✎ One of my favorite comics is Peanuts. One winter evening Linus sticks his head out the door and calls to his sister Lucy, “Mom said to tell you it’s time to come in.” Standing next to her snowman Lucy says, “Rats.” As she turns to go in she says, “Goodnight friend, I’ll see you in the morning.” Standing at the front door Lucy again turns to her snowman saying, “Goodnight!” Inside Lucy takes off her coat and gloves as Linus watches TV in the background; going over to the window she looks out at her snowman friend and says, “I feel sorry for my snowman; I hate to see him stand out in the yard alone all night.” Can you guess what happens next? Linus sighs with a long frown on his face as he stands out in the cold next to Lucy’s snowman friend.
We’re not told if Linus had compassion on the snowman or not; Schultz leaves ut to wonder because when Lucy expresses her concern for her snowman Linus is no longer watching TV but is standing behind his sister with a sad look on his face. Personally, I suspect Lucy sent her brother out in the cold because she cared more about her snowman than her brother.
This morning we are going to discover what it means to be merciful. Jesus promises the merciful will receive mercy.
Today we continue a series of messages called, “The Beatitudes: Building Blocks to be like Jesus.” The beatitudes are the opening verses of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount which begins in Matthew 5. What are two things we have said you should remember about the beatitudes? When you read these opening verses of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount what two things should we hear Him saying?
1. These are the “BE-ATTITUDES,” the building blocks, the attitudes, characteristics and qualities essential to being Christlike. Theses are not eight unrelated statements. The beatitudes show us how we are to live our lives just like Jesus.
2. These are essential qualities of joy or what I have called PARADOXICAL STATEMENTS OF JOY. If you want to have real happiness not dependant upon your circumstances you need to put the beatitudes into practice in your life. Nine times Jesus repeats the statement “BLESSED.” You are most happy, most joyful when live your life like Jesus.
Before we will focus on the fifth beatitude found in Matthew 5:7where Jesus blesses the merciful let’s quickly look back where we have come from.
+ Matthew 5:1-7 1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them, saying: 3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The poor in spirit does not refer to those who live at or below the poverty level. The poor in spirit come to the end of themselves and daily die to self. With brokenness and humility we acknowledge our dependance upon God. Jesus said the poor in spirit, those who die to themselves will receive the kingdom of God.
✞ VERSE 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. This is not a blessing for crybabies, the pessimist or even the sympathetic. Jesus wants us to be brokenhearted over sin. This is not just a worldly sorrow; our hearts are broken with God over sin. Our hearts are aligned with the heart of God causing us to grieve over our personal sin, the sin of other believers, and the sinful condition of the world. Jesus promises God’s comfort for those who mourn.
✞ VERSE 5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Meekness is not weakness. Do you remember the wild horse being broken or tamed? When a horse has a bit placed into its mouth and a saddle strapped to its back, the strength of the horse has not diminished. The horse’s strength is submitted. Meekness is submitted strength; it is to surrender our stubborn wills to God and pray like Jesus, “Not my will, but yours be done.” Anything we take by force can be taken away by someone who is stronger than we are. However, the blessing of surrendering our strength to God is the promise of an inheritance the world can never take away; the meek will inherit the earth.
✞ VERSE 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteous-ness, for they will be filled. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness does not mean we live by a legalistic set of rules; righteousness is not right conduct. Righteousness is [1] the DECLARATION of God to cleanses us from sin through Christ Jesus, and [2] righteousness is the DYNAMIC power of the Holy Spirt within us to live a holy life. Jesus promises those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. This does not mean we are never hungry or thirsty again–hunger and thirst recur naturally and the desire can be intensified. When we hunger and thirst for righteousness WE ARE SATISFIED; we don’t go looking to find something else to appease our hunger or quench our thirst. God provides all we need.
With these first four building blocks in place we are well on our way to being like Jesus, but we haven’t arrived yet. A quick look at Jesus list of beatitudes shows we have only come halfway; we still have four building blocks to go. The good news is WE DON’T HAVE TO DO IT ON OUR OWN. As we hunger and thirst for righteousness God fills us and will give us the strength so His work will be finished in us.
This brings us to building block #5: THE MERCIFUL.
✞ 7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (NIV)
WHAT IS MERCY? How would you describe it?
1. MERCY IS COMPASSION OR PITY.
Perhaps Linus was moved by compassion to spend the night with Lucy’s snowman, or maybe it was Lucy’s lack of compassion that sent her brother out into the cold. Each of us probably know a lot of people like tenderhearted Linus, and others who may be more like the cold hearted Lucy.
Jesus was known for his compassion. Over and over Jesus would hear people cry, “Jesus, have mercy on us.”
+ Matthew 9:35-36 35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (NIV)
Compassion or pity is an act of mercy. However, mercy is more than just compassion.
2. MERCY IS FORGIVENESS.
When we ask God to forgive our sins we are asking for Him to be merciful to us. In Luke 18 Jesus told the story about two men who prayed very different prayers. The first was a religious man who thanked God he was not like other sinners. The other a tax collector, “slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, [and] said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner’” (Luke 18:13 MsgB). Jesus said the only man who went away forgiven was the one who knew his need for God’s mercy.
Throughout the Psalms we find the cry for mercy.
