Blessitude: Mercy

August 2, 2020              NOTES NOT EDITED
Blessitudes:  Mercy

Matthew 5:7

SIS:     Mercy is rooted in the character of God and routed to others by the kind actions of His children.

Have you ever been travelling and come upon construction that caused a detour, and changed your route?  Well, that what mercy does. It takes our hurts and reroutes them into ministry, as we read in our verse this morning. 

What is Mercy? Mercy, in the Bible, involves both an emotion, the personal element, and action, the proactive element.  The Greek word is eleos.  It means, "An inner feeling of sympathy or compassion expressed outwardly in helping actions."  The weight of the word mercy comes from the O.T. idea of the word, chesed.  Many scholars believe Chesed  is one of the most, if not the most, important words in the O.T. Chesed is used in a wide variety of contexts, yet these may be grouped into four primary categories of usage: specific actions of one person for another, continuing behavior between people, the actions of individuals or Israel toward God, and God's actions toward individuals or Israel (WBL).  In all four senses the word chesed involves “action.”  Mercy is no mere feeling of pity but the expression of love in genuine action.  In fact, the word chesed is often translated, “love.” 

The Biblical concept of mercy has two basic components.  First, there is a PERSONAL component.  Second, there is a PROACTIVE component.  As I said, the former drives the latter and our mercy toward others compounds God’s blessing to us.  Let’s examine these two components of mercy seeking to develop this blessitude in our own lives.

❶ Mercy has a PERSONAL Component.

Mercy is ROOTED in God’s CHARACTER.  God’s mercy is a defining virtue according to many scholars.  By God’s mercy we were forgiven and as a consequence, we must forgive others. 

Jesus was willing to give up His life for our sins.  We must be willing to sacrifice our pride to offer forgiveness to others.  Mercy has a PERSONAL component. Let’s look a little further at how mercy is ROOTED in a God-like character, and should take root in our character.

A.  Mercy means I have Been Forgiven

The phrase we often hear in this regard is, “I have accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior.”

An attitude of mercy sprouts from an understanding of how God's great love met our great need. At the heart of a merciful attitude is "repentance," the recognition that we were helpless to do anything to affect our rescue but hold our hand and receive God’s gift.  Mercy is built upon the foundation of spiritual poverty, a blessitude we have already observed.  It is the realization that we deserve nothing good in life.  Mercy rests on the understanding that while we deserved no better treatment than a pesky insect in a finely kept home, yet God "bowed" to us “being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Phil 2:8).  Paul reminds in Romans

 
(Rom 5:8)   But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Mercy is at the very heart of salvation.  God bent Himself toward earth and became our equal--born as we are, lived as we live, and died as we died.  Borrowing from some cheap campaign rhetoric, "God has felt our pain!"   Mercy is no mere emotional wave of pity, but the idea of "crawling into the skin of another and seeing as that one sees."  God in His great mercy did just that for us.  The Bible tells us God's mercy is a foundational theme in the Scripture:

(Luke 1:50)   His mercy extends to those who fear him, from  

generation to generation.  (Eph 2:4,6)  God, who is rich in mercy. . . raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, (Titus 3:5) He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

The first step in developing the "blessitude of mercy" is to receive the mercy that God has offered to us through Jesus Christ, by PERSONALLY accepting Him as your Lord and Savior.  Because mercy is ROOTED in God’s character and offered freely to us mercy MUST take root in our character as well. Because I have PERSONALLY received mercy for offending God,

B.  I Must Forgive Others Who Offend Me PERSONALLY

Remember, mercy is rooted in the character of God, and as I’ve said, mercy must take root in His children. The Bible says we, His children, are to be imitators of God.  “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children ² and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:1).

The Lord’s Model Prayer leads us to pray:  “forgive us our debts, AS WE ALSO (circle those words) have forgiven our debtors.” (Mt. 6:12).  Forgiveness received is a forgiving spirit required.  This is so important that the Lord underscores it in his summary of the Model Prayer.  The Lord says, “For if you forgive people their wrongdoing your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.” (Mat. 6:14).  This does not mean we “earn” our forgiveness through our virtuous acts.  Make special note of that.  These blessed attitudes are not a means to grace, but a result of grace.  An unforgiving heart is indicative of an unsaved soul.  Now, we may struggle with forgiveness, and often do, but in the heart of a true believer, forgiveness “must” prevail.

Most people are willing to accept mercy for themselves, but they want justice for those that hurt them.  After all, that's Biblical isn't it-- an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth and so forth.  That certainly is true-- IF you want to live under the jurisdiction of the Law!   But, under that jurisdiction, there can be no mercy for anyone--including yourself--because all have sinned and broken the Law of God--including yourself!

