercy. In a very strong passage, James 2:13 reminds us that we are to grant mercy to others instead of judgement: “. Mercy triumphs over judgement!”
I like Chuck Swindoll’s definition: “Mercy is God’s ministry to the miserable.
1 Chr 21:13. 13 And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
Ps 23 – Goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. I love the concept that a trail of goodness and mercy will follow us.
I hope this Sermon has been helpful to you.
Hope this sermon has been a blessing to you.
