Blessed Are the Merciful.
(Words From the Mountain)
Tim Keller shared a story about a man named
Hasheem Garrett, who learned the power of forgiveness. Hashim was a 15-year-old
living with his mother and hanging out on the streets of Brooklyn with a gang
when he was shot six times and left paralyzed from the waist down.
For most of the next year, he lay in a New
York City hospital fantasizing about revenge. He later wrote: Revenge consumed me.
All I could think about was, just wait, till I get better; just wait till I see
this kid."
But when he was lying on the sidewalk
immediately after his shooting, he had instinctively called out to God for
help, and, to his surprise, he felt this strange tranquility. Now, during his
rehabilitation, a new thought struck him—that if he took revenge on this kid,
why should God not pay him back for all his sins? "You see, six months
before this happened," he wrote, "I shot a kid, for no reason except
that a friend told me to do it and I wanted to prove how tough I was. Six
months later, I am shot by somebody because his friend told him to do it."
That thought was electrifying … He couldn't
feel superior to the perpetrator. They were both fellow sinners who deserved punishment
and needed forgiveness.
Hasheem said, "In the end, I decided to
forgive. I felt God had saved my life for a reason, and then I knew I had to
fulfill that purpose … And I knew I could never go back out there and hurt
someone. I was done with that mindset and the life that goes with it … I realized
I had to let go and stop hating."[1]
The natural instinct for Hasheem was to take revenge and harm the boy who had
paralyzed him. But when God changed his life, He showed mercy by forgiving that
boy.
In our series, "Words
from the Mountain," we have been exploring the teachings of Jesus to
become better followers of Christ. So far, we have learned that through the
poverty of spirit will we enter the Kingdom of Heaven. As Kingdom citizens, we can
now mourn our own sins and the sins of others. We recognize that in the end,
pride is not what wins; it is gentleness.
We find satisfaction when we
hunger and thirst for God's righteousness. We will examine what a forgiven
Christian should do in response. I titled this message "Blessed Are the
Merciful." The key verse is: Matthew 5:7, "Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall receive mercy." NASB. What is Mercy? What does being
merciful mean, and what blessings accompany it?
I. What is Mercy, and how does it differ
from grace?
The word "mercy"
is defined as compassion, leniency, or restraint (such as in the imposition of
punishment), shown especially to an offender or someone under another's
authority. It also includes acts of compassion toward those in distress.[2]
Biblically, "mercy" is one of God's moral attributes. To understand
how mercy motivates God, consider these scriptures.
Exodus
34:6-7, "And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The Lord, the
Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and
faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness,
rebellion and sin."
The
Psalmist describes these aspects of God's character: Psalm 103:8-9, "The Lord is
compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. 9 He
will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever."
What
restrains God from destroying us despite our sins? It is His Mercy. Lamentation
3:22-23, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his
compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
In the scriptures, various
words, such as "compassion, lovingkindness, favor,
and steadfast love, often appear to illustrate the idea of
mercy. On a human level, mercy is the benevolent or compassionate treatment of
someone suffering or in need. Mercy is an attitude that motivates us to act on
behalf of the unfortunate."[3]
In his pastoral letters, the Apostle Paul, while greeting, includes these words:
Grace, Mercy, and Peace to explain how they are different.
Martyn Loyd Jones notes, "The
best definition of the two that I have ever encountered is this: Grace is
especially associated with men in their sins; Mercy is especially associated
with men in their misery. In other words, while grace looks down upon sin as a
whole, mercy looks especially upon the miserable consequence of sin. The
essential meaning of being merciful is pity plus the action. While grace feels
pity, mercy acts to alleviate someone's misery."[4]
The best illustration of being
merciful in the NT is the parable of the Good Samaritan. Luke 10:25-37. On one
occasion, four men were on a journey going down from Jerusalem. One man was
robbed, beaten up, and left half dead on the side of the road. A Priest and a
Levite saw the man from a distance and may have felt compassion and pity for
him, but went on their way.
A Samaritain saw the man in misery,
had compassion on him, went to him on the other side of the road, dressed his
wounds, took him to an inn, spent the night, took care of the man, and made provision
for him. That is being merciful. It doesn't mean only feeling pity, but doing
what we can to relieve the situation. Jesus commanded the Lawyer, saying, "Go
and do likewise, (the acts of mercy). Let's see how God manifested this
life-giving attribute toward us sinners.
II. God's Tender Mercies and The Gift
of Salvation
Several
OT prophets prophesied that one day the God of heaven would send a savior to
redeem his people who had gone astray from Him. As a prophetic fulfillment, John,
the forerunner of the Savior, was born. His Father, Zachariah, while
acknowledging his son's role in God's saving mission, prophesied this about the
Savior of the World.
Luke
1:77-79, "To give his people the knowledge of salvation through the
forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the
rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and
in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."
Our gracious God, because of his
tender mercies, saw the miserable state of humanity and sent His only begotten
Son, Jesus Christ, into this world. Jesus was full of grace, truth, and
compassion. While he was on the earth, he performed many acts of mercy to
deliver people from demonic oppression, healed the sick, and raised the dead. Mercy
motivated Christ to give "himself up for us as a fragrant offering and
sacrifice to God," so that, through Him, we might be forgiven of our sins
and granted the gift of eternal life.
The salvation Christ offers is a gift.
Eph 2:8, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this
is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God." Titus 3:5, "he saved
us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He
saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit." I
Peter 1:3, "In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." What does
our God, who is tender and rich in Mercy (Eph 2:4), expect from his children in
response?
III. Blessed Are The Merciful
Our
key verse is Matthew 5:7: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall
receive mercy." Here, Jesus calls his followers to develop the divine
trait of mercy. Luke presents it as a command rather than a suggestion and
offers a reason. Luke 6:36 states, "Be merciful, just as your Father is
merciful." In a world that is vindictive, where people hate and fight with
each other, how could that even be possible? Yet we are commanded to be
merciful.
Are
we to be merciful to those deserving or to everyone? What about our enemies?
God lets the Sun shine on all people, both the righteous and the unrighteous.
God loves all people, including those who don't believe in Him and those who
hate and oppose Him. God is merciful to all, including His enemies. Christ died
for us while we were still His enemies. Rom 5:10
Therefore,
those of us God's children, whose sins have been forgiven, are given this
command to be Merciful, which means putting our compassion to action. We are
called to help meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of those in
need, especially members of God's family. James 2:15-16, "Suppose a
brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to
them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about
their physical needs, what good is it? At Hope Church, we are mindful of one
another's needs.
If one member is hurting, besides praying, we
do what we can to alleviate that person's troubling situation. We have the
Deacon's fund, also called the Benevolence fund, to help temporarily those who
might be financially challenged. When we help others in their time of need, God
will be merciful toward us in ours. The same principles of “whoever refreshes
others will be refreshed "Prov 11:25 and “give, it will be given to you,” Lk
6:38, apply to us being merciful. In closing, let’s examine ourselves. Are we
being merciful, including toward our enemies? That is the test! Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Amen!
