Blessed are the Merciful and Pure
Matthew 5:7-8
Harry Stoliker
February 24, 2008 EBC
Listen
Have these statements of blessing from the Sermon on Kingdom Discipleship
been changing your life? Have you been working them out in your relationships
at home, school and work? We are on the 5th one now. Can you remember
the first 4 of them? (Poor in spirit – mourn – meek – hunger/thirst) How
have they affected your relationship with God in Christ? Have they made you
cry out to God for more grace to be poured into your life?
Here’s how A.W. Pink describes the ‘Beatitudes’: “In these
beatitudes the Lord Jesus delineates the distinguishing characteristics and
privileges of those who are truly His disciples - the ‘birthmarks’
by which the true subject of His kingdom may be identified.” These are birthmarks
you can be proud of. Most people aren’t so proud of their natural birthmark
for some reason. These beatitudes are kingdom birthmarks that should
be visible to anyone who looks at your life.
V.7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
What is mercy? Let me give you a brief collection of insightful definitions:
“Mercy is love for those in misery and a forgiving spirit toward the sinner.
It embraces both the kindly feeling and the kindly act.” (Hendriksen
)
“Mercy is getting down on your hands and knees and doing what you can to restore
dignity to someone whose life has been broken by sin, whether his own
or that of someone else. Mercy does not hide behind unbiblical scruples
in order to protect itself from costly service. The unmerciful refuse to pay
the cost of being inconvenienced; another is their refusal to die to their own
plans and to fit in with the providence of God in their lives.
How is it that we claim to be Christians and show so little mercy?
Why are we so self-seeking, choosing a lifestyle of convenience rather than a self-sacrificing
lifestyle of showing mercy? Is it because we have felt our own need of mercy
far too little? Is it because we have only a superficial understanding of the
riches of God’s kindness to us? There can be no other explanations.
Those who know they have received mercy, show mercy.” (Ferguson )
“The noun mercy always deals with what we see of pain, misery and distress,
these results of sin; and grace always deals with the sin and guilt itself.
The one extends relief, the other pardon; the one cures, heals, helps,
the other cleanses and reinstates.” (Lenski)
Who should we show mercy to? The objects of our mercy may be people who are overcome
by natural disasters, the hungry, the sick, the outcast, those who have been wronged
and injured by others. John Stott said: “Our God is a merciful God
and shows mercy continuously; the citizens of his kingdom must show mercy too. The
world prefers to insulate itself against the pains and calamities of men.
”
To insulate yourself against the pains of other people is to purposely ignore
them by various means. You might decide to stay uninformed of their needs:
Willful ignorance. Thinking that if you don’t know the need they you
don’t have to do anything about it. You might minimize the need the
person has by saying: “Oh, he’ll be able to help himself, I don’t need to get involved.”
You could blame the person for their situation and think that exempts you
from helping. “He got himself into this mess and it’s up to him to get himself
out of it.” You could transfer responsibility to help to other people.
“Someone else can help her better than I can, so I should just stay out of the way.”
Or you could just callously say you don’t have the time or energy to show
mercy. I’m sure there are other ways, even pious ways of leaving people in
their misery rather than demonstrating mercy.
Luke 10:29-37 - The parable of the Good Samaritan has always been
a dagger in my self-centered, schedule-centered, task-oriented, performance-driven,
goal-worshipping lifestyle! It’s this thing about ‘loving my neighbor as myself’
that really tests whether I do love God with all my heart, soul, strength,
and mind. God is self-sufficient. He isn’t high maintenance. I don’t
have to give up Saturdays or stop what I’m doing to show mercy to
God. He’s no bother to me and doesn’t interrupt my schedule. But it’s
these ‘neighbors’ of mine that keep demanding the practical works of
mercy that push me deeper into sanctification.
Listen to these bullet points:
- God providentially brought each of the 3 men across the path of the man in
need. It is God’s providence that puts you in mercy situations.
- Seeing where mercy is needed isn’t rocket-science most of the time. The man
was stripped, bleeding and half dead. It takes work to close your eyes to the need
for mercy.
- There will always be some human reason that seems to justify not helping the
one who needs mercy. We are all too busy, too hurried, too overloaded with cares
– so that can’t be a legitimate excuse.
- ·People can even hide behind religion when they don’t want to show mercy.
A priest and Levite has religious duties to attend to, they could take the time
to fulfill the second greatest commandment of God!
- There will be a significant cost to showing mercy. The Samaritan didn’t just
put on a band aid over the need, he said to the innkeeper: “Look after him, and
when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.” He left
his credit card, so to speak.
- Jesus expected his listeners to go act like the despised Samaritan.
God has said it so clearly: “If you belong to me, then look like me!”
If we claim to be Christians who bear the image of God and the image of Christ,
then we must be merciful people. God wants you to live a life of mercy-showings!
Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what the LORD requires
of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
We are to simply LOVE showing mercy to people! Our problem is that we too
often love showing the judgment and justice and strictness
and regulations and condemnation and ridicule and their rubbing
their noses in their own sins.
God has always revealed Himself as a God of Mercy!
Nehemiah 9:30-31 “Many years you bore with them and warned them
by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you
gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. Nevertheless, in your great
mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious
and merciful God.”
Jonah 4:1-2 “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
And he prayed to the Lord and said, "O Lord, is not this what I said when I
was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that
you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast
love, and relenting from disaster.”
Exodus 34:6 “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.”
Luke 6:35-36 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing
in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High,
for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is
merciful.”
Here is a story is about a pastor friend of mine who is trying to learn what it means
to have a heart of mercy and love: “The woman on the phone was crying softly.
Sally (not her real name) said she had not eaten in two days and that she
had fallen and broken her arm the night before. Her list of woes was
long, as it has been in the past when she called. With shame, I admit that
I didn't want to get involved in her troubles. But, the love of Jesus compels
me, so I asked Pat, who coordinates the church's food pantry ministry, to prepare
a bag of groceries that I could take to Sally.
When I got to her room; yes, she lives in a single room, my heart was broken
by the poverty, loneliness, desperation in that place. A hug, a prayer, and
a bag of groceries didn't begin to meet her need! I left heavy-hearted,
wondering what the Body of Christ could or should do for Sally. Without help, she
will never be able to climb out of the pit into which she has fallen. Most likely
she has made poor decisions along the way that have only made her situation
worse. But, can we, should we, just leave her beside the road, beaten up
by the devil and dying, spiritually and physically?
Sally and those who live 'on the edge' like her, are often invisible to the rest
of us. We choose not to see them, for when we do, we realize
that we have a responsibility to care for them. By care, I do not mean, just
feed them, either. We must offer love - costly, sacrificial love.
Why? Because that is what Jesus teaches us in the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Believer, the salvation God has given to us is not just for Heaven.
We are to be about the business of building the Kingdom, here and now. That
means we include the Sally's of this world. But, we cannot help them if we do not
'see' them. The solutions are not simple, easy, or cheap. Success is not
guaranteed. But, Jesus sends us to love the least and the lost
just as He loved us. Doing so will disturb our middle class serenity, drag
us out of our comfort zone, and mess up our lives. And, it will also
make us just like Him!” (Jerry Scott)
Proverbs 21:13 “Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself
call out and not be answered.” There are serious consequences for
NOT being merciful toward the Sally’s that God brings into our lives. Prov. 14:21
“He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed Is he who is kind to the needy.”
Js. 2:13 “Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been
merciful.”
What is the best way to generate a heart of mercy in yourself? I can’t think
of a better way than to realize as deeply as possible how much mercy God has show
you in your miserable pre-Christian state (as well as the continuing
mercy you enjoy every day of your life!).
Luke 18:11-14 “The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus:
'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give
tithes of all that I get.' 13 But the tax collector, standing far
off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying,
'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' 14 I tell you,
this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other."
I looked at 11 texts in the Psalms that have the phrase “Have mercy on
me!” or “Have mercy on us!” They all remind us of our pitiful
state without God. “O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.”
“Consider my trouble from those who hate me.” For I am desolate and afflicted. The
troubles of my heart have enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses! Look on my affliction
and my pain, And forgive all my sins.”
Then the Scriptures thunder back to the man who cries out for mercy:
(Speaking of Jesus Christ) “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.”
APPLICATION: Let’s work hard to make this applicable to our lives.
When are you a merciful person? Let me look at your schedule in the
past 6 months, please. Hold it up. What have you been doing? Has God
providentially brought someone across your path, into your life that is
weak, broken, sinful, needy, miserable, hurt, suffering? If he has, He has
brought that person to you for one of at least two reasons. One: you
need to face the reality that you are living a ‘lifestyle of convenience rather
than a life-style of self-sacrifice” (Ferguson). God wants to show you that
you are living a selfish life. That is a very ugly thing but at least
you now can face it and change it. The other reason is because you are in
fact a merciful person and will help this broken person to find grace in their
time of need at the Cross of Christ.
That person needed to find someone who wasn’t going to harp on their sin
and beat them over the head with their past failures and withhold love until
they saw what they thought was enough groveling and penance. That person
needed someone like you who could just try to take a bit of the burning sting
of life out of the wounds by saying something kind and full of hope rather
than trying to make positively sure they tasted every ounce of the consequences
their sins deserved.
The broken person needed someone who had the wisdom that you a merciful person
has. Enough wisdom to know that God the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts of sin
and righteousness, so you don’t need to take His job from Him. He
can do it just fine.
In closing let me mention James 2:13 “Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
There is only one way that this statement can be true. That is if there was
a place where all our sins were fully paid for! Of course there was!
At the Cross of Jesus Christ God’s holy judgment came down on all of our
sins. Jesus paid the price that they deserved. Now, the mercy of God can
and does flow lavishly upon all those who repent and turn to Jesus for forgiveness.
Mercy triumphs over the righteous judgment we deserved because Jesus was
our substitutionary, sacrificial Lamb!
This has to be the pattern of your life toward other people. You have to
have the birthmark of “Mercy triumphs over judgment!” Lk. 6:36 is
your birthmark: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
Get down on your hands and knees in the mud of human misery and sin and brokenness
and bring a word of hope, forgiveness and blessing. Do not
be a relentless critic. Do not speak acid-words of judgment
and condemnation all the time. Do not withhold a heart of mercy that
opens your wallet to relieve the misery of the poor.
If Js. 5:11 says “…the Lord is very compassionate and merciful,” then
you should find joy in imitating him and not imitating the devil who is the
“accuser of the brothers.”
If you ever come across another person who likes identical to Harry Stoliker
and you want to know which one is the real Harry Stoliker, just pull up the
sleeve on his right arm and look for his birthmark. It’s there. It
looks like a brown pineapple 3 ½ inches down from his wrist.
But if you really want to know if he has been born from above, look to see
if he has the kingdom birthmark of a heart full of mercy.
Do you have this blessed birthmark?
Let’s pray,
H.