Prayer for Mercy
Notes
Transcript
Let us begin this message with a prayer for mercy.
Let us pray.
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. Amen.
That particular prayer is part of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, a Roman Catholic prayer that is used with prayer beads. It is a beautiful prayer that reminds us that God’s holy will is Love and Mercy itself. And that is true.
Mercy is found at the very center of the Gospel.
Jesus said…
Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;
This strikes to core of God’s will.
But “when God our savior’s kindness and love appeared, he saved us because of his mercy, not because of righteous things we had done. He did it through the washing of new birth and the renewing by the Holy Spirit, which God poured out upon us generously through Jesus Christ our savior.
God is merciful and we are to be merciful. Today, I hope to show you why praying for mercy is a necessary plea in our communication with God.
As we read the New Testament, we find that the common word for mercy in Greek is eleos. Eleos is defined as kindness or good will toward the weak, miserable and afflicted, joined with a desire to relieve them, even though they may not deserve it.
It is used both to in describing God’s relationship with us and how we are to be in relationship with others. Mercy comes out of the heart of God’s character and since we are made in God’s image, mercy should also flow from the character of God’s people.
Mercy is not common practice - especially today. As I was preparing this message, I wanted to find an illustration of someone who showed mercy recently. So I went online and searched news articles for the phrase “show mercy” - and nearly every article that popped up contained the mantra: Show No Mercy
a political pundit says there is no reason to show mercy to a particular candidate
a fighter “Shows No Mercy” to their opponent in a lopsided win
Chinese General: Military Will 'Show No Mercy' on Taiwan Independence
and then there is this headline: New ‘Show ‘Em No Mercy’ Uno game is designed to ruin friendships
this new take on the classic card game includes a “Draw 10” card, a “Skip everyone card”, and a new rule that states that any players who have 25 or more cards are automatically kicked from the game and eliminated.
Now I have to admit, that sounds like a fun game to play.
But it also seems to me that in this highly competitive world of winners or losers, the prevailing mindset often times is “show no mercy.” It is not enough to present a better argument or excel in our gifts or work to right a wrong. The outcome must be to “show no mercy” - to destroy those who do not think like you, or act as you want them to or who stand in your way This is especially evident in the so called “cancel culture.”
I’m sure you are familiar with the term, but to give it definition, wikipedia states that “cancel culture is a cultural phenomenon in which an individual deemed to have acted or spoken in an unacceptable manner is ostracized, boycotted, shunned, fired or assaulted, often aided by social media. This shunning may extend to social or professional circles—whether on social media or in person.”
And it today’s environment, it often includes silencing of those who adhere to classic Christian morals and teachings. And this will only increase as society continues on its current trajectory of turning from God and toward self gratification.
This is why we need to pray for mercy. Our response must never be “show them no mercy.” We are to pray for mercy. God’s mercy on us and God’s mercy on our neighbors.
Listen to what our Lord taught:
Jesus told this parable to certain people who had convinced themselves that they were righteous and who looked on everyone else with disgust: “Two people went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself with these words, ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like everyone else—crooks, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of everything I receive.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He wouldn’t even lift his eyes to look toward heaven. Rather, he struck his chest and said, ‘God, show mercy to me, a sinner.’ I tell you, this person went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. All who lift themselves up will be brought low, and those who make themselves low will be lifted up.”
Did you hear the prayer for Mercy? Seven words.
God, show mercy to me, a sinner.
When we pray for mercy, we acknowledge 3 things:
We acknowledge that
I’m in Need
God listens and will respond
God’s mercy changes things
I am a sinner.
I do not measure up to God’s standard. The word used in the New Testament for Sinner carries with it the picture of an archer missing his target. A sinner misses the mark. And we are all sinners in need of mercy.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The Pharisee in Jesus’ parable trusted in his own righteousness and in doing so, condemned himself. You may do a lot of good. In fact, you may do more good than evil at times. But you do not live perfectly. You fall short. Your thoughts, your words, your actions - do not measure up to God’s perfection. You are guilty of transgression against God - and the wages of sin is death. You are a sinner in need mercy. There was only man in all of human history who lived a sin-free life, and His name was Jesus.
A daily prayer book I am currently using, written by Ruth Myers, included this prayer of praise to the Father:
“I praise You that the Lord Jesus lived His life sinlessly, in total accord with reality, with no falseness, no self-deception, no dark secrets, nothing to regret, nothing to be ashamed of…that He proclaimed the truth, the one utterly reliable foundation to our thinking and living…What a delight to know that as I focus on Him, You transform me into His image by Your Spirit within me.”
Being sober minded, humbling ourselves, acknowledging our need for a Savior, leads us to ask for God’s mercy - and our Lord, as we heard in the Psalm this morning and in the song we played before the service is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
God listens and will respond. A common misperception of God is that He is like this angry God sitting in judgement waiting for us to mess up. I think that perception comes more so out of our own guilt than anything. Yet Jesus is God in the flesh - and that is not the truth that He revealed through His life. Jesus was gracious and compassionate - full of mercy.
And consider what God’s Word says…
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God listens to our prayers for mercy and He will give mercy to us…for that is His character. He wants you to come to Him, not to receive punishment, but to receive life.
And God’s mercy changes things.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
His great mercy changes our hearts. His great mercy changes our minds. We are born again. We are given new life. Our sin is removed from us, He sees it no more.
as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
This change he makes in us is not just for us. It must overflow from us to others. This is how the world will be reconciled with HIm. When “showing mercy” replaces “show no mercy.”
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
We live in an unmerciful world. We are not going to change or transform the world by using the same tactics as the enemy. Shame, shunning, forced acceptance of lies, bullying, ostracizing, condemning, deception, killing - these are Satan’s tactics. And there are many unwillingly and willingly following that broad path.
We are to follow the way of Christ.
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Jesus has shown us the Way. Die to self and live. When the world vilifies you, when it tries to pressure you to be silent, or abandon your convictions - pray for mercy.
Pray for God’s mercy for you. Pray that you may be merciful to others.
I want to wrap up with the closing remarks found in the book of Jude, the brother of James. I will be reading from Eugene Peterson’s The Message.
But remember, dear friends, that the apostles of our Master, Jesus Christ, told us this would happen: “In the last days there will be people who don’t take these things seriously anymore. They’ll treat them like a joke, and make a religion of their own whims and lusts.” These are the ones who split churches, thinking only of themselves. There’s nothing to them, no sign of the Spirit! But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life! Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven. And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating—to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time. Yes.
Amen.
