Mercy and Purity

Bible Passage: Matthew 5:7;John 8:1-11; Luke 19:1-10

Introduction

If you could paint a picture of God’s mercy, what would it look like for you? For me it’s the transformation of the destitute. I’m sure you’ve seen it portrayed in a movie a time or two. The homeless person on the street, dirty, alone, dragging their belongings around in a shopping cart. Until some kind soul sees them and offers kindness instead of ridicule. It’s rarely immediate, but over time the heart starts to soften and the bitterness and resentment starts to fade away. And the person begins to take steps to turn their life around. That’s a pretty good description of my salvation story. I was destitute and alone because I made decisions that helped me to earn it. I was a runaway train in the lives of those who love me the most. It wasn’t pretty, in fact it was pretty ugly. I thought I knew what I was doing and what I wanted. I tried to blame my circumstances and anyone around me that I could deflect the blame on. But eventually, I came to the end of my rope. Fortunately, I had some good men and women around me, who saw the runaway train and started praying. The enlisted others and whole groups of people were praying for me. One friend took me out birding. Walking around trying to identify new and different birds. There are a lot of them. Occasionally, he would talk about this small group Bible Study he was in and the church where he went on Sunday’s.

Eventually, I decided to go check it out one Sunday when life had brought me especially low. I didn’t go expecting to hear anything I didn’t already know. I figured I would try to shake off some of the dust and clean up my life a little. But God had a different plan that morning. He demolished the wall I’d put around my heart and allowed me to see the life He was offering. I’d prayed many times to avoid the fires of hell. But that morning I cried out to God asking for Him to rescue me. I desperately needed His help to extract me from the wreck I’d made of my life. He answer my prayer. He heard my cry. That morning, I met Jesus on the very last pew in the aisle seat. When the pastor finished I bolted out the back door and he left the whole church standing there and chased me down. We talked momentarily and set up a time to meet later in the week. We met weekly for several months. He gave me a massive book and I started working my way through it. Looking up every verse and searching and studying. It changed my life in an instant and began a life long process that’s still going on. I can promise you, if you are willing to receive Him and not hide Him away. He will change your life. He will make you new.

I. Receiving and Giving

Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

Blessed

Happy

Inwardly focused and fulfilled

Experienced by the individual

Giving

Extending compassion to those in need

Starts with giving - “happy, fulfilled are those who give mercy”

Jesus begins with our action

Receiving

Those who extend compassion will also receive it

Never lets us go easy

We are personally responsible

Can you think of any things we say to let ourselves off the hook from doing what’s right? “The devil made me do it.” “I was led astray.” “It was the heat of the moment.” “My inner demons took over.” Have you ever stopped to think about what we’re doing in those moments? The truth is we’re shifting the blame from ourselves to someone or something else. But we’re also showing ourselves mercy … short sighted mercy, because we’re choosing not to deal with our responsibility in the matter. That’s where Jesus points us back to the mirror. If you want to be happy and fulfilled, then you have to take personal responsibility for yourself. We can only really begin to experience the kingdom coming when we make the point of our life to be both about receiving and giving. And here of course we’re not just talking about mercy, all of the direction provided thus far and what’s coming next in the Beatitudes is focused on our choice to both receive and to give. We must actively choose to do both. We have to be willing participants in the transformation of our lives, our choices, our actions, our love. You will never choose to act, until you’ve made the decision that you are in fact responsible.

II. Mercy Explained

Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

Mercy

Compassion directed toward those experiencing hardship

Connects suffering and distress-the consequences of sin

Refraining from judgment

Healers

Merciful work to correct what went wrong

Poverty, social outcasts, hunger, disease and debt

Even helping those who’ve hurt us

Requires reciprocity

Must give mercy to receive it

Not a requisite to salvation

Requirement of having received it

You don’t have to look far in the New Testament story of Jesus’ life to see that His life was filled from front to back with mercy being extended as much to those who were the product of unfortunate situations to those who were clearly at fault. He was willing to extend mercy to anyone who was willing to receive it and then share it. Granted He had the distinct advantage of knowing the difference between those who were ready to receive and give and those who just wanted to take. John 8:1-11 tells the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Jesus knew they didn’t bring her because the offense was so egregious (if she was caught in the act, where was the other half). They were trying to trap Jesus into saying something contrary to Scripture. They knew by this point in His ministry that He was merciful and so probably suspected He would start the stoning. Public humiliation used to be a big part of our justice system, not so much these days. These days we seem to have very little sense of what even ought to be humiliating. Understanding the deep need to extend and receive mercy is where Jesus was pointing His followers. It’s not just enough to receive the mercy God offers, we have to be willing to pass it on. The Dead Sea is dead, because it has no outlet. There’s no place for all of the minerals and material to go, so it’s become thick and syrupy and deadly to all but the hardiest microorganisms, no fish, plants, or visible marine life.

III. The Beginning of Purity

Matthew 5:8“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

1 John 1:6–7 “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Pure in heart

Not physical cleanliness

Soul or moral cleanness

Contrast to ritual purity of Jesus day

Access to God Demands It

God is righteous

Only the righteous allowed

Righteousness can’t be garment, must penetrate our heart

Actions and Heart Must Align

We must choose

We must act

The heart and actions must align

Truth be told, we’re not going to reach this state of perfection on our own and in our lifetime. We are righteous because He says it is so. Our actions don’t make us righteous, they can point out the connection between the external and internal, body and soul. A life bearing the fruit of the Spirit, testifies to the change which occurred in the heart. As the heart is made pure, then enough light can seep into us, to allow to see the holy and righteous God. But if we can’t or won’t make the choice to be purified, by receiving the mercy that Jesus is offering, then we won’t be able to see and receive what God is offering. Do me a favor, squeeze your eyes shut really tight. Go ahead and do it. Now watch what happens. For a few moments you can still see a bright almost fluorescent type light that has some of the general shapes and lines of what you were looking at when you closed your eyes. If you hold them shut long enough the light eventually will die away, until you’re only seeing black. Especially, if it’s already dark out. When God offers you mercy you can choose to open your eyes and see what surrounds you or like a petulant child you can squeeze your eyes tighter and whining say “I’m not looking at you”. Eventually, the darkness will overtake that little sliver of light that He offered you and your world will get a little bit darker. Alternatively, you can choose to open your eyes and allow them to begin to adjust to the light and will slowly begin to purify another small part of your heart. The more you allow his light (mercy, purity) to penetrate your heart the more purified you will become and the better able you will be to see. At first, it can be like squeezing your eyes tightly shut and then turning your fact to the sun and opening up. There is so much light it’s blinding and you can’t see a thing. But, God who is mercy, will give you the opportunity to slowly and deliberately light up one small corner of your heart at a time, so that you can see Him!