It Starts Small

⁷ Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7

Happy are those who give mercy because they will receive mercy! How do we tie happiness in with mercy? Mercy is what fuels compassion. Mercy is kindness. Mercy is forward forgiveness. Mercy is empathy. Mercy is choosing to not be offended. Mercy is seeing beyond hurtful words and actions and seeing a heart that is hurting. Mercy is a characteristic of God.

God’s mercy is his love for us. It’s because he loves us, he made a way through Christ that we could be redeemed to him. It was Jesus that opened access to God to us. Through prayer, God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit living in us, we have a new mercy each day. Mercy is a gift to a repentant heart.

⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved; Ephesians 2:4-5

⁴ But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, ⁵ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Titus 3:4-5

God’s mercy is closely related to His forgiveness. What we do in response to God’s mercy sends an important message to the people in our lives.

¹⁷ But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. James 3:17

James is very clear on the matter. His letter is very clear that deeds are not required to earn God’s favor, however, it will be evident by the lives we live. God has chosen to be merciful to His people. Mercy is an expression of who God is and His love for us.

⁶ And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, ⁷ Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. Exodus 34:6-7

Mercy and grace are also closely related. Love is the common factor between the two. Grace gives what we don’t deserve and mercy doesn’t give us what we deserve but what we need. Mercy and grace, love and forgiveness are all characteristics of God acting in tandem. These are knit together in a beautiful tapestry of redemption and restoration.

There are a few examples of mercy in God’s Word:

Mercy despite ungratefulness and rebellion:

³ And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Exodus 16:3

It wasn’t long after the children of Israel were rescued from Egypt that they forgot God parted the Red Sea. They quickly forgot the miracles preformed and started grumbling about being hungry and thirsty. They would rather go back to slavery. But, God being merciful, not only fed them and lead them to water, he also protected them. This story continues throughout human history. The disciples all saw the miracle of Jesus turning a few fish and bread into enough food to not only feed 5,000, BUT also gave enough for them to take with them. Not soon after, a storm arose on the sea of Galilee and they forgot Jesus was all powerful. The wind and waves know the name of Jesus. After fighting the storm for hours they finally called upon Jesus to rescue them.

Mercy despite sin.

David is remembered as being a man after God’s own heart and a giant slayer. He decided to commit adulatory and have his mistress’ husband killed to cover up her pregnancy. We can never flee consequences, but no matter what God will always be merciful. David cried out to God and God answered.

¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

¹³ And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 2 Samuel 12:13

Though consequences for our bad choices can be harsh and hard, our merciful God will never leave us.

Mercy despite persecution

Paul was formerly known as