Blessed are the Merciful
The Beattitudes • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
The Sermon on the Mount is one of the greatest portrayals of the Jesus as a Teacher in all of the New Testament. It is exciting to thing about that setting, on a mountainside, His voice carrying across the slopes as He articulated truth. He lays out what we now know as the Beatitudes. It is interesting how these truths are built are built one on the other.
Jesus teaches His disciples and the crowds get to hear it. Those that are poor in spirit will get the greatest riches of all in the kingdom of heaven, Those who mourn will be comforted. Those who are meek will inherit it all. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. Those who are filled will be merciful and in turn will get mercy. Do you see so far how this works?
We come to number five of the eight of the descriptions of those who are blessed. It moves from inward character traits to one that has to be shown outward. Listen to it again:
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
God blesses those who are merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
The blessing comes from God. It is what He does because of who He is and what He has done. The word blessed as it is used here indicates the idea of being happy. In fact, I am told that it means in this context to “be happier.” Who or what is the subject of being blessed? Well it is the one who is merciful. The word that is used here is the word eleeo and it means to have pity on, have compassion on, and to help those that are afflicted. It does not specify what the affliction might be. Think about that with me, affliction could be lots of things. It could be pain, distress, grief, or misery. It can be expressed in bodily pain or in mental anguish. I would say that at some point in life, you have been afflicted with something and most definitely you know someone who is dealing with affliction. It is part of life.
The words we have in this verse from Jesus, give us great insight on how should be towards those that are afflicted in some way. We are to be merciful. The Bible directs us in so many ways and certainly just mention this idea once. It is throughout the Word of God. We see the mercy of God demonstrated from Genesis to Revelation and we see it dispersed as a character trait for the one that is godly. So let’s talk about this a bit further. What should mercy look like in my life? There are at least four ways that I have found in which mercy should be relevant in my life. I see that mercy is consistent, calming, contagious and Christlike.
It is Consistent
It is Consistent
What do it mean that mercy is consistent? Well the thought I have is one that has already been mentioned. We see the word mercy or merciful all over the Bible. Anytime you see a word used over and over in scripture, you need to look at it in its context. It demonstrates the presence of God.
Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
God has the power to demonstrate mercy because it has been part of His character forever and ever. His love and mercy go hand in hand and have been demonstrated through out knowledge of Him. God also has the power to give mercy.
Answer me when I call to you,
O my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
be merciful to me and hear my prayer.
Scripture tells us that we can call on God to receive His mercy. Mercy is a characteristic of God as well as His desire to hear our cries and pleas. Because our Lord is never changing, He has plenty to give. Let me share a personal illustration. I am 58 years old. I became a Christian when I was 7 years old. That means I have a Christian for 51 years. It is pretty evident that most of my sinfulness has come about since I have been a Christian. Let’s just do the math. If I only sinned one time a day over those 51 years, that means I have committed 18,615 sins. To be completely transparent, my sin a day method really makes my sin total quite low. There are days this week in which my sins were much more than just one!
If we go with the definition of affliction we used earlier, that means I have 18,615 times in which I have been afflicted. The truth of the matter is that I have been afflicted by the sins of others as well as pains and problems of life much, much more than these numbers can reveal. Yet God in His mercy and according to His word, has chosen to remove my sinfulness and my affliction from who He sees that I am!
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
What an example that is of mercy! God has shown us His great mercy over and over and over!
He is consistently consistent!
I do not know how you feel, but for me that brings me great calm.
It is Calming
It is Calming
That brings us to this next point. It is calming.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The peace of God that passes all understanding comes about because of the mercy of God. When we take the very characteristic of God and apply it to our lives, He calls us blessed.
There is something that is quite appealing about being called blessed. It makes me want to do that which makes me blessed. In the context of this passage, I am told that I am blessed if I am merciful. So I will choose to be merciful in order to be blessed. Not only does this proud peace in my life, it makes my life pleasant.
For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
It is wise for me to follow the ways of God. By being one that is merciful I am allowing to have wisdom enter my heart. I can tell you from the example used earlier, that I have lots times in my life where I have been unwise and not followed the ways of God. As a result I have experienced a great amount of chaos and unpleasantry! I am sure that many of you have as well! In this world of chaos and unpleasantry, it is good to know the things of God that are pleasant in HIs sight. Having the peace of God and the pleasantness of allowing His wisdom to enter my heart, I will experience His calming design for my life. All I have to do is to be merciful. Guess what happens when I am merciful? I am shown mercy. Then I am merciful again. Then I am shown more mercy, and I am merciful again. As they say in the mountains here, “It’s a catchin’!”
It is Contagious
It is Contagious
The mercy of God is revealed to us when we show mercy. When we receive that mercy, we are compelled to make mercy contagious. The more we understand the gift of God’s mercy, the more we will want to share it. It is prominent in our lives and therefore must be shared.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman church that God’s gifts always are given in a way that have purpose. He tells the Roman church in Romans 11:29-32 that disobedience occurs so that the mercy of God can be manifested more and more. He goes on in Romans 12:1-2:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
When we share the mercy of our Lord we get more mercy. In fact, it is because of His mercy that we have His love and because of His love that we have His mercy! It is with this understanding that we become persuasive with our faith and we start living out that which is within us!
The great preacher of the 1800’s Charles Spurgeon wrote:
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. LIII Exposition by C. H. Spurgeon (Matthew 5:1–12)
“The merciful” are those who are always ready to forgive, always ready to help the poor and needy, always ready to overlook what they might well condemn; and “they shall obtain mercy.”
This sounds like the example of Jesus does it not? He is always ready to forgive, help the poor and needy, always ready to overlook that which may condemn them. It is Christlike for us to be merciful.
It is Christlike
It is Christlike
When we become Christlike in our view of mercy, we will share the very love of Christ in us and through us.
But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.
Living out the mercy God has given us is personable. We are called to touch other lives with our lives. We are called to be hands, feet, and mouth of Jesus. Unfortunately, there are many times when the church fails to do this. Just this past week I learned that the 7 county region that our town is in has the 3rd highest rate of unsheltered homeless families in rural America. You know, we can judge these folks and say, “Why don’t you get a job so you and earn and have a place to live?” Or we can show mercy and collectively as the church take the lead and end the problem. As we are doing so we become conduits of the mercy of God and His mercy flows through us and in turn we get more mercy.
Showing mercy is Christlike because it is personable. It is pro-life. This is not a political statement by any means, but Jesus is all about being pro-life.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
You might have heard the last part of that verse that Jesus came that we might life and have it abundantly. Living abundantly is not being rich monetarily, but living in the riches of God’s grace, love, goodness and mercy. I use those words often when I pray. In fact, I have been accused of “vain repetition” because I will say in my prayers, “Thank you God for your goodness, grace, love and mercy” over and over. I will never apologize for doing so because I cannot get over God’s goodness, grace, love, and mercy. I was shown and given the mercy of God which revealed to me His goodness, His grace, and oh His love. I am forever changed because I have experienced it.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
It is consistent with Who God is.
It is calming to my life and my soul.
It is contagious and I must share it with others.
But most of all, it is Christlike. It is required me because I am been given so much of it.
There’s a song on Christian radio these days that sums up this idea.
It is recorded by Matt Mahr and it is called Run to the Father.
I've carried a burden
For too long on my own
I wasn't created
To bear it alone
I hear Your invitation
To let it all go
Yeah, I see it now
I'm laying it down
And I know that I need You
I run to the Father
I fall into grace
I'm done with the hiding
No reason to wait
My heart needs a surgeon
My soul needs a friend
So I'll run to the Father
Again and again
And again and again
Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh
You saw my condition
Had a plan from the start
Your Son for redemption
The price for my heart
And I don't have a context
For that kind of love
I don't understand
I can't comprehend
All I know is I need You
I run to the Father
I fall into grace
I'm done with the hiding
No reason to wait
My heart needs a surgeon
My soul needs a friend
So I'll run to the Father
Again and again
And again and again
Oh-oh, oh-oh, again and again
And again and again
Oh-oh, oh-oh (oh-oh)
My heart has been in Your sights
Long before my first breath
Running into Your arms
Is running to life from death
And I feel this rush deep in my chest
Your mercy is calling out
Just as I am You pull me in
And I know I need You now
I run to the Father
I fall into grace
I'm done with the hiding
No reason to wait
My heart needs a surgeon
My soul needs a friend
So I'll run to the Father
Again and again
I run to the Father
I fall into grace
I'm done with the hiding
No reason to wait
And my heart found a surgeon
My soul found a friend
So I'll run to the Father
Again and again
And again and again
Oh-oh, oh-oh, again and again
And again and again
Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh
Again and again