Blessed Are the Merciful

Introduction:

As many of you know, I like to watch movies. One of the first movies that was not animated that I remember watching as a kid were the Star Wars movies and the Karate Kid movie. Saying that I loved the Karate Kid movie as a kid would be an understatement! I did my best to memorize that movie.

I had all the moves down and believed that I could take on anyone with that "crane kick" that Daniel LaRusso performed at the end to win his fight. I believed it when the character of Mr. Miyagi said, "The crane kick: if do right, no can defense." I watched and rewatched those scenes; I practiced until my form was perfect.

Then I was ready to take on the world... or at least my older brother... or so I thought. Danny, my older brother, was five years older than I was at the time. Fun fact, he still is five years older than I am... I still have not caught up...

So that means that when I was 7, he was 12. For comparison, that is the age difference between Ian and Aaron.

Danny was also quite a bit stronger than I was, not to mention, he was scrappier too. This guy got into fights in kindergarten. So he had a lot more experience in fighting people at that time. Anyway, that's not gossip, its necessary information to establish the background of my opponent. See, Danny and I always fought. Always. From the time that I was five, I remember fighting with my brother. Now, I will admit, most of the time, we fought because I instigated the fights. As the youngest of the family, it was my job to annoy him to no end. That is what it says in the youngest sibling manual. I took my job very seriously and became quite good at it. I had to. Annoying him was the only tool in my arsenal. If I could annoy him to the point of him flying off the handle, I had won. And though winning came at the cost of me ending up on the floor with a gut punch or a dead-leg (for those of you familiar with that wonderful technique), I had won!

As I said, annoying him was the only weapon in my arsenal, until The Karate Kid. Finally, I had mastered the crane kick. And remember, "If do right, no can defense."

Long story short... don't believe everything you see in the movies. Turns out, my brother, he can defense. And once again, I ended up crying because because he was way stronger than me.

Anyway, I don't know if you are familiar with that movie, but in the end, Mr. Miyagi, Daniel LaRusso's humble and meek karate teacher, confronts the sensei of the Cobra Kai school of karate who is mean, ruthless, and merciless even with his own students.

That sensei ends up on his knees before Mr. Miyagi after trying unsuccessfully to beat him up, and Mr. Miyagi raises his hand to strike as he quotes the Cobra Kai fundamentals back to their sensei. "Mercy is for the weak. We do not train to be merciful... If a man faces you, he is the enemy. Enemies deserve no mercy." And as the he bring his hand down to strike a devastating blow, he stops just an inch short of the antagonist's face, then he honks his nose. He then turns to walk away teaching his student a valuable lesson about mercy and forgiveness saying, "A person with no forgiveness in his heart, lives an even worse punishment than death."

Blessed Are the Merciful

Our sermon today is not on the movie Karate Kid, but it is on mercy. Before we get into it, let's go to our text in the book of Matthew.

We are currently studying through the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher that ever preached, Jesus Christ.

And He opens up his sermon with these teachings that have come to be known as the Beatitudes. Let's read through these in Matthew 5:1-12 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

We have learned about the first of the Beatitudes: blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are they that mourn, and blessed are the meek. As we learned these, we have seen that these are self-reflective beatitudes that flow into the fourth one which is "blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness." For us to truly hunger and thirst after righteousness, we need to first be poor in spirit, mourn for our sin, and be meek and humble in how we approach the Lord and approach others. Then, and only then, can the Holy Spirit produce a desire in us to be like Christ, to have His righteousness. And those that hunger and thirst after Jesus, who is our righteousness, will be filled to overflowing. That is what that word means: gorged, fattened, over satisfied.

Out of this thirst and hunger for righteousness, this hunger for living for Christ and like Christ, comes the next beatitude: blessed are the merciful. Happy, happier than happy, are the merciful.

In our ruthless world, mercy is not a common characteristic. Mercy ranks close to the bottom of the attributes needed for success along with meekness. In a dog-eat-dog world, there is no room for merciful people, because mercy allows others to possibly gain position over you or allows enemies to attack you again.

