Good News for the Merciful

If you were part of my generation, or have children my age or perhaps a little older than me, there is a good chance that you are very familiar with the most famous Presbyterian Minister in the 20th century. Who is that, you might ask? Well, its Mr. Rogers of course! Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood was one of the most popular children’s educational television shows for many years.

Fred Rogers is remembered as a kind, gentle, and teaching television personality. He died in 2003, but his legacy lives on, of course. There was a Tom Hanks movie made about Mr. Rogers in the last few years that memorializes some of his legacy. In that movie, there is a quote that comes directly from Fred Rogers. He tells of the days when he was a boy, and would hear sad or discouraging stories on the news cast. His mother would say to him, when he was sad, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

Perhaps that comfort has something to do with what Jesus is speaking of here in this beatitude, when he tells us of the blessing of the “merciful.” You see, the beatitudes begin to take a shift here. I really believe Jesus is building not just a series of unrelated blessings, but a progression and an unveiling of what the whole experience of someone who comes to know God looks like.

As Matt mentioned last week, the first three beatitudes are somewhat passive - they show an emptiness. A realization of a less-than-desirable condition, perhaps. There is a lowliness, and the blessings that come to them are surprising, because its not the normal expectation. The poor in spirit realize their poverty, but are blessed. The mourners mourn over sin, but they are comforted. The meek realize they can’t stand in their own self-confidence, yet they inherit the earth.

The first three beatitudes, then, reveal lack or want - the fact that we are missing something. Yes, an emptiness. Everyone experiences this emptiness, but in the beatitudes, blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are they who mourn, blessed are the meek, there is a realization of it - a revelation of the emptiness, if you will. Everyone has the emptiness, and most probably realize it to some degree, but blessed are the ones who have truly revealed to them the depth of that despair.

If the first three beatitudes indicate lack, then the fourth indicates desire. Now that we know we are missing something, and now that we know we are missing something significant in terms of our relationship to the creator of the universe, our creator, then we find ourselves with a desire - a hunger. Yes, hunger also indicates lack, but it moves from just acknowledging lack to doing something about it - we desire, hunger, thirst for righteousness. That is, everything wrapped up in God - who He is, what He does, and what he Decrees or says. We naturally lack any of that kind of righteousness, be it before God or man, and so we hunger for it because we have come to understand that it is very good.

Of course, the wonderful promise for the hungry is that they are filled! So the beatitudes have taken us from the bottom, from emptiness, and led us so far to a place of fulfillment - which of course, is all of God.

And now, that fulfillment leads to change - genuine change. The beatitudes now go from being a passive condition to an active difference. A display of something good. Here, it is mercy. Mercy. Blessed are the merciful. This is a display of newness, of fulness, of new creation in the individual.

To put it shortly, for the blessed ones - the ones in the blessed way, which we know, of course, to be those who have come to know God and follow Christ, the call is to display mercy.

We have all received boundless amounts of mercy. What will we do with it? I was reminded in my study of Jesus’ explanation and teaching to his disciples in Luke 12.

Luke 12:47–48 ESV

And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Have you recieved much mercy from God? Well, if you’re breathing you have! Have you recieved much mercy from the hand of the Lord? If you are a child of His, you have received the ultimate form of mercy in the Gospel of Christ - and, as we will see, every day is full of new mercy from the Lord.

Mercy is given first and fully by God. Our display of mercy reflects God’s merciful nature, and it reflects our knowledge of and relationship with Him.

1. What is Mercy?

Mercy is used hundreds of times in the Bible. In the Old Testament, the word is primary Chesed - that word, at its heart and speaking about God, refers to unfailing love, or covenant faithfulness. It refers to that character of God in which He keeps his promises, he keeps His goodness, he keeps His love to us even when we are undeserving. It is unfailing love when we do fail. It is faithfulness when we are unfaithful.

In the New Testament, the word is primarily Helios - it means to have compassion, pity, to be greatly concerned about someone in need.

Many times in the Gospel records, people will cry out to Jesus as he passes them by - be it a blind person, a sick person. Their cry? Have mercy on me! We hear that same cry in Jesus’ story of the two men who went up to the temple to pray - the pharisee and the tax-collector. What was the tax-collector’s plea? Have mercy on me, a sinner.

When I was a boy, growing up with two brothers who were older than me by 8 or 9 years, I could give a few accounts of times in which I had to cry “mercy!”

Now, in all of those examples, what is the cry for? Pity! Compassion! I am poor, in need, and helpless, and I need someone to cast their eyes on me and help me!

Now, this is really interesting to me, an I think that this is on purpose, but the beatitudes seem to fit together here. What was the first beatitude? It was blessing on the poor in spirit - the spiritually destitute and bankrupt - the helpless. And what is the blessing here? It is a blessing on those who show help to the helpless - compassion and pity to the pitiless. It has almost come full circle, you see - the ones who were helpless have been helped by God, and now they help others! The ones who were poor in spirit have been lifted up by the merciful hand of the Lord, and now they extend mercy to those who are in need.

Now, you will see a few sub points here in your notes on “what is mercy?”

God is Merciful

Deuteronomy 4:31 ESV

For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

God is a merciful God by definition. It is who He is. He has unfailing love for the failing. He shows faithfulness to the faithless. He keeps covenant with those who continually fall. He shows pity and compassion to human beings, every one of which is helpless and in need of something.

Psalm 103:8 ESV

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. This verse brings up a good question - what is the difference between mercy and grace?

There are a lot of ways to explain the difference. For instance, grace is unmerited favor, mercy is pity and compassion. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve, mercy is not getting what we do deserve.

I like this comparison, though, by one commentator.

“Grace is love when love is undeserved. Mercy is grace in action.”

God is gracious and merciful. He places his favor upon us, and he acts in that favor to give us mercy in our need.

We are recipients of Mercy

We can say nothing about God’s merciful nature, though, without realizing that we ourselves are recipients of that great mercy! Before we are ever merciful, God is merciful.

Ephesians 2:4–7 ESV

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

This is our great receipt of mercy - it is our salvation by grace through faith. This, Paul tells us here, is a display of the richness and fulness of God’s mercy. This, coupled with grace really, is a display of his immeasurable kindness toward us. That is, those of us who were spiritually bankrupt, mourners over sin, and meek - not seeking or able to seek our own relief - hungering and thirsting after God, and this God does not despise us or cast us away, but he shows his great grace and mercy!

I hope you never lose the joy and wonder at the realization of God’s great mercy toward us! I know emotional displays waver, they come and go, they flourish and fade, but I hope that inner joy remains with you and shows in your life - displaying itself as hope and peace that the world will see and wonder at. Never lose the wonder of God’s great mercy toward us!

Mercilessness betrays Mercy

With this great reception of mercy, we follow the scriptural principle of “to whom much is given, much is required.”

Romans 1:29–31 ESV

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Now, this is a serious list. A list of those who have been given over to a debased mind because of their rebellion against God. We won’t go over everything on the list, but notice the end of verse 31 - in my translation it is “ruthless.” That word is literally, “without mercy.” In other words, mercilessness is a betrayal of God’s mercy. It is the opposite practice. Those who have received mercy are called to be merciful. Jesus said in Luke 6:36

Luke 6:36 ESV

Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Mercy is pity, compassion, help to the helpless. It is faithfulness and love to the faithless and the unlovely. We have recieved it first, foremost, and most notably in Christ Jesus! And we are called to give it out. So what does being merciful look like?

2. What does being merciful look like?

This is an important question, and it is important that we ask it that way. Because the blessing is for “the merciful.” Now, it is tied to those who receive mercy, and we will get to that, but the characteristic of the blessed ones is that they are merciful. That is, they are those who show and display mercy.

What does being merciful look like? Well, firstly, it looks like Jesus.

Being merciful looks like Jesus.

Hebrews 2:17–18 ESV

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Lets work that verse backwards for a minute. Jesus has suffered and been tempted, and he is able to help those who have been tempted. Jesus can unite with us and identify with us in our suffering, in our temptation - times when we need mercy! Now, going further up in the verse, we see that this is part of his greater work of making “propitiation” or satisfaction on behalf of us as sinners. And that making propitiation is part of his work as high priest, and in that role he is faithful, and merciful. Jesus is merciful. Jesus is unique, in that he is the giver of ultimate mercy, but in his display of giving mercy he placed himself in the way of needing mercy. In his suffering, in his trials, in his temptations, and ultimately in his death, Jesus became everything that we are - even taking our sin on himself - to give us mercy. Being merciful looks like Jesus.

Jesus also displayed mercy in a multitude of ways in his healings, his feeding, his compassion. He had compassion on the poor and the lame. He had compassion on the blind and the deaf. He had compassion on those who had lost loved ones. He had compassion on those caught in sin. He had compassion on children and the elderly. He displayed compassion as a lifestyle, really. Of course, his compassion, specifically his miracles, were signs of who he was - but that’s just it. His compassion is a sign of who he is. God, the son of God.

Secondly, being merciful looks like being a neighbor.

Being merciful looks like being a neighbor.

Now, for the sake of time, we won’t go and read this whole passage. But I want you to go in your mind to Jesus’ story of the good Samaritan. The traveler on his way, stopped beaten and robbed in his travels. The priest and the Levite, who were supposedly righteous men, walked by on the other side of the road. Perhaps to busy, perhaps just disinterested, perhaps disgusted and reviled at the uncomfortable sight.

Then, the Samaritan comes by. The one who is supposed to be an enemy, at least culturally, of this man. Not only does he stop, not only does he help, he gives up his time, his mule, his money to see that this poor man is taken care of.

Jesus tells this story in response to a question. Do you remember what the question was? Who is my neighbor. Who is my neighbor. And in classic Jesus fashion, he turns the question on its head. He tells us, in this story, that the important concept is not “who is my neighbor,” but rather, “am I a neighbor?”

After the story, Jesus says this.

Luke 10:36–37 ESV

Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Being merciful looks like being a neighbor. I suppose you could say it the other way around also. We are called to “go and do likewise.” Our call as reflectors of the image of God is to show mercy. And mercy does not reach out only to those whom it is easy or expedient to help - but to help any and all of those who need it. That, of course, is a reflection of God’s mercy because none of us were attractive candidates, but we all were qualified candidates - qualified to receive help in that we were helpless. So we too, Jesus tells us, are to show mercy.

Thirdly, being merciful looks like being a brother.

Being merciful looks like being a brother.

Now, I told you earlier that I often had to ask for mercy from my brothers, but this is a different kind of example.

Jude 21–23 ESV

keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

Jude is speaking of our walk of faith. We are to live in God’s love, and wait for Jesus’ ultimate mercy. I think there he is speaking of the second coming - that final display of mercy in which we are relieved from the cares of this sinful world. But in the meantime, Jude says we are to have mercy on others - on those who doubt. Doubt what? Well the context is waiting for Christ. We are to show mercy by encouraging one anther in the Lord. He goes on to say that we are to “save others by snatching them out of the fire.” That is, we are to be brutally honest with those who fall into sin. The third is similar - show mercy to some with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

Many times as Christians our mercy is displayed as brothers and sisters. That is, we see our brother or sister in spiritual danger, in a bad place, in a messy situation, and we show mercy by helping them out of that place. The picture of pulling someone from the fire is picturesque - it is not that we are literally pulling people from the flames of hell - but that we love them so much that we are willing to risk life and limb to bring them back to the Lord. It is like Paul’s call in Galatians - when we see our brother overtaken in a fault, we are to restore them. That is mercy. To ignore, to sneer, to turn out nose up and say “well, they will get what they want” is mercilessness, and that betrays the mercy we have received.

3. What is the good news for the merciful?

Quickly, as we close. What is the good news for the merciful?

Psalm 18:25 ESV

With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

I think Jesus probably had this psalm in mind when he spoke the beatitudes. We give mercy because we will receive mercy. Of course, as we have seen, we also give mercy because we have received mercy.

As followers of Christ, we are those who stand in a constant stream of mercy. Mercy is constantly, every day, flowing to us from God - both spiritually and physically. And we, as his children, as his image bearers, are to display that mercy downstream as well.

Like we read in Jude - we are waiting for the ultimate mercy of Christ - salvation - to be fully displayed. And that is our hope, that is our reward - one day, mercy will reach into this sin-sick world and do away with everything that causes harm, sickness, sadness, death. One day, mercy will draw us into the full experience of the Kingdom. We have received the promise, the guarantee of that mercy in the Gospel. We have recieved, as the New Testament shows us, the down payment of that inheritance in the Holy Spirit. We are waiting for the final display of mercy, and we show mercy along the way.

But we don’t do it simply as those who do random acts of kindness, we don’t do it because of Karma or guilt, we do it because of what we received - and we are blessed in our displays of mercy, because we shall receive mercy.

Lamentations 3 is one of my favorite passages of scripture, and I think it speaks to this well.

Lamentations 3:22–24 ESV

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

That is the blessing to the merciful - “The Lord is my portion, I will hope in Him.”

But, as we said before, and we will leave with this warning, there is an emptiness in merciless living. I think Jesus hinted at that later on in the book of Matthew. Jude spoke of us “waiting for the mercy of Jesus Christ.” That is, we are waiting for Christ Himself. Jesus speaks of His coming in Matthew 25, and listen to the way he speaks about it.

Matthew 25:31–40 ESV

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.