Blessed are the Merciful

Two Kingdoms, Two Destinies “His demise will not stop his mission, but the criminals who have the blood of General Soleimani and other martyrs of the attack on their hands must await a tough revenge.” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. Luke 22:48-51 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Mt.6:33 “Jesus never expected us simply to turn the other cheek, go the second mile, bless those who persecute us, give unto them that ask, and so forth. These responses, generally and rightly understood to be characteristic of Christlikeness, were set forth by him as illustrative of what might be expected of a new kind of person – one who intelligently and steadfastly seeks, above all else, to live within the rule of God and be possessed by the kind of righteousness that God himself has, as Matthew 6:33 portrays.” Dallas Willard Spirit of the Disciplines “This is our primary task here: to reinvigorate the conversation about the ways and means of the kingdom of God, which will cascade over the walls of our Christian institutions to inform both Christians and non-Christians alike as to the beneficial effects and wonder-working power of God’s love and goodness in every area of human existence. Yes, the kingdom of God is to be formed “within you,” but it should never be understood as limited to or confined by the human heart. The kingdom of God is as big as the range of God’s omnipotent will. Nothing can stop it. Nothing will. Not even the very gates of hell itself.” Dallas Willard The Divine Conspiracy Continued A kingdom minded church will excel in these eight things: • • • • • • • • Welcoming the poor in spirit Comforting those who mourn Esteeming the meek Hungering for justice Extending mercy Having a pure heart Being peacemakers Enduring persecution A Shelter in the StormReexamining the Mission of the Church Blessed are the merciful and pure in heart… “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Mt.5:7 Blessed are those who give mercy, For they will get it back when they need it most To the extent we don’t understand the Beatitudes, we don’t not understand the nature of God The Beatitudes are the window into the interior life of Jesus Christ and reveal his beautiful personality. If we try to understand Jesus apart from the Beatitudes, we will get him wrong The attitude, “You need to get what you deserve” and withholding mercy are the most dangerous sins a person can commit The only people toward whom Jesus is not merciful were the unmerciful. The mercy Beatitude doesn’t stand by itself---it stands in tension with the justice Beatitude He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you Except to be just, and to love [and to diligently practice] kindness (compassion), And to walk humbly with your God [setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness]? Micah 6:8 (Amp) Without a commitment to Justice, mercy collapses into a cheap sentimentality that is nothing more than a sweet advice to be nice Living in the tension of justice and mercy can at times place us in difficult dilemmas. When should we press for justice, and when should we plead for mercy? What should be our default mode? So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:12-13 Question: If people find themselves in need of mercy, is their first thought to find an evangelical church? “Blessed are the pure (clean) in heart, for they shall see God.” Mt. 5:8 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. Jn.1:18 Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Jn.14:9 Blessed are those who have a clean window into their soul. For they will perceive God when and where others cannot. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” Mt.27:39-43;54 The heart of man is like a window of the soul so that you, the eyes of your heart having been enlightened, may know what is the hope of His calling, what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance among the saints Eph.1:18 (DLNT) “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! Mt.6:22-23 “The heart of man is like a window, which, if clean, can perceive God at work in the world.” Brian Zahnd It is not the morally upright that have clean hearts, rather, cleanness of heart has to do with a lack of pride, hypocrisy, and judgementalism. Overconfidence in our ability to see, producing the deception that we can accurately judge others, is in reality a form of spiritual blindness. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. Jn.9:39-41 “We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.” The Talmud “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Mt.7:1-3 What is the log in our eye? “The same window that allows light in so we can see our own sin is also the window by which we can look outward and see God at work in the world… It is only as we confess that we don’t see well to judge others that we begin to see. And what we begin to see is not sin but God…. Apart from incarnation, “no one has ever seen God.” Of course the supreme incarnation of God is the Incarnation of Christ. But God continues his work in the world through incarnation in the lives of ordinary people who are willing to love and serve others in the name of Christ.” Brian Zahnd For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another…But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. Gal.5:13,15 Do we ignore sin? Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Gal.6:1 If all we ever want to see is the sins and flaws of other people that’s ALL we ever will see. If we take out the log of judgementalism we shall see not just the speck in our brother, but we will see what God is doing in their life. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder