The Kingdom Manifesto - 5

The Kingdom Manifesto – 5

Introduction

In December 1943, German fighter pilot Franz Stigler was in pursuit of American bomber pilot Charlie Brown's plane, looking to shoot it down. If he did, it would earn him the Knight's Cross, the highest honor for a German soldier. But as he approached the plane, Stigler saw that it had no tail guns blinking, no tail-gun compartment remaining, no left stabilizer, and the nose of the aircraft was missing.

Surprisingly, he could also see into the plane, the skin of it having been blown off. Inside, he observed terrified young men tending to their wounded. Stigler could not shoot the plane down. He had been trained that "honor is everything." If he survived the war, his superior officer told him, the only way he would be able to live with himself was if he had fought with as much humanity as possible.

Stigler could tell that Brown didn't realize how bad a shape his plane was in. He gestured for Brown to land the plane, intending to escort him. But Brown had no intention of landing in Germany and being taken prisoner along with his men. Stigler then yelled "Sweden," meaning that Brown should land his plane there. But Brown didn't know what Stigler was yelling. Stigler saluted Brown and veered away. His last words to him were, "Good luck, you're in God's hands now."

Brown was able to land the plane in England. He continued his Air Force career for two decades but remained obsessed with the incident. In 1990, he took out an ad in a newsletter for fighter pilots, looking for the one "who saved my life on Dec. 20, 1943." Stigler, living in Vancouver, saw the ad and yelled to his wife: "This is him! This is the one I didn't shoot down!" He immediately wrote a letter to Brown, and the two then connected in an emotional phone call.

Stigler and Brown both died in 2008, six months apart. The article in the New York Post also noted that both men were Christians and that the obituaries for Stigler and Brown both listed the other friend as "a special brother."[1]

TS - Sadly, great stories like this are rare. Because mercy is rare. Grudges are held, opinions are seldom willing to be changed, judgements are given. Mercy seems to be rare perhaps because it is hard to see what mercy really is. Mercy is hard to define.

Sometimes we can see mercy as being dismissive. Someone wrongs you and you show mercy, are you dismissing their wrong? Some would also see mercy as enabling. That if someone does wrong and mercy is shown to them, all that will do is enable them to do it again, since they didn’t have to suffer the appropriate punishment.

Matthew 5:7 - God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Since we are called to be merciful, a way of living that God blesses, what does that mean?

Throughout the Bible, mercy is shown to be one of God’s dominant characteristics. In the OT, the famous Hebrew word ‘hesed’ is used to convey God’s mercy. When the NT talks about God’s mercy, it uses the Greek equivalent of the same word. It is a multi-faceted word, one that we really lack our own English word to define. We essentially don’t have the language to capture the fullness of what it means.

It is a word that encapsulates God’s faithfulness, love, kindness, grace, loyalty, and more. Obviously, it’s a rich word. Here is how I would define it, for our purposes this weekend -

Forgiveness + Kindness = Mercy

Mercy automatically implies forgiveness. You are wronged and you forgive. Or even if they haven’t wronged you, you are releasing them from the burden of their wrongdoing, and your judgment of them for it. But it is much more than that. It is showing godly kindness to others...to those who have wronged you, to those who are hurting.

Think of mercy this way...it is the opposite of envy. Envy says, “You have something good and I want it.” Mercy says, “You have something bad, and I want it.” I want to take it away from you so that you can be free from the suffering, the pain, the hurt, the heartache.

I want you to notice the order of the beatitudes. The first four are that God blesses those who understand their spiritual poverty, that they have nothing to offer to God in standing before him on their own. Then he blesses those who mourn over that fact. Those who mourn over their own brokenness and the brokenness of those around them. Then the blesses those who are humble, those who posture themselves rightly before God, realizing that life cannot be about them, but about God. Then God blesses those who hunger and thirst to be made right with God, in every area of their lives. Those who seek to have God’s will and ways show up everywhere.

Those 4 are inside issues. Character traits, ‘being’ descriptors. Now, the list of the beatitudes is going to shift here. The final 4 are outside issues. ‘Doing’ descriptors. These are who kingdom people are, but now it changes to what those kingdom people do.

And I believe they are connected, in rank order. That spiritual poverty relates to showing mercy. If you are spiritually poor, realizing that you are empty before God because of your sin, the relational byproduct of that is mercy. Since you are standing before God broken, you see others the same way. You realize you are no better than them and really have no place in setting yourself as judge and jury over them. They’re in the same boat as you...broken, hurting, sinners.

TS - now that we know what mercy is, how does it show itself in our lives?

1. MERCY TOWARD OTHER’S NEEDS

Jesus serves as the model for how this works itself out in someone’s life. Throughout the rest of the Gospel of Matthew, a thread weaving its way through all of it is the mercy of Jesus toward broken, hurting people. From healing outcasts, pagans, those on the margins of society, to this...

in Matthew 14, Jesus has just received word of the murder of John the Baptist. He immediately withdrawals to be alone with God, though his popularity is at skyrocket stage.

Matthew 14:13-14 - As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Even when he is sorrowful, he still comes through to have mercy on their needs. Shows up again in chapter 15. He is again healing a large crowd of people and there is a huge need...

Matthew 15:29-32 - Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat down. A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all. The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel.

Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way.”

When Jesus tells us that God blesses those who are merciful, he is essentially telling us that God blesses Christlikeness. This is who Jesus is. This is what Jesus is about. He sees needs and does all he can to meet them. We are called to walk in those footsteps.

-Coworker struggling and we offer a word of encouragement.

-Neighbor needs help with some improvement project and we give up a couple hours to help.

-Get word of an under-resourced family who are struggling to buy groceries and we choose not to get as much as we could, instead get them a gift card.

-Hear of an opportunity to give or to serve with a mission partner, give of time and resources to meet a need.

1 John 3:16-17 - We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So, we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?

2. MERCY TOWARD OTHER’S HURTS

In Matthew 8, Jesus does something that unfortunately goes unnoticed by so many. It is perhaps one of the most merciful actions he takes.

Matthew 8:1-3 - Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

Notice the order of events...

-Suddenly the man was in front of him. That shouldn’t have happened. Lepers were required to announce their presence by wearing a bell around their neck, or by calling out “unclean!.” But here this man is, just showing up unexpectedly in the midst of a crowd of people, with a highly contagious skin disease. Jesus could have yelled and demanded that man get away from everyone. After all, he was endangering the safety and health of everyone around.

-If you are willing...exactly. He is not doubting Jesus power, he is a bit jaded maybe about other’s willingness to help him.

-Jesus heals him. But wait...a small detail happens right before Jesus heals him. Jesus reached out and touched him.

This is a man who hasn’t just suffered from a physical disease...but a physical disease that has serious social, emotional and relational consequences. This man’s need was physical, but his hurt was much deeper than that.

No one had touched him in who knows how long. No holding hands with his wife. No hugs from his kids. No pats on the back for a job well done. None. Isolated. And the hurt of that runs deep. Does Jesus reprimand him and demand he go away? No. Does Jesus merely meet his need? No. Jesus does much more. He addresses the hurt.

Romans 12:15 - Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.

Remember, mercy is the opposite of envy. You have something and I want it. I will come into your hurt and hurt with you.

-Someone comes to you with a problem, but before you move into ‘fix-it’ mode, you stop to feel their pain and understand their hurt.

-Someone snaps at you and says unkind things. Before you mount up your response you remember that ‘hurt people hurt people’ and you show mercy instead.

-Someone comes to you with a hurt and you resolve never to tell them to ‘just get over it.’

3. MERCY TOWARD OTHER’S SINS

John 8 carries the great story of a young woman who was caught in the act of adultery. Somehow the religious leaders stumbled upon this (or have set her up) and drag her into the town square to use her to trip up Jesus. They pick up rocks and are ready to murder her in the streets. What will Jesus say? Quite a trap. If he agrees, then he is not the loving, compassionate God he claimed to be. If he doesn’t, then he has offended the OT law and should be discounted. He does neither. And he does both.

He confronts the religious leaders in their hypocrisy...only those without sin are those who should throw stones. One by one they leave. Jesus offers her no condemnation and then sends her on her way with a directive to leave the life of sin that got her in this mess. A wonderful balance of grace and truth.

This is a woman who is undeniably guilty and deserves the punishment. But Jesus doesn’t go that way. We would. We do. And we have much to learn from Jesus. This is mercy in action. Forgiveness plus kindness.

Friend who always says - I am all about love the sinner, hate the sin...as long as you hate your sin more. As long as you understand that you are just as wretched before God. Remember, the relational byproduct of spiritual poverty is mercy. We are the same. We are both empty and incapable of standing before God on our own. We both need Jesus.

I get asked in professional preaching circles...who do you preach to? Believers or unbelievers? Yes. I preach to sinners who need Jesus.

I wonder what would happen if we took a different perspective on sinners around us. Instead of condemning them or judging them, we see them as they are...desperate, empty and in need of Jesus. Oh, how desperate they must have been to have felt that was their only answer. How empty they must be to fill themselves with something so unsatisfying.

TS - Mercy changes everything.

God blesses those who are merciful for they will be shown mercy. Will be…future tense. Yes. Heaven is indeed a place of mercy. A place where God eternally meets our needs, heals our hurts and removes our sins.

Notice how this goes full circle - These are God’s kingdom people who show mercy. They have already been shown mercy in Jesus. Now they are transformed and are showing mercy to others. God then brings them home and has them live in his mercy forever.

The cross was just the beginning of God’s mercy. But it is where God’s mercy starts. God’s mercy meets your greatest need…God’s mercy covers over the hurt that your sin, and other’s sins, has brought into your life…God’s mercy covers your sin. This is the Gospel, the message of the cross of Jesus Christ. When you realize your spiritual poverty and come to Jesus with nothing but your sin…mercy meets you there.

BELIEVE/REPENT/CONFESS/BAPTIZE

COMMUNION

[1] Maureen Callahan, "Amazing tale of a desperate WWII pilot's encounter with a German flying ace," New York Post (posted 12-11-12)