Mercy . . .

 

A dictionary defines mercy in two categories: "Corporal works of mercy" which concern the material and physical needs of others and "Spiritual works of mercy" which concern the spiritual needs of others. The Bible puts both in the same category. Mercy is doing for others what they cannot do for themselves.

In the OT, God faithfully keeps his promises and maintains his covenant relationship with his chosen people despite their unfaithfulness. This mercy is more than punishment withheld but actively helping those who are miserable due to circumstances beyond their control. It is shown in the gospel; Jesus Christ came to save sinners which are defined as “all fall short” and need God’s mercy.

As with much of what Jesus says, if God has shown mercy to me and brought me into His kingdom, then I am to show mercy to others. In His day, and even now, mercy is sometimes seen as a weakness, depending on the state of those who are in need of it. I’m thinking of the homeless, people in poverty, those with dementia or other infirmities, elderly people, and many others who cannot do anything about their difficult situations.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7) Interesting order in this statement. While it looks as if mercy is earned, it is more like ‘if I feel needy and helpless, then do something for others who are needy and helpless and God will do something to fill my empty place.’ However, this not our acts of mercy that earn mercy from God. Rather, mercy is similar to “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12) Both beatitudes are about family resemblance. We do these things because we are in God’s family.

Just as I am to be forgiving in the same way God forgave me, I am also to “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36) In the world, mercy is either critically condemned as a weakness, or displayed only by those who want to appear ‘good’ by doing ‘good’ but without the godly compassion that motivates mercy. This quality is given through the power of the Holy Spirit. I must admit that mercy is not always my normal reaction to helplessness.

People can be cruel and unkind, yet a lack of mercy shows up when we are busily engaged in seeking self-gratification and simply neglect others. However, the NT says true faith is illustrated by showing mercy.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:14–17)

Mercy is not a weakness. It takes courage and sacrifice to give it. It also requires godly wisdom:

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. (James 3:17)

Jesus, thank You for being merciful to me. At first, I didn’t realize my helplessness or how much I needed Your kindness and grace, but now that I do, and now that You have shown me incredible blessing, my heart is softer and even eager to show others the same kindness and grace. None of us deserve Your mercy for we are sinners. Apart from You reaching out to us, all would remain in that hopeless condition of trying to live without You or trying to please You with our own efforts to be ‘good enough’ without even realizing that will never happen. I see a world full of people without any idea that they fall short of Your glory. How badly our world needs to hear about Your goodness and mercy toward everyone. Even the worst of sinners (in our folly of measuring sin by degrees) can be saved because of the great goodness of mercy. Help me to show it and to be alert because there will always be opportunities.

READ Luke 10:25–37. Why did the lawyer question Jesus? How did he try to justify himself? What did the parable say about mercy and to whom should it be given? Who needs mercy in my world? Am I the neighbor that I ought to be toward them? What will it cost me? What did it cost Jesus to show mercy to me?

 

 

 

Blessed are the merciful . . .

In some cultures, mercy is considered a weakness. Showing compassion, particularly toward those who wrong you is considered a character flaw, even though this is commanded by God because He is merciful. This is seen in the fact that He does not treat us as we deserve. The Bible is clear, “All sin and all fall short of the glory of God.” We do not live as we were created to live. We choose our own way rather than obedience to our Creator. If He were not MERCIFUL, we would not live or even draw another breath.

Christians often describe ‘mercy’ from our perspective as getting what we do not deserve. From God’s perspective, mercy is compassion, a desire to be gracious, lenient and forgiving especially towards those who have offended Him. It is the character of God that sent Jesus to die for our sin rather than punish us as we deserve.

In the OT, several verses describe how God is merciful . . .

Psalm 145:8–9. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

Exodus 34:6–7. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Spurning His mercy is dangerous. It invites a positive response.

Deuteronomy 4:30–31. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. 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.

2 Samuel 22:26–28. “With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; with the purified you deal purely, and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down. Psalm 18:25

God wants me to be like Him in this quality of mercy. Jesus said in Luke 6:36, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

And according to Hebrews 8:10–12, God’s mercy toward me makes it possible for me to be merciful toward others:

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

James 5:11 points to Job whose faith was deeply tested by with unrelenting difficulties. He survived because he knew that God was not punishing him. This man knew the mercy of God: “Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. I can be more judgmental than merciful. Like John and James, I want to call fire down from heaven when I see others reject Jesus, but God does not do this. I need to be more like David and focus on my need and rely on God’s supply of grace and mercy:

Psalm 86:15–16. “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant, and save the (daughter) of your maidservant.”

I also need to be more like the publican who did not compare himself favorable over others but called out, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”