Blessed Are The Merciful

“Lord, have mercy!”

Think of all the ways that can be said. We might think of the dusty cowboy, the southern belle, or the penitent believer. The phrase is a part of liturgical prayers, and is used throughout the Psalms.

What does it mean to be merciful?

We asked that question in both of our Bible studies this week, and we came out with a lot of different responses:

Kind, Gentle, Grace, Compassion, Understanding, Forgiving,

But it’s difficult to sum up with one word. So we tried with full sentences:

Extending forgiveness with an awareness of the other’s situation.

Forgiving even though it costs you.

Letting something go even though the person may not be deserving of such consideration.

Hmmm….Let’s take a moment to back up.

We started our beatitude journey with:

Matthew 5:3 ESV

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

We talked about coming to the end of ourselves, of recognizeing we are not holy and we need a Savior.

Then we moved to: Matt 5:4

Matthew 5:4 ESV

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

We mourned our sinfulness, the ways that we fall short of what God has called us to be.

We spent some time discussing what it meant to be “meek”, with Matthew 5:5

Matthew 5:5 ESV

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

We learned being meek is not being weak, but humble, subdued, gentle.

Then last week we talked about seeking righteousness as we looked at v.6: Matt 5:6

Matthew 5:6 ESV

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

We saw that righteousness was something we hungered and thirsted for, but that it was an ongoing journey and not something that we ever achieved. We are to be in a constant state of pressing forward in our journey to being the holy people we are called to be. The satisfaction of righteoueness is a future state.

I’ve described this before as “the closer I get to God the further I realize I am away.” As God shines the holy light into my life it illuminate yet another area of my life I have not fully surrendered.

And then we have come to our passage for today, Matt 5:7

Matthew 5:7 ESV

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

There is a reciprocity that is stated here. If you’re merciful, you’ll be shown mercy. That reminds me of a certain well known prayer that shows up in the next chapter of Matthew that we use quite regularly:

Matthew 6:12 ESV

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

So one has to again consider what Jesus is trying to call us to in this opening of his preaching as recorded in Matthew?

Like so much of Jesus’ teaching throughout the Gospels, and God’s instruction throughout the Bible, we are invited to return to the people we were created to be.

We read the parable about the prodigal son - you have a father and two brothers. The younger of the two brothers asks for his inheritance and leaves, squandering it all. Eventually he wants to return willing to become like one of his father’s servants. We read in Luke 15:20

Luke 15:20 ESV

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

At this point he hasn’t been able to say anything to his father, though he has a rehearsed speech, its too late, his father is already enfolding him in the embrace. After a moment the son begins his speech and we come to another one of those wonderful contradictory conjunctions, “but” - Let’s look at it - Luke 15:22-23

Luke 15:22–23 ESV

But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.

Was the son disrespectful in the way he left? Yes.

Was the situation the son found himself in his own fault? Yes.

Was the son deserving? No.

Was the son shown mercy? Absolutely.

Let me take you to another familiar parable. To put this in the context, I’m going to read the entire passage: Luke 10:25–37 “And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”

Luke 10:37 ESV

He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Both of these parables invite us to again reflect God’s image. The Father in the parable of the prodigal was loving, forgiving, and seemingly did not take into account all the wrong the son had done. The Samaritans were hated people among the Jews, yet in Jesus’ parable it was one of these hated people that out shone the “righteousness” of the Jews.When we receive mercy we recognize that the good we are receiving is undeserved. The accuser, Satan, will tell us all the reasons why we shouldn’t be receiving such mercy. And yet, God gives it to us.

Last year at a presbytery meeting we met a friend, an enthusiastic, energetic, well spoken woman who was powerfully advocating for a group of too often forgotten people, prisoners. You’ve met Candice as she spoke here about the One Prisoner One Parish program. When I first met her, what I didn’t realize at the time was that she had once been in prison too.

Our congregation joined the One Prisoner One Parish (OPOP) movement and were paired with a woman named Laura Jonston. Laura has served 19 years for what something she had done. Over the past many months we’ve gotten to know her through letters, emails, video chats, and personal visits.

Our congregation has been raising funds for her transition, we’ve created a quilt to remind her that we care. This past week, she was released to transitional housing. She’s excited and she’s scared. We are being given a very tangible opportunity to show mercy.

In so doing we not only have the opportunity to drastically change Laura’s life, but we have the opportunity to change the lives of people around her. She has much to give, much of which she has yet to discover.

Mercy canot be about expecting something in return. Mercy is a gift given. It is NOT a transaction.

When we back up and think about not just the beatitudes but all of Scripture we can’t help but recognize our spiritual depravity as women and men created to be imagers of our Creator God.

If we divide the Beatitudes into three triads, our first triad spoke aobut being poor in spirit, mourning our sin, and choosing to be meek.

The second triad speaks of hungering and thirsting for righteousness, being merciful, and being pure in heart. So the center of the middle triad is this concept of mercy - the giving and receiving of it.

As I’ve been preaching through the beatitudes I’ve invited you to join me in the practice of the Examen - which is examining our own lives in light of the holiness of God. Through the beatitudes we are invited to once again encounter the holiness of God and his love, and grace demonstrated to use throughout Scripture.

As I close, I want to invite you to consider this week where in your life God is providing you opportunities to show mercy. We all interact with others throughout our weeks. Who needs mercy in your life right now? How can you choose to demonstrate mercy to them? Remembering that mercy is not transactional.

One of the great encouragements is to recognize the many ways that God has demonstrated mercy to us throughout our lives. And I want to encourage you to spend time giving thanks for that mercy.

To wrap up, would you please join me in thanking God for the opportunity to show mercy directly to our friend Laura and pray for her transition? Let’s pray.

Lord, We pray for our friend Laura, she no doubt is excited to experience new freedoms for the first time in 19 years. Yet with those freedoms come responsibilities she has not had to think about of that time. Lord, have mercy. Place the right people in her life to help her successfully navigate this transition and the system hurdles in front of her. Thank you for our opportunity to walk along side of her during this time. Give us wisdom Lord, give us discernment in the right way to show her mercy and to help her on her journey. Reveal yourself to us in her, and to her in us. We pray this in Jesus’ name, to your glory. AMEN.