BEATITUDES SERIES:
A CULTURE OF MERCY
MATTHEW 5:7
#Beatitudes
READ MATTHEW 5:7
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
MERCY STORY 1 (p)
Mercy is like two farmers who had two fields next to each other. Each farmer came out on the same morning to prepare their fields and to plant seed. They looked at each other and went about their work. Farmer Smith went about his work and planted seed the way he knew how which was how his father had taught him. Farmer Jones was planting seed and noticed what was happening in the other field and laughed and carried on. He shouted and made fun of his neighbor because of poor farming technique and how nothing would grow. By the end of the day, both farmers had planted their fields.
That night there was a furious storm with mighty wind and much rain. The next morning both farmers went out to inspect their fields. Farmer Jones, who had jeered his neighbor and loudly bullied Farmer Smith, found that in the storm all his seed had been blown away or washed away. He basically had an empty field. He also had used up all his seed so he had nothing. Farmer Smith went to inspect his field and found everything was fine. In fact, he even had extra seed in the barn which had survived the storm.
The two farmers met at the fence between their fields and compared notes. Farmer Jones was downcast. He feared for the future. Farmer Smith, who had extra seed, went to his barn, got seed, and hefted the bags over the fence to his neighbor.
READ MATTHEW 5:7
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
OTHER SCRIPTURES
Matthew 5:7 in what we call the Beatitudes which is part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is not the only passage in the Bible about mercy. The Bible is full of passages that speak about the mercy of God and teach about mercy. There are stories about mercy. Jesus tells several parables about mercy. Jesus’ death on the cross is perhaps our ultimate example of mercy as we think about mercy, what it means, and what it means for us.
There are other passages that talk about mercy:
Psalm 25:6–7 (NIV)
“Remember, LORD, Your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to Your love remember me, for You, LORD, are good.”
Micah 6:8 (NIV)
“He has shown you, O mortal, 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.”
Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
James 2:13b (NIV)
“Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
1 Peter 1:3 (NIV)
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”
MERCY IS
Mercy is a bridge that God built so that He could relate to you and me and interact with us.
Mercy is from love, compassion, and is a cousin of grace.
Mercy is choosing a different path when we have the power to hurt someone back.
Mercy is not getting what we do deserve.
Mercy is Jesus.
Mercy is an act of kindness when we justly deserve something else.
Mercy is going two miles when we only have to go one.
Mercy is doing that thing 3 and 4 times when you should have only done it once.
I do not think that mercy is a normal way that you and I operate. Most of the time when we get hurt, we instinctively seek out ways to even the scales and hurt someone back. “Even scales” means everything is right in our world. That is human nature. It is an “eye for eye” and “tooth for tooth” type of mentality which is normal in our world!
Jesus Christ did not come so you and I could follow Him and be normal. Jesus Christ came so that we would follow Him and be like Him. Those of us who follow Him and choose Him as our Savior and Lord shift our minds and hearts and attitudes to be more like Him and less like our natural selves. Mercy is one of those areas.
MERCY STORY 2: OT
There is a wonderful story of mercy from the Old Testament. This particular story comes from Genesis 14 and involves Abram (who we also know as Abraham) and his nephew Lot.
READ Genesis 14:8–16 (NIV)
“Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. 11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.”
Here we have to stop. Don’t get caught up in the weird-to-us names… just know there was a big battle with a bunch of kings against another bunch of kings. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah lost. That is what happens in war… winners and losers. Victory and defeat. In the course of the defeat, Lot and his family and all his possessions are captured. Why? Verse 12 tells us why. He was living in Sodom. FYI, Lot should NOT have been living in Sodom. He should have been living with his family following the Lord apart from the sinful God-rejecting city, but Genesis 13-19 shows that Lot and his family adopted the ways of Sodom and Gomorrah to the point where Lot was a leader of the city (Genesis 19:1). Sodom gets sacked and Lot loses.
READ Genesis 14:8–16 (NIV)
“13 A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.”
We see Abram/Abraham (I’ll probably say them interchangeably) call up the 318 trained men he has and go literally on an errand of mercy. Lot’s lot was to be captured and all his possessions sold off. Lot aligned himself with wicked people and he got the short end of the stick just like the rest of them. Yet, Abraham had the ability, power, and means to rescue Lot, his family, and all their possessions. Lot deserved to be captured and to lose everything and yet, Abraham went and saved him. Why? Mercy.
MERCY STORY 3: NT
There is a wonderful story of mercy from the New Testament. This particular story comes from Luke 22 and involves a man named Malchus (John 18:10) who was a servant of the high priest at the time Jesus was arrested.
READ Luke 22:47–51 (ESV)
“While He was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss Him, 48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49 And when those who were around Him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And He touched his ear and healed him.”
In the midst of being arrested, Jesus decides to heal Malchus’ ear. Jesus knows He is betrayed. Jesus knows He is about to be arrested on false charges. He knows the disciples are all about to scatter and run away. He knows Peter will deny Him. Jesus knows the end result will be severe suffering and ultimately death on a cross. He does not deserve any of this and yet, Jesus heals one of his arresters’ ears. I find that amazing.
Jesus could have waved his hand and the other ear could have fell off of Malchus so he matched. “Matching No-Ears Malchus” is my name. Or, you want to arrest me… the Son of God… and with a wave of His hand all the ears of all the soldiers and all the ears of those coming to mistreat Him pop off onto the ground. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could recognize my ears if someone handed them to me.
He does not do that. In the midst of the arguing and the anger and the pressure of what was to come, Jesus Christ took time to heal the ear of Malchus. Why? Mercy.
READ MATTHEW 5:7
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
MERCY IS NOT
Mercy is not a disease of the soul that makes a person weak.
Mercy is not letting someone get away with being a bad person.
Mercy is not letting pain be pain, but growing from it and changing it.
Mercy is not normal.
Mercy comes when you and I make a decision to be kind and compassionate to people instead of pressing for justice or rightness or our way or what we deserve. This is not always easy because the decision to be merciful is not easy. The decision to be merciful means we are taking the power we have to get even or make things right or letting someone deservedly suffer and we are choosing a different path. I firmly believe that you and I must make the choice to be merciful in our relationships and in difficult situations. We can decide to be merciful or we can decide to press home our rights and what we deserve. We can decide to elevate our natural selves or we can decide to follow the spiritual path God has laid out for us.
MERCY STORY 4… https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/changing-a-life-through-a-single-act-of-mercy/
In 1995, I saw the musical Les Miserables in London on my senior trip.
Based on the novel by Victor Hugo, the story is about Jean Valjean, a French prisoner ultimately transformed by mercy. Sentenced to a 19-year term of hard labour for having stolen some bread, Jean Valjean gradually hardened into a tough convict. He had an unbreakable will, and was unbeaten in fist fights. Finally he earned his release. He wandered for days seeking shelter from the weather, but could not find anyone who would accommodate an ex-criminal.
At last he found a kindly bishop who offered him hospitality. On the first night in the bishop’s house, temptation overcame Jean Valjean, and he stealthily crept off into the darkness with a bag full of the bishop’s silver.
The next morning three policemen pounded on the bishop’s door. They had caught the scoundrel with the silver, and from the inscriptions on it identified it as belonging to the bishop. They were now ready to lock him up as a criminal for life.
The bishop responded in a surprising way. “So here you are!” he cried to Jean Valjean. “I’m delighted to see you. Had you forgotten that I gave you the candlesticks as well? They’re silver like the rest, and worth a good 200 francs. Did you forget to take them?”
Jean Valjean was speechless. The bishop assured the gendarmes that the silver was his gift to Jean Valjean. “He is no thief.”
When the gendarmes had gone the bishop gave the candlesticks to his runaway guest, who was now confused and trembling. “Do not forget, do not ever forget,” said the bishop, “that you have promised me to use the money to make yourself an honest man.” The power of the bishop’s act of mercy, which was against all human instinct for revenge, changed Jean Valjean’s life forever.
READ MATTHEW 5:7
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
APPLICATION OF MERCY: CREATE A CULTURE OF MERCY
The end part of this short verse is a bit troubling as I think about applying this verse. I don’t think mercy is something that we can earn from God… I think being merciful is simply who He is… so the verse is not saying that if we are merciful to the people around us that God will give us a lump of mercy. Being merciful is not a way to earn more mercy.
Here is the troubling part. If I teach that we are to be merciful so we can get mercy from others, I think I have done us all a disservice. Being merciful is a quality of the Almighty God that He has shown us and we are to emulate. It is given. It is a gift. It cannot be earned by us being merciful to others. Mercy should be in us and follow us and as we hunger and thirst after God… we become people of mercy and so do those around us.
I believe Jesus is wanting us to constantly be a person who shows mercy and cultivates a bubble of mercy around us. I give you mercy. You give me mercy. We are merciful to one another. We have a whole church full of people who are merciful and we create a bubble of mercy around us because… we need it. When we share the Gospel Message, mercy is a huge part of the message because Jesus is mercy. Mercy is a way of living opposite of the world.
* We need to be merciful in our marriages because marriage should be a relationship full of mercy.
* We need to teach our children mercy so when we are old and they may need to care for us… we will have that type of relationship with them.
* We need to teach our children and grandchildren mercy so they in turn will build families with the thread of mercy throughout and it follows them all the days of their lives.
* We need to be merciful to neighbors that we might be the example of the Gospel for them.
* May we show mercy so that others around us are spurred to emulate God.
READ MATTHEW 5:7
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
PRESENTATION OF THE GOSPEL
I mentioned something earlier that is extremely important when it comes to the Gospel message and I do not want to pass by it for those of us who are already believers and for those who are not yet believers.
Mercy is an eternal never-changing quality of God.
Mercy is not earned, but given as a gift.
Mercy is Jesus.
Mercy is Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins which we cannot earn.
Mercy is forgiveness of sins in Christ Jesus.
The people you see here today and the people watching online are not perfect people. We are all sinners in need of mercy. Not one of us has earned the gracious favor of Jesus Christ. Not one. Every single one of us are in need of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ to save our souls. Every single one.
READ MATTHEW 5:7
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
PRAYER
INVITATION
