Living A Merciful Life
Matthew 5:7
INTRODUCTION
Landing on the bleak Massachusetts shore at Plymouth in December of 1620, the Pilgrims had to endure a desperate winter. It was a winter filled with hunger-a winter in which about half of them died. As luck would have it though, there was an Indian in the area by the name of Squanto who spoke English. He had been kidnapped in 1615 by an English sea captain who took him to Spain, but he soon escaped and made his way back to England. By 1619, he had made his way to America where he stayed. To the Pilgrims, he was “a special instrument sent of God for their good.” Not only did he serve as an interpreter but he also showed them the best places to fish, how to plant, and how to cultivate. They worked hard, got their crops in the ground, had a bountiful harvest the following November, and invited their Indian neighbors to a Thanksgiving feast.
It is wonderful and refreshing to have mercy shown to us by others and then to show mercy in return. This is the way things should work in our interaction with others. And mercy is the subject of the next Beatitude and the next rung on the ladder that leads to happiness. Now we can’t start with this Beatitude and expect to find happiness. It must be preceded by obedience to the others Jesus has already issued.
Jesus reminds us that the foundation for a relation with him is to see our spiritual poverty apart from him. We must recognize our need for him. To this we add a mournful spirit as we mourn over our sin, the sins of others and sin in general as it is expressed in our world. Then we must be willing to free ourselves from a vengeful and vexing spirit that looks out for our own selfish interests and forgets about others. To this we must add a hunger and thirst for the righteousness of Christ. We must desire a lifestyle that is pleasing to him.
Oswald Chambers, in his book My Utmost for His Highest, says; “The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations; it is a statement of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is getting His way with us.”
In our passage, Christ incorporates the idea of mercy into his Sermon on the Mount. He tells us that if we are going to be happy, we must show mercy to others as he has shown mercy to us. The first four Beatitudes have dealt with inner principles, but the last four concern the outward manifestation of those inner principles. Those who realize their spiritual poverty apart from Christ will naturally be merciful to others. Those who recognize the horribleness of sin will naturally strive for purity of heart. Those who do not seek retaliation or revenge will naturally be peacemakers. Those who strive to live lives characterized by the holiness of God will not be surprised when others persecute them in some way. Mercy then is not an option but an attribute that God expects to characterize his people.
THE MEANING OF MERCY
When Jesus says we must be merciful, he means that we must be charitable or beneficial to others. We are to show compassion. We are to help those who are helpless and care for those who are afflicted with the pains and problems of this world. This attitude of concern will motivate us to reach out to the hurting.
The greatest example of what Jesus is talking about can be found in his own example of going to the cross to pay the debt for the sins of humanity. Beyond that, it is found in the mercy that he shows us day by day.
In our showing of mercy to others, we must be careful of the motives and intentions that are behind our acts. We must not perform merciful acts because we have a guilty conscience or because we have some ulterior motives. When we reach out to help those who are less fortunate, we should not do it because we have a guilty conscience. Such acts must come from a heart of love, not guilt.
Neither are we to be merciful simply to impress people. We must not perform our deeds of mercy and then announce to the world what we have done. Our motive should not be praise from them. We should not look for a pat on the back. Jesus said if that is the attitude with which we perform our acts of mercy that is all the praise we will get. We must perform our merciful acts out of love for God and others.
Jesus faced a lack of mercy and a complete misunderstanding of mercy by many that lived in his time. The typical teaching of the day was to love those who loved you and hate those who hated you. But Jesus taught that such an attitude was to be as bad as the worst sinner. There is no reward in that kind of lifestyle.
When we show mercy simply to get something in return, we have missed the entire meaning of the word. We must show mercy expecting nothing in return. We must perform acts of mercy because we love others even as God does. To expect something in return is to be selfish and sin against God.
One has said, “This is the great truth of life: if people see us care, they will care.” It would be wonderful if this was always true. God’s Word and experience teach us that so many times it is not. We are not promised that others will be merciful to us if we show mercy to them. There are times when we will never receive a thank you for a deed of mercy.
Consider the response shown to the mercy that Jesus demonstrated to others. He healed the blind, lame, deaf, and sick. He allowed prostitutes, tax collectors, drunkards and the worst kind of sinners to experience his forgiveness. The response that he received was to be crucified on a cross.
