Page 1 The Boomerang Blessing Matthew 5:7;18:21-35 Many of you are probably familiar with the comic strip Peanuts. One winter evening Linus sticks his head out the door and calls to his sister Lucy, Mom said to tell you it s time to come in. Standing next to her snowman Lucy says, Rats. As she turns to go in she says, Goodnight friend, I ll see you in the morning. Standing at the front door Lucy again turns to her snowman saying, Goodnight! Inside Lucy takes off her coat and gloves while in the background Linus watches TV. Going over to the window she looks out at her snowman friend and says, I feel sorry for my snowman; I hate to see him stand out in the yard alone all night. Next we see Linus is no longer watching TV but is standing behind his sister with a sad look on his face. And finally we see Linus with a long frown on his face as he stands out in the cold next to Lucy s snowman friend. We re not told if Linus had compassion on the snowman or not; Schultz leaves us to wonder. We have been making a journey through a section of the scripture known as the beatitudes, which are found in Matthew chapter five and are a part of the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus. Jesus said: 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Today we look at verse 7: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. THE DEFINITION: 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
Page 2 understanding 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. We read in James 2:15-16: Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, Go in peace; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 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. Mercy also is 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 is used to describe an attribute of God. In Ephesians Paul writes that God is "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 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.
Page 3 You see mercy is an action, not a reaction. "Eleos," has its greatest meaning in our key word 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 there is the problem: it s one thing to say we forgive, it s another to become actively involved in mercy. A definition of mercy is love in ACTION. 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 4:9-10 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 white washing of our sins, with His blood. II. THE APPLICATION: How do we apply this principle in our everyday lives? How do we practically demonstrate this action word, this mercy? Here are four ways to evaluate ourselves and see how merciful we really are. (A) If we are merciful, we will be patient with those who are different than us. Now, that s a nice way to say, be helpful even to oddballs. At times we will come into contact with those who we see as peculiar. And we can evaluate ourselves on how merciful we are by asking: "How do I treat those who are different? Those who are a little odd?" Mercy produces tolerance. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 says,...encourage the timid, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.
Page 4 Now, what if their uniqueness is not odd but offensive? How can we 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. Paul write in Romans 15:7: accept one another in the Lord, as Christ has accepted you. Showing mercy means to not be quick to criticize or to judge, to realize that hurtful people are hurting people. So, be patient with the unique. (B) If we are merciful, we will forgive those who have fallen. Ask yourself this question: When someone makes a mistake, do I rub it in, or rub it out? In Colossians 3:13 Paul writes: Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. It s an interesting thing about forgiveness that when we are called to receive it, it is so easy and feels so right. But when we 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. How many times should be forgive? Jesus answers that question when Peter says seven times. Jesus replies, No, not seven times... but seventy times seven! Matthew 18:22 That number is understood by the disciples 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 us but to those who have made mistakes that we just cannot understand. All of us have vulnerable areas to temptation. And maybe we can t understand how someone can have an ego problem, but they don t get why we struggle
Page 5 with gossip. Maybe we cannot conceive how anyone could ever takes drugs, but they can t fathom our inability to deal with greed. How do we treat the fallen? Merciful people don t point a finger, they lend a helping hand. (C) If we are a merciful person, we will help those who are hurting. Proverbs 3:27 tells us: Do not withhold good from those who need it, when it is in your power to act. Remember, mercy is love in action. When we only feel sorry for someone, and we have the power to help, we are not being like Christ. 1 John 3:17-18: "Now, suppose a person had enough to live on and notices another in need. How can God s love be in that person if he doesn t bother to help? Dear children, we must show love through actions, not through empty words. We don t have God s love when, if we have opportunity, we don t show it! John Wesley said: "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, as Paul writes in Galatians 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! (D) There is a fourth mark of mercy, and this is the hardest of all. If we are merciful, we will do good to our enemies. Jesus says: "If you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the most high, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful." Luke 6:33, 35 A tangible mark of spiritual maturity is when we can do good to our 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
Page 6 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. Paul echoes Jesus words in Romans 12:17-21: Do not repay anyone evil for evil... 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. On the contrary: `if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. Do you know the best way to destroy an enemy? Make them your friend. You can do that by doing good to them in spite of what they do to you. So, how do we apply this beatitude? We are patient with the peculiar, forgiving of the fallen, helpful to the hurting and good to those who hurt us. That s mercy. But that s a tall order and we need some powerful motivators to help us accomplish this. Here are two reasons to be merciful. One reason to be merciful is because God is merciful to us. That s the whole point of the parable of the unmerciful servant found in Matthew 18 where Jesus says: Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. At this the servant fell on his knees before him. Be patient with me, he begged, and I will pay back everything. The servant s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. Pay back what you owe
Page 7 me! he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, Be patient with me, and I will pay it back. But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. Matthew 18:23-30 And as you read on you ll learn that when the merciful King finds out how unmerciful this servant was... well, let s just say it didn t go well with the servant. This parable assumes that there are going to be people who mistreat us, who owe us and won t pay, who are really jerks. When people are jerking us around and we are having a hard time dealing with them, remember the times we ve been jerks with God. When I think of all the flack that God has taken from me, all the times I ve done things my own way, all the dumb stunts I ve pulled, all the ways I ve sinned; and yet God still loves me. If He can be merciful to me, with all I ve done, can t I be merciful to others? A second motivator in giving mercy is understanding that we are going to need mercy in the future. Only one person ever lived a perfect life on this earth, and He is the one who makes mercy possible for us. And we are going to need mercy tomorrow or the next day or the next. Not only have we needed it in the past, we ll need more in the future. James 2:13-...no mercy will be shown to those who have not been merciful. In other words, "you get what you give." Mercy is not getting what we deserve, but what we need. And we ought to be motivated to give because we will need it. Blessed are those who are merciful, for they shall receive mercy." In the movie Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes has just escaped from the impenetrable Chaetu D lf prison where he s been unjustly held. He makes a miraculous get-away and swims
Page 8 to an island only to find more unmerciful treatment. Watch what happens on the island. {Video Clip: Count of Monte Cristo} If you are familiar with the story of The Count of Monte Cristo you know that as a result of this kind act, Edmond won a friend for life. Jacopo was not innocent, he was a thief and a smuggler, a betrayer of his crew. Yet in sparing his life, not taking what was his due as the winner, Edmond won his undying friendship and later Jacopo even saves his life. That s one of the blessings of being merciful. That when you need it you ll get it. That s why this is called Jesus Boomerang Blessing. We give mercy, and by being known as a merciful person when we need mercy, we ll more often than not have the satisfaction of receiving it. How do we become a merciful persons? The starting point is that we must first experience the mercy of God. We cannot offer mercy to anyone until we have first received mercy. We can t be a forgiving person unless we have been forgiven. The starting point is we must receive the mercy of God. Once we have experienced the mercy of God through Jesus Christ, then we can offer mercy to others. For, the truth about mercy is that if we are not merciful we won t receive mercy. Or as Jesus puts it: the unforgiving are unforgiven. And this doesn t just apply to the world. Look at the last verse in the parable of Matthew 18:35: This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart. The servant that refused to forgive was in turn refused forgiveness. Receiving God s mercy and forgiveness is important, but so is giving that mercy to others.
Page 9 You see, when we re merciful, we enjoy God s mercy. And this is very importantwhen we re merciful, we re able to forgive others and ourselves. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.