The Sermon on the Mount as found in Matthew 5-7 is “one of the best known and most extensively studied discourses in the world.” This sermon begins with “beatitudes” or “blessings” rather than imperatives to show that the holiness Christ expects us to emulate is attainable only through grace. The following sermon is going to primarily focus on just one of these beatitudes and that is mercy. Mercy is the outward manifestation of compassion and forgiveness towards other people. Seems simple enough but considering the standard of mercy set when Jesus atoned for humanities sins on the cross, it is far from easy to emulate! Our bondage to religious trivia and self-exaltation have simply left many Christians predominantly focusing on “straining out gnats” of trivial, offenses against God while ignoring the weightier issues of personal holiness and showing mercy to a world filled with injustice, poverty and spiritual deadness. While becoming merciful is not easily attainable, from Je