But the verse says that when we show mercy we will receive mercy in return. If this mercy does not always come from others, from whom does it proceed? It comes from God. When we show mercy to others, God will show mercy to us by pouring out his blessings on us. Not only will we receive blessings from God but we will also find true happiness in doing for others. We know that there is a special feeling that comes from doing something good for another human being.
The Romans did not think highly of this attribute called mercy. For them, it was a “disease of the soul.” To show mercy was a sign of weakness. When a Roman child was born, the father decided whether or not the child would live. At birth, the child was shown to the father. If it pleased him, he gave a thumbs up sign, which meant the child could live. If he gave a thumbs down sign the child was killed. This was carried out by drowning.
The Romans also had this option for slaves. For good reason, or for no reason at all, they could order the slave put to death. They faced no threat of arrest or reprisal in any way for this decision. The same held true for the wife. If a Roman wife provoked her husband, he could order her killed.
I fear that to a large extent we have become a merciless people. We have had the mindset “if you don’t look out for yourself, no one else will” drilled into our heads. We need to be merciful people performing acts of mercy to people who are often unloving in return.
PERFORM THE PRACTICE OF MERCY
The practice of mercy leads to happiness and also more mercy from God, but in what ways do we show that mercy to others? Well, the ways are as various as there are people because we all respond differently to different situations.
First, we can do it through physical acts. The story of the Good Samaritan is a wonderful example. A man had been beaten, robbed and left for dead by thieves. A priest comes by but neglects his chance to show mercy to someone in need. Likewise a Levite comes by, but he too neglects the opportunity to show mercy. Then comes the half-breed and hated Samaritan. He is the one who decides to show mercy. He bandages the man’s wounds, takes him to a nearby inn on his own donkey and pays the innkeeper to care for him.
Physical acts of mercy can include feeding those who are hungry, clothing those who need clothing, and visiting those who are sick and in prison. In fact, these are the very things Jesus tells us to do and the way he says we serve him. When we think about it, there are many practical ways we can do these things.
We can also show mercy through our attitudes. This involves not holding grudges against others. This means removing any resentment we may have against others. I think all churches have members who no longer attend because of grudges they have held on to for years. We must not major on the faults and failures of others but on the good in their lives. We all make mistakes, we all have failures, and we need to hold each other up not tear each other down.
We can also show mercy through spiritual means. We should have pity on the lost. Jesus showed this by praying for those who crucified him. He showed it to thief who asked to be remembered by him. We show it by lovingly confronting others with the offer of forgiveness. We must let them know that we and God want them to have a relationship with him. We can pray for the lost and Christians who have lost the joy of their salvation. We can show mercy by sharing the love of Christ with others.
Thus we can practice mercy through physical and spiritual acts and through our attitudes. There are enough lost people and disobedient Christians in our world that all of us could stay busy showing mercy.
Shakespeare defined mercy in a well-known speech by Portia in the play, The Merchant of Venice.
The quality of mercy is not strained
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed:
It blesses him that gives and him that takes.
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
EXPERIENCE THE RESULTS OF MERCY
The first result is salvation. As we share this mercy with others, we receive more mercy from God as well as a life of happiness as we see people come to know Christ as their Savior and as we experience the joy of meeting people’s needs in Jesus’ name.
Jesus illustrated this by telling of a slave forgiven by a king. He owed a debt he could not pay, but after begging for mercy, he was forgiven the debt. Yet this same slave went to a fellow slave who owed him a far lesser amount than he owed the king. He demanded payment. When the slave begged for time, he denied it and had him thrown in prison. When the king heard of it, he rebuked him for not showing the same mercy he had been shown.
CONCLUSION
When we have experienced mercy from God, we will understand the true meaning of the mercy Jesus speaks of and we will find practical ways to show that mercy to others. When we do this, we will discover true happiness.
One has said; “He saw me ruined in the fall, He loved me not withstanding all; He saved me from my lost estate-His lovingkindness, O how great!”
And we sing; “Mercy that was great, and grace was free Pardon there was multiplied for me, There my burdened soul found liberty-At Calvary.”