Great preacher and poet John Bunyan described the problem of living under the law and seeking justice, absent an attitude of mercy.

Run John run, the law commands But gives us neither feet nor hands, Far better news the gospel brings: It bids us fly and gives us wings.

The Law paralyzes, but grace mobilizes us for action.  The Law grounds us, but grace gives us the power of flight.  Much better it seems to me that we live within the jurisdiction of grace and not law.  Living under grace means mercy is available for us.  But, it also means mercy must be offered to those that wrong us.  There cannot be a double standard --mercy for all, or mercy for none.  Revenge is “out of bounds” for a believer.

(Rom 12:19)   Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.

Mercy is a "blessitude."  Revenge is an "Unblessitude." Vengeance is God’s job, we’d do well to leave it to Him.

An attitude of mercy makes it possible for us to brake the shackles of unforgiveness.  It is impossible to carry a grudge and your cross at the same time. People who have been forgiven much, should love much. We cannot hold a grudge against those who wrong us, when we realize God does not hold a grudge against us because we wronged him—and we wronged Him in an infinitely greater way than anybody has ever wronged us.

Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. Her legacy is one of mercy and compassion.  The Red Cross is respected all over the world because of its humanitarian mission of mercy.  Once, a long-time friend reminded this "angel of mercy" about an especially cruel thing that had been done to her years before.  Miss Barton could not recall the event.  Her friend persisted saying, "Don't you recall what they did?"  Miss Barton calmly replied, "No, I distinctly remember forgetting it."  An attitude of mercy promotes happiness by allowing us to be released from the burden of grudges that could accumulate through life.

One person has offered this advice, "Collect postage stamps.  Collect coins, if you wish--but don't collect grudges."

Once we have sipped from the cup of God's mercy, we can freely offer the refreshing water of forgiveness to those who have wronged us.   An attitude of mercy frees us to forgive others. Mercy is an attitude that promotes happiness because of the PERSONAL component which allows us to receive forgiveness and offer forgiveness to others.

❷ Mercy has a PROACTIVE Component.  Mercy is ROUTED to others by God’s CHILDREN through acts of kindness.

Mercy motivates us to acts of kindness.  It is not enough to forgive and forget an offense, but we must seek to eliminate injustice and injury anywhere we find it.  This is mercy’s PROACTIVE component.

As I have said several times, mercy is rooted in the character of God and must take root in a believer’s life as well.  Once mercy has taken root, it can then be routed to others through the children of God.  Write that down.  It would make a good plague for your wall.

Recall the Biblical definition of mercy we discovered earlier:   "Inner feeling of sympathy or compassion expressed outwardly in helping actions."  Often people will come to me after being hurt by some person, group, or circumstance in life.  Almost without fail their initial attitude is one of revenge.   Seldom do they recognize their attitude as such.  They simply want justice.  Well, there is a very slender line separating revenge and justice.   The problem with such an attitude is this:   justice or revenge seldom gives a person what they really want--RELEASE FROM THE HEAVY FEELINGS OF HURT OR LOSS.  Justice rarely leads to “real closure.” 

There are two aspects to our cultural engagement that bear upon our understanding of mercy. One aspect is “justice.”  One aspect is “ministry.” We already discussed the fact that God does indeed have a righteous standard of justice.  In regard to ❶JUSTICE we hear a lot about it in these days of the Black Lives Matter movement about the idea of reparations:  people who have never owned slaves paying people who have never been slaves because of the sins of others.  There is so much wrong with that idea, but there is something also “right” about it—at least a kernel of truth.  That kernel of truth is “justice.”  It is a principle deeply rooted in the Bible.  The Holiness code of the O.T. spoke of “just reparations” for many harms done.  Ex. 21-22 give several examples of how “justice” is to be meted out.  For example, Ex. 21:33-34 says,

³³ “If a man uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴ the owner of the pit must pay for the loss; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.

Justice is important.  However, while justice can offer reparations, only mercy can offer release!  Let me repeat,  While justice can offer reparations, only mercy can offer release! No person can ever experience the “blessitude of mercy” by focusing solely on justice.

Mercy must motivate us to ❷MINISTRY.  We must and PROACTIVELY seek out those that need God’s mercy and love.  It is not enough to be a “culture warrior,” seeking to right wrongs, we must be “battlefield medics rushing to the aid of those who are wounded. When we are merciful, God ROUTES His love through us to others. Mercy makes us a conduit of ministry and healing. We receive it, and then we pass it on.  People touched by God’s mercy PROACTIVELY look for ways to show mercy, or kindness, to others.

Mercy is a “blessitude” because it elevates us above our self-centeredness.  Mercy is a prescription for happiness and prosperity.  A great preacher has said, "Selfishness turns life into a burden, mercy received and offered turns burdens into a life!" Mercy breeds acts of kindness and in turn kindness is received.  An attitude of mercy blesses everybody.

Mercy motivates us to acts of kindness, and kindness always leads to happiness, fulfillment, and prosperity. Mutual acts of kindness would go a long way to solving many of our world's problems.  Let me illustrate.  ONE NIGHT A MAN had a dream . . . He dreamed that he had died and found himself immediately in a large room.  In the room was a huge banquet table filled with all sorts of delicious food.  Around the table people were seated in chairs, obviously hungry.  But the chairs were placed five feet away from the table.  The persons seated in the chairs were unable to get up, and their arms were too short to reach the table.  In the room was one huge spoon, five feet long.  Everyone began fighting for control of the spoon.  Finally, one brute wrestled the spoon away from the others.  He reached out to pick up some food.  When he tried to turn the spoon to feed himself, he realized the obvious--the spoon was too long.  The bully could not get the food to his mouth.  Each time he tried, the food fell on the floor.  He threw the spoon down in disgust.  Each time someone else would try, they received the same disappointing results.

In the dream, the man observing this scene said to his guide, "This is hell--delicious food everywhere, but nobody is able to eat it!"  The guide responded, "Of course this is hell.  But, this is not where you are going.  Come with me." The guide and the man immediately entered another room.  In this room there was the same set up--a huge banquet table bedecked with delicious delights.  Likewise, the people were seated in chairs five feet away from the table unable to get up.  The one noticeable difference between this group and the former was that this group appeared full and satisfied.  Then the visitor in the dream observed why. As with the first room, there was one large spoon five feet long.  Yet, nobody was fighting for control of the spoon.  On the contrary, one person would scoop up some food and put it up to the mouth of someone else.  Each person did this in turn until everyone was full and satisfied.  The guide said to the visitor, "This is heaven." Mercy motivates us to acts of kindness that leads to happiness and prosperity for all, and all includes us!

Mercy is heaven's prescription for healing your hurts. "Mercy is not a concept, but a way of life." Let's return to our text: (Mt. 5:7)   Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

[CONCLUSION AND APPLICATION] Do you have a problem being merciful? Are you nursing hidden hurts that is zapping your spiritual vitality?  Are you critical of yourself or others?  Are you collecting grudges like a tumbleweed collects trash as it rolls across the prairie?  If so, you need to do some COUNTING.

Count the wounds of Christ:  Count the nail prints in his hands and feet:  1,2, 3.  Count the wound on his brow from crown of thorns:  that makes 4.  Count the wound on his back from a brutal scourging and the count comes to 5.  Count the wound in His side from the spear to bring the tally to 6.  Now, count the most serious wound--the hidden one.  Count the wound in His heart--the kiss of betrayal from one of His own disciples. 

That brings the total count of the horrific wounds of Christ to 7, horribly inflicted upon Our Innocent Lord at the hands of others! Now, hear His response to these hurts inflicted by others:  (Luke 23:34)   Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

That's mercy! Jesus died a victor, not a victim because He responded to His hurts with mercy. Recently, I read a wonderful prescription for let mercy turn our hurts into healing.  First, Don't curse them.  Life is NOT fair.  The sooner you realize that hurt and disappointment are a part of life, the sooner you can begin the journey toward emotional maturity. Second, don’t rehearse them. Learn to forget them.  Learn to forgive.  Let hurts go.  Let them become a scar, which is a reminder of God's miracle of healing. 

Third, DO immerse them in the mercy of God.  Fourth, Do Reverse your miseries by letting mercy turn them into blessings. As Robert Schuller says, "Drown your hurts in a life of noble service."  

Is it easy to develop the Blessitude of Mercy?  No! Is it profitable to develop the Blessitude of Mercy?   Yes!

One of the greatest preachers in the Early Church was John Chrysostom, a 5th century preacher given the name Chrysostom, meaning “Golden Mouth.”  He was also dubbed the “Preacher of Almsgiving” for how frequently he preached on showing mercy to others, especially the poor. He once said, "Mercy imitates God, and disappoints Satan."

Mercy is rooted in the character of God and routed to others through the ministry of His children resulting in a blessed compensation of ever-increasing mercy for ourselves.