+ Psalm 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. (NIV)
+ Psalm 116:1 I love God because he listened to me, listened as I begged for mercy. (MsgB)
Forgiveness is also an act of mercy, but mercy is also more than forgiveness.
MERCY IS MORE THAN COMPASSION AND FORGIVENESS. If mercy is only compassion or pity, then it can become a cold heartless duty or obligation to help like some government or social service agencies. If mercy is only forgiveness, then it can become a whitewash–just a covering over of sin or fault without reconciliation and healing for broken relationships.
WHAT THEN IS MERCY? If mercy is more than just compassion and forgiveness, the what is it really? Discovering the answer may surprise you!
Consider for a moment what Jesus said the merciful would receive as their blessing. What is promised for the merciful? MERCY! Each of the blessings Jesus offers in the beatitudes are given by God. In some small way it is possible for people to give compassion and forgiveness; however, God gives us something greater than any man or woman could ever provide.
Therefore, the mercy of God must be greater than just compassion or forgiveness. Mercy finds expression through compassion and forgiveness, but mercy will show itself in other ways also. Our understanding needs to grow.
The beatitudes are the building blocks to be like Jesus; it shows us the process of going from self-centeredness to Christlikeness. We can’t pick and choose which beatitudes we like; it’s all or nothing.
>> The first building block lays the foundation of being poor in spirit–we die to self.
>> Pour in spirit produces mourning; our hearts are aligned with God’s and we grieve over sin.
>> The third block is set in place as we become meek. Our strength is submitted to God, and we yield to His will for our lives.
>> The building process causes us to work up an appetite; we hunger and thirst for righteousness. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we begin to live our lives like Jesus.
>> Now God begins to work the fifth building block in place; He makes us merciful. Genuine mercy is something only God can give us, but as we will see, mercy is also something God develops within us as we become like Jesus.
Let me again show you how mercy is more than just compassion or forgiveness. Look with me at Matthew 9 and Hosea 6; as we do we’ll discover what mercy really is.
Jesus points us in the right direction of learning what mercy is in Matthew 9. Jesus had a habit of hanging out with tax collectors and other sinners. Jesus’ so called “bad habit” bothered the religious Pharisees; a group who likewise needed to learn what mercy really was.
+ Matthew 9:11-13 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?" 12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: ’I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (NIV)
What did Jesus want the Pharisees to learn? What does he what us to learn? He wants us to find our what mercy really is. Jesus directs the Pharisees (and us) to the scriptures, specifically Hosea. Jesus says find out for yourselves what this means: “I’m looking for mercy, not religion!”
Before we look at Hosea, let’s start with what should be obvious. Who is the “I”? Who desires mercy instead of sacrifice or religion?
THE “I” IS GOD! GOD DESIRES MERCY FOR HIMSELF. Now I don’t know about you, but that certainly surprises me! God wants mercy? If God desires mercy, then it must means something more than what we thought it did.
Mercy must be more than compassion or forgiveness. Does God have a need for our compassion? Is it even possible for God to have a need we would be capable of meeting? God is looking for something more than just compassion. Does God have a need for our forgiveness? God is without sin; He is pure and holy. God does not need forgiveness. If God had sinned, the how could He possibly forgive our sin? God is looking for something more than just forgiveness.
So what is mercy? Let’s look now at Hosea 6 and discover what Jesus wanted the Pharisees to learn so long ago.
+ Hosea 6:4-6 4"What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. 5Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth; my judgments flashed like lightning upon you. 6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. (NIV)
In our most of our English Bibles we have two different words used in verses 4 and 6 to translate the same Hebrew word. Both love and mercy (or in the KJV–goodness and mercy) come from the Hebrew “checed.”
The same word is repeated, so we discover a connection between the “checed” love which is like the morning mist and the “checed” mercy God desires. This connection helps us learn what mercy really is. Because our English Bibles use different words we could miss the connection unless we do a careful study or look at more than one English version. See if you make the connection reading the same passage from the Message Bible.
+ Hosea 6:4-6 4"What am I to do with you, Ephraim? What do I make of you, Judah? Your declarations of love last no longer than morning mist and predawn dew. 5That’s why I use prophets to shake you to attention, why my words cut you to the quick: To wake you up to my judgment blazing like light. 6I’m after love that lasts, not more religion. I want you to know God, not go to more prayer meetings. (MsgB)
The mercy God desires is FAITHFUL LOVE. God is not looking for mercy through our expressions of compassion or forgiveness. MERCY IS FAITHFUL LOVE.
+ 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 [“checed”] and to walk humbly with your God. (NIV)
The beatitudes as building blocks to be like Jesus show us the transformation taking place within us. Being merciful is not a single act of compassion or forgiveness. MERCY IS THE MOTIVATION OF THE HEART. GOD WANTS EVERYTHING WE DO TO BE DONE WITH MERCY–FAITHFUL LOVE!
Faithful love shows us why Jesus had a “bad habit” of being with tax collectors and sinners. His mercy–his faithful love compelled Jesus to go to the cross so our sins could be forgiven.
Mercy is faithful love which finds expression in many different ways.
+ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. [5] It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. [6] Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. [7] It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. [8] Love never fails. . . [13] And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV)
God does not want our love for Him to be fickle, to be hot and cold. God desires mercy–faithful love, a love that does not fail.
Likewise we need to have the same kind of love for one another. Like Jesus we need to be merciful. The motive for everything we do should be our faithful love for one another.
