Gift of Mercy

Introduction

We have through our Spiritual Family Nights reached into this great text of Romans 12 and looked at how we are to use the spiritual gifts God has provided to impact the Church, to help one another in being transformed into the image of Christ!

Tonight’s gift is that of mercy. As with the immediate gifts mentioned before they are discussing how the specific gift is to be exercised/used. Romans 12:8 tells us that the person who shows mercy must do so with cheerfulness.

Romans 12:8 NASB95

8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

The word mercy has many sides to it. In scripture it can refer to goodness, love, kindness, or compassion. It is often used in the NT to point to God’s intense pity and compassion. In Matthew 20:34 ; Mark 1:41; Luke 7:13; and Matthew 15:32 the word is used to express Jesus intense or fervent feeling toward people who were in need.

Matthew 15:32 NASB95

32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”

Luke 7:13 NASB95

13 When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.”

Mark 1:41 NASB95

41 Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

Matthew 20:34 NASB95

34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

So as we see from Jesus example, the idea of mercy is to show care and concern for those in need. Mercy is something people do not deserve. However, because Christ showed us his immense mercy by ultimately dying for us on the cross, we need to be exercising mercy toward others. As with other gifts the trait that is gifted is importnat for all Chrsitians to live out.

According to this verse we are to show mercy with cheerfulness. The word translated cheerfulness is where we get our English word “hilarious.”

Romans–Galatians Comment

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The Epistle to the Romans 2. Difference of Function, 12:4–8

Paul is referring to the sick, the suffering, the indigent, and the like. And he says that mercy should be shown cheerfully.54 The word clearly points to something far from a grim determination to get through an unpleasant task. The person who has this gift is to be “radiant with joy” (Lyonnet, quoted in Leenhardt).

So I do ask our first question of the evening:

What difference if any exists from every Christian showing mercy and the one who the Holy Spirit has gifted with mercy?

What are some barriers to exercising the gift of mercy? What does it look like to use the gift of mercy with cheer?

Barriers: feeling like you are the only one in the church doing it,

What are practical ways to use the gift of mercy?

Romans 1. Among Believers (12:1–21)

The final gift mentioned is showing mercy.

4. How can we assist those who have the gift of mercy to use their gift?

Yes, we need to be a church showing mercy to one another. We also need to be a church encouraging those with the gift of mercy to exercise their gift.