The Source of Mercy

But this characteristic, though unnatural to mankind, is a primary characteristic of God. Exodus 34:5-7 reveals to us God's description of Himself to Moses. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed by before him [Moses], and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious. longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin...

Twice, God describes Himself as merciful, and if you notice, the first thing God proclaims of himself after his proclamation of being the LORD is being merciful.

This is one of the fundamental characteristics of God, and true and honest mercy comes from the Lord. Micah 7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity,

and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?

he retaineth not his anger for ever,

because he delighteth in mercy.

Forty one times in the Old Testament we read that "God's mercy endures forever."

God is the source of mercy!

The Recipients of Mercy

Those who are merciful Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy. God has call us to both receive mercy and extend it. To whom?

What Happens If We Do Not Show Mercy?

The simple answer is this: We don't obtain mercy.

But what exactly is mercy? Mercy is often associated with grace; mercy and grace are two similar things, and they do go hand in hand. It is important, though, to know the difference between the two. We are to show grace to all those around us. But grace is a little difficult to give when we are talking about someone who hurt us. So before we get into it, lets discuss the difference.

Grace is giving or showing favor to someone who does not deserve it. Giving someone that does not deserve it, something good.

Mercy is withholding punishment from someone who does deserve it.

Very similar things, but different nonetheless. I think it is easy to see how they would go hand in hand.

Here, though, we are focusing on mercy. Mercy is shown in various ways, but the first way that it appears is through forgiveness. Mercy shows itself first through forgiveness. Later in this discourse Jesus is giving, he talks about forgiveness specifically as he teaches about prayer.

Look at Matthew 6:12-15 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Forgiveness is a big deal! Mercy, not giving a punishment or wishing a punishment on someone who deserves a punishment is manifested by the act of forgiveness. This word forgiveness in these verses is an intense form of another Greek word, and it means "to let go, to disregard, to forgive, to not bring up in discussion." This is true and full forgiveness. This forgiveness is a forgiveness that completely lets go and refuses even to bring the offense back up in discussion, because to the forgiver, the offense no longer exists.

This is the kind of forgiveness that God offers through Jesus Christ. David wrote of this kind of mercy in Psalm 103:10-12 He hath not dealt with us after our sins;

nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

11 For as the heaven is high above the earth,

so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

12 As far as the east is from the west,

so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

This kind of mercy, this kind of forgiveness comes only from a meek heart, and a heart that is hungering and thirsting after Jesus.

So...

What Does Mercy Look Like?

I am so glad you asked!

Jesus told a parable that explains this concept very well in Matthew 18.

Matthew 18:21-31 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.

Here's the deal. Peter asks Jesus about forgiveness, and Jesus gives Peter an answer and follows it up with a parable that describes his answer.

The parable is of a man who owes 10,000 talents, and though that may sound like a lot of money that is owed, I'd like us to understand it a little bit better.

Ten thousand talents was equivalent to roughly 330 tons of silver (almost 450K pounds), or 60 million denarii. That sounds like a lot of money too, but since we do not regularly deal in money by weight or in the currency of the ancient Romans, let's put it into terms we are familiar with.

There are a couple of different ways to work out the value of 10K talents: By weight in silver or by work day value.

If we do it by weight in silver, today (Feb2024) price of silver is about $24/oz. Making 330 tons of silver = nearly $279M

If we calculate by days wages the amount would be much different:

1 denarius = 1 days wage;

10,000 talents = 60M denarii;

60M denarii = 60M days worth of wages

Federal minimum wage today = $7.25/hour

8 hours worked a day = $58/day

10,000 talents = $3,480,000,000

If you worked every weekday in a 52 week year and never took a sick day or a vacation day and worked every holiday at minimum wage, it would take you almost 231K years to earn this much money. Now, if you worked every day including weekends, it would only take you 164K years to pay that debt... and again, that is not taking into account paying for food or any other expense.

Regardless of whether we are dealing with $279M or $3.5B, both are astronomical sums. I think we can agree that this man had a very large debt! So he asks the king to give him time to raise the money, but Jesus says that this man forgives his servant all of the debt. This is the same word used in Matthew 6:12-15; a forgiveness that is so full of mercy that it is never brought up again.

But the story doesn't end there. This servant has someone that owes him money as well. The amount owed is 100 pence (100 denarii). This would be about $5,800 worth of wages.

You would think that after being forgiven this giant amount, the servant would forgive his fellow-servant this comparatively small amount. But he doesn't.

Instead, he grabs him by the throat and demands that it all be paid back immediately. When the debtor asked for time, the other man refused and had him cast into debtor's prison.

And to illustrate what happens when we who have shown mercy refuse to show mercy, Jesus finishes the parable this way:

Matthew 18:29-35 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Jesus very firmly states that those that refuse to practice forgiveness after themselves being forgiven an unpayable sum, will be imprisoned and tormented. The word translated tormentors means jailers or torturers. I want to make this very clear, this does not refer to loss of salvation or even purgatory, but it is loss of other things.

Bitterness and wrath create an emotional prison. It has been said that having bitterness and unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping it kills the other person. All it does, however, is hurt the one drinking it.

The servant that was imprisoned, though he had been forgiven of his debt, had lost communion and fellowship with his king. He had lost the ability to live an abundant life. There is not much abundance in prison.

He had lost peace. He was now in the hands of the tormentors.

For how long? Until that servant had paid all that was due. Matthew 18:32-34 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

What was due? Well, the debt had been forgiven. Does it ever say here that the king "unforgave" the debt? No!

So, what was due? What did the king expected out of the servant that he forgave? Compassion on others the same way that he had pity on his servants.

So this man was in prison and being tormented until he was willing to show compassion on others the same way he was shown.

If we are saved, if we have trusted Christ and Him only as our personal savior, then our sin debt is forgiven. It cannot be recalled, it cannot be "un-forgiven." We are expected to forgive others, to show compassion on others in the same way we have been shown compassion. Not only are we expected to forgive, we are empowered to forgive.

Ephesians 4:17-32 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind [man's philosophies], 18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

20 But ye have not so learned Christ; 21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:

What have we learned of Christ?

That ye put off concerning the former conversation [lifestyle; to include habits and philosophies (philosophies of getting even or getting revenge)] the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

Deceitful lusts = deep desires and cravings for what is not right

23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

2 Corinthians 5:17 The new man = We are new creatures, new creations.

25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil.

You can be angry without sinning. God created us with the ability to feel and express anger, but like everything else, it can be expressed in a sinful way. For the Christian, anger is to be brief (let not the sun go down on your wrath) so as not to give Satan a foothold in our minds.

28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Expressions of unforgiveness do not minister grace. Bitterness does not minister grace to others.

30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath [boiling anger, anger that is passionate (as in breathing hard)]; , and anger [violent passion; anger exhibited in punishment], and clamour [outcries, think Karen videos], and evil speaking [speech injurious to another's good name], be put away from you, with all malice [evil intentions]:

32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Does verse 32 sound like the fruit of unforgiveness at all?

No matter how much someone has sinned against us, and I say this very carefully and with as much love as I possibly can, no matter how much someone has sinned against us, it is no measure to how much we have sinned against a perfect God and been forgiven. If you are in Christ, you have the capacity to forgive.

How do we have that capacity? Because the one who forgives us dwells within us. Jesus died to forgive the sins in your life just as much as He died for those that sinned against you.

Why then, is it so important to forgive? To continue in fellowship with the Father. Confessing unforgiveness and then refusing still to forgive would be like a son that says he is sorry for being hateful to the parents. I am sure the parents would be thrilled to hear this, but then the son follows it with, "But I am still going to be that way." This action and this attitude provide no closeness between the parents and son. And if we go to God and say, "God, I am so sorry for all this bitterness or unforgiveness that I harbor toward this person. I realize it is a sin now; forgive me, but I just can't forgive them. Sorry..." What good does that prayer do? None. It keeps you in unrepentant sin ,unrepentant sin interferes with our fellowship

If we are not willing to forgive those who have wronged us and carry a debt of some sort toward us, then we cannot expect to be in full fellowship with the Father until that happens.

So I ask these two questions to close, "Have you received mercy? Are you showing mercy?"

Invitation

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