How do you respond to the misery which is happening all around you, to the pain which is a part of your own life?  There are a variety of ways Christians have responded through the centuries– some ignore the misery around them and seek to establish a fortress where no misery is allowed.  They have tried to insulate themselves and their families from the suffering of the world.  This is the strategy of many Christians in our culture.  Others have sought to dull their own pain with alcohol, entertainment or other distractions.  Their strategy is to pretend like the pain isn’t there and use temporary things to keep the pain at bay.  They ask, “What pain?  What misery” as someone beside them is emotionally or spiritually bleeding to death.  Still others have entered the suffering of people and sought to show compassion to people in the midst of suffering.  This can take an emotional toll on people if not handled well.  What is the right response?

We are looking at the greatest sermon every preached, called the Sermon on the Mount.  We talked about the truth that we have nothing righteous in and of ourselves to bring to Jesus, but we are desperately dependent upon Him for our salvation, our entry into His Kingdom.  Then we looked at the right response of grieving over our sin and the pain it has caused, and the sin of others against us, and the comfort of being in the presence of our King.  Third, we talked about laying down our strength and giving it to Jesus so we can participate with Him in both building His Kingdom and enjoying the fruit of it.  Last week, we spent some time trying to help us see the benefits of hungering after righteousness, which is Christ-like character, and receiving full satisfaction as a result.  We will continue to build on these themes, following Jesus’ Words as we explore this theme:  God has called us to extend His mercy to those around us, so we might experience fuller compassion ourselves.

I. What does it mean to be merciful?

The word Jesus used here, translated “merciful”, comes from the idea of giving compassion to people who are in great pain.  The idea of childbirth is used to describe the pain.  The merciful person does something to alleviate the person’s pain.  There is much pain in this world, and there are many ways we can enter into that place of pain with someone and be used by God to help alleviate the pain.  The merciful person described here is one who leaves his or her own comfort and meets people where they are in their pain to care for them.  This has happened throughout history.  When the Bubonic Plague killed over a third of the population in Europe a century ago, one of the hardest hit groups of people were clergy, who often placed themselves at risk to care for the pain of others.  When we visited Germany 20 years ago, we looked carefully at the lists of people killed in German death camps under Hitler.  Hundreds of pastors names are listed alongside Jews who were slaughtered in gas chambers.  

Too many of us act as the photographer, who took a picture of a politician.  When the politician received the proofs from the photos, he was very angry at the photographer and told him, “These pictures do not do me justice.  The photographer replied, “Sir, with a face like yours, you don’t need justice, but mercy!” We often blame others for their predicament, instead of doing what Jesus has asked us to do, extend mercy to them.  The mercy spoken about here is not a declaration from a long distance away!  There is a ‘rolling up of one’s sleeves’, an action to go to that very place of pain and to engage with a person to care for them where they are.  One of the mind sets that needs to change in the church in America is the mind set that we invite people to this property.  We think, “Those who come here, we will seek to help, but those who do not come here probably don’t want our help anyways.”  I am not saying we shouldn’t invite people into the joyous presence of God and fellowship and life with His people; but this is not the primary paradigm I see in the Scriptures.   Just look at Jesus’ lifestyle when He walked the earth.  He could have done what the religious in His day did and sat off by Himself, with other religious people to condemn those who were not as righteous as they were.  Jesus was known as a friend of tax collectors and sinners.  In His day, this was a put down.  “We know Jesus is not from God, because He hangs out with those type of people!”  Jesus was from God and was God, and He chose to be with people in their homes and to be Himself wherever He went.  This should be our model.  How are we ever going to reach people unless we are willing to get our hands dirty to care for people like this?  Bless those of you who go over the East Florence Mission every week; those who go down to the men’s House of Hope each week; to those of you who are volunteering to mentor kids in our public school system who have no fathers at home, and to those of you who are investing yourselves in caring for the foreigner in our midst through our Hispanic ministry.  In a couple of weeks, we are still partnering with a couple of other churches to serve people in the North Sumter neighborhood by picking up trash.  You see, when I spend my time to walk beside my brother in Christ at another church to clean-up the neighborhood, that sends powerful messages to the whole community.  The locals say to themselves, “Wait a minute, people from outside our community are walking with people in the community to help us– why?”  We do this with no strings attached, but sooner or later we will have many opportunities to share the good news about what Jesus has done in our lives, because of the way we are serving others.  Join us the second Saturday in March! (8th at 10 am)

Just like we have talked about with other Beatitudes, mercy is one of God’s attributes.  His mercy has been extended to any of us who believe the gospel.   We are not saved because we deserve to be saved.  We were absolutely lost in our sin when God gave His mercy to us.  As we extend mercy to others, we are reflecting the very heart of God, who is mercy.  These statements fit well together– look at the results of those who respond in the ways Jesus has been talking about.  We enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we are brought near Jesus our King to find comfort, we participate with Jesus in the rewards of the Kingdom, and we are fully satisfied– we are stuffed with Jesus as we seek His righteousness.  The natural response of a person who has been touched in these ways is to extend mercy to others.  If we have received so much love, so much mercy, then how is it possible that we are unwilling to extend mercy to others?

Jesus not only extended mercy to us, but shows us what mercy is like.  Listen to how He is described in Hebrews 2:17‑18, “For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”  He is merciful because He understands.  He has experienced the weakness of humanity, so can relate to us in our weakness.  He was without sin, but knows how frail we are.  Jesus did not stay in heaven and shout down from there– “I understand!”  Jesus left His place in heaven, and took on human form, being made like us.  He literally walked in human form and experienced human weakness.  The Scriptures tell us He emptied Himself and was made in the form of a servant.  This is Almighty God we are talking about here!  This is His model– go to be like the people, not to sin as they sin, but identify with them where they are!  If we are going to be merciful, it means caring for people where they are!

II. In what way do we receive mercy as a result?

One of the principles of Scripture, which is repeated in various ways, is that when a person understands, really understands the depth of love, the depth of grace God has poured out upon them, they will be so grateful to Him that he will respond by forgiving others, by loving other, by giving to others in need, and by extending mercy to others.  If you really experience abundant grace in your life, what else can you give to others?  Ministry to others flows out of a transformed heart.  The love does not originate with me, but I am simply a funnel of the love of God which fills me as I believe the gospel and experience His Love, and then offer myself to my Lord so His life can be given to others through me.  This is why our corporate worship is central to mission.  We’re filled up by God as we worship and then go out to bless others with what we have been given.  This is God’s plan, and you are a part of it!  And when others experience a depth of mercy from you, they will extend tremendous mercy in return.

Let me tell you the true story of John Staggers.  John is with Jesus now, but he was a strong believer who was seeking the Lord as to how the Lord would have him reach out to others.  The Lord spoke clearly to his heart, asking him to begin a Bible study in Lorton prison– one of the worst prisons in the USA.  At first, he wasn’t received very well, but as John persisted in loving men in prison, in speaking the truth of the gospel to them and to caring for them, the Lord gave John great favor.  Several of these prisoners came to know Christ, and John continued to go there ever week to teach them what it meant to walk with Christ.  John met them where they were literally, in prison, and showed them great mercy which the Lord had given to him.  These men were in prison for murder, rape, armed robbery– not your run of the mill petty theft!  When we met John, he was getting older and a little slower.  A couple of these men were out on parole and John brought a couple of others with him on prison release.  John was still involved in their lives walking with them to help them stay out of prison, to hold down steady jobs, to be a father to their children and to love their wives.  Do you know how these ex-cons treated John– these men who had committed heinous crimes, but who had been recipients of the love of God through John?  They would do anything for John Staggers.  He asked out loud if someone would help him down the steps, and 3 of these men who were with us stumbled all over one another trying to help John.  There was a transformation in these men.  The mercy of God had been extended to them, and now they were able to do small things for John to extend mercy back to him in his older age.  To watch these men love on John was a powerful illustration of this truth.  As you continue to show compassion to others– the agape, selfless love of God which He has poured into your hearts– as you give this away to others consistently, you will receive much mercy in return.  You also will be under the blessed hand of God.  As you reflect the character of God to others, you are fulfilling His plan for you.  Doesn’t it make sense to you, that as you fulfill God’s purposes in creating you, as you reflect His mercy to those around you, He will be very pleased with you.  One of the greatest joys of any son, what a man appreciates as much as any other thing, is to hear His father say, “Well done!  I am proud of you son!”  Some of you never received this affirmation from your earthly father, but the One person whom you really want to please is your heavenly Father, and He will respond to you and affirm you!  As you reflect His character of mercy to others, you will experience His joy in you, His great mercy over you!

III. What does this look like in our daily lives?

The story is told of William Booth, who could not sleep one night.  He walked down to the poor side of London and there, in the cover of darkness, saw the impoverished and downtrodden of the city.  The rain was beating down on addicts and homeless who were trying to sleep on the curb sides.  When Booth returned home, he told his wife, “I’ve been to hell.”  And he described the horror of what he had seen.  Booth’s dream of the Salvation Army came out of that experience.  If Booth had not left the comfort and security of his own home, he never would have become aware of the needs of homeless in his own city.