APPLICATIONS #3 AND #4 - MERCY

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." Matthew 5:7 (CSB)

Well, how did you like what you saw in yourself yesterday? Applications #1 and #2 of what mercy is, they can be challenging. Being patient with the peculiar and forgiving the fallen, challenged us. Today we will look at the last two in our study.

3.     If I’m a merciful person, I’ll help those who are hurting.

Prov. 3:27- "Do not withhold good from those who need it, when it is in your power to act."

Remember, mercy is practical assistance. It’s love in action. When we only feel sorry for someone, when we have the power to help, we are not being like Christ.

I like John Wesley’s motto: "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can." That’s biblical- Gal. 6:10- "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people..."

When someone is hurting a merciful person doesn’t mind getting involved! Jesus is saying, "Happy are those who get involved."

4.     There is a 4th mark of mercy, and this is the hardest of all. If I am merciful, I’ll do good to my enemies.

Now, you might say, "Oh, no, Doc, can’t we skip this one?"

A tangible mark of spiritual maturity is when you can do good to your enemies.

Now, that is exactly the opposite of what the world says. The world says, "When people hurt you, hurt them back." "I don’t get mad, I get even."

God says, "No, that’s being a reactor. Mercy is action, not reaction." And He says, not only are we to forgive them, we are to do good to them. Now, I know this is easy to talk about but hard to do. Jesus says that one of mercy’s identifying marks is doing good to those who hurt us.

Do you know the best way to destroy an enemy? Make him your friend. You can do that by doing good to them in spite of what they do to you.

So, there you have it – four ways to show mercy – to be merciful. We are to be patient with the peculiar, forgiving of the fallen, helpful to the hurting and good to those who hurt us. That’s mercy. How do I stack up to this? How do you?

 

APPLICATIONS #1 AND #2 FOR MERCY

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." Matthew 5:7 (CSB)

We left off yesterday with this very important question dealing with being merciful. How do I apply this principle in my everyday life? How do I practically demonstrate this action word, this mercy?

Well, here are some marks of mercy. Four ways to evaluate yourself and see how merciful you really are.

1.     If I am merciful, I’ll be patient with the unique. Now, that’s a nice way to say, be helpful even to oddballs.  Rick Warren says, "I believe into every life a few weirdoes must fall."

You can evaluate yourself on how merciful you are by asking: "How do I treat those who are different? Those who are a little odd?" You see mercy produces tolerance. 1 Thess. 5:14 says, "...encourage the timid, help the weak, and be patient with everyone."

Now, what if their uniqueness is not odd but offensive? How can you be patient with the obnoxious?

Well, I think the best way is to understand that a lot of people who are out of step are really in a lot of pain. We need to stop focusing so much on their external behavior and look more closely at their internal hurt. Because usually behind every peculiar action there is a need for attention, caused by loneliness, hurt, or depression.

Merciful people are accepting people. Rom. 15:7- "accept one another in the Lord, as Christ has accepted you." They’re not quick to criticize or to judge; they realize that hurtful people are hurting people.

So, be patient with the unique.

2.     If I am merciful, I’ll forgive those who have fallen. Ask yourself this question: “When someone makes a mistake, do I rub it in, or rub it out?” Col. 3:13- "bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do."

It’s an interesting thing about forgiveness that when you are called to receive it, it is so easy and feels so right. But when you’re called to give it, it is so hard and feels so wrong. When we are sinned against it’s not natural for us to show mercy, we want justice.

Now, sometimes the question becomes, “How many times do you show mercy?” How many times do you forgive those who have hurt you? That’s exactly the question Peter asked in Matthew 18. It is interesting that Jesus has just finished talking about how to handle personal conflict. So, after this discussion, Peter apparently understands what he is to do, he just wants to know how many times he has to do it!

You know, "Okay, Lord, I’ve got to work this out with the one who has done me wrong, but after he wrongs me, say, 7 times, I don’t have to forgive them do I? Time for the eye for an eye, tooth for  a tooth, right?"

The Rabbi’s taught that you were to forgive 3 times and on the 4th there was no forgiveness. So Peter must have thought to himself as really big-hearted, volunteering to forgive 7 times.

But Jesus says, "No, not seven times... but seventy times seven!"

And the reason that blows Peter away is that Jesus is not putting a quantity on the times a person should forgive. He uses numbers that the disciples understood as infinite. Peter clearly understands that a merciful person does not limit the times he forgives.

So a merciful person is one who can forgive the fallen. And that doesn’t just apply to those who have sinned against you but to those who have made mistakes that you just cannot understand. Merciful people don’t point a finger - they lend a helping hand.

Wow, that’s a lot to take in, and we have two more ways to evaluate ourselves. We will get to those tomorrow. So, today watch yourself, see if you a merciful person in these two categories. Watch to see if we are truly patient with the peculiar, forgiving of the fallen. What steps do we need to take to get these into our lives?

WHITEWASHING

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."  Matthew 5: 7 (CSB)

We are starting to consider the four Outward Actions that comprise the last half of the Beatitudes.

First, we need to make sure we understand fully what Jesus means here when He says, "Blessed are the merciful."

Let’s begin our definition by seeing what Mercy is NOT.

It is not just referring to sentimental feelings. Feeling sorry for someone, being sympathetic, is a good quality, but it does not express the proper depth that Jesus is referring to. In fact, James 2:15-16 teaches us that when we see someone in need and only acknowledge the need, that is, feel sorry for them, but do nothing to help them, we’ve really done them no good at all.

Mercy is also not just helpful deeds. Some people equate mercy with kindness. And although being kind to one another is a Scriptural mandate, once again it does not express the true meaning of mercy.

And mercy is certainly not justice. Justice is getting what we deserve. We talk in legal circles about "placing ourselves on the `mercy’ of the court." In other words, we know we deserve a certain punishment but we are hoping that there will be a relaxing of the penalty, a lesser verdict. But even that does not fully explain the depth of mercy, as Jesus describes it.

The word Jesus uses for mercy is "eleos," and it is full of great meaning. It’s used to describe an attribute of God. God is said to be "rich in mercy." (Eph.2:4)  Titus 3:5 tells us that we are saved by His mercy. And Peter tells us that: “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope...” (1 Peter 1:3)

“Eleos” in its root carries the meaning, "to wash over." In the Greek culture, wherein Jesus lived, it was used in the context of "whitewashing" a wall or "wiping out" an impurity or "canceling" a debt. You see mercy goes beyond sympathy to empathy. It is "love in action." You not only wash out the deed that was done against you but, and here is the real challenge, you find a way to help the person.

You see mercy is an action, not a reaction. "Eleos" has its greatest meaning in our keyword for this beatitude: we are to be forgiving.

But even forgiveness can be too weak unless we understand that we not only are to wipe out the injury done to us by another but we are to also help them to recovery.  And that’s the rub, isn’t it? It’s one thing to say you forgive; it’s another to become actively involved in mercy.

Mercy’s clearest definition is Jesus Christ Our Lord didn’t just sit up in heaven and passively say, "Okay, okay, whoever believes in Me, I’ll forgive them." John 3:16 doesn’t say, "For God so loved the world that whoever believes in his son will have everlasting life." It says, "For God so loved the world that he...” what? "... gave His one and only Son." 1 John 4:9 repeats the thought- "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might have life... This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

By action He demonstrated mercy, His “Eleos” the whitewashing of our sins, with His blood.

So we need to consider how do I apply this principle in my everyday life? How do I practically demonstrate this action word, this mercy?

Tomorrow, we will look a little deeper into this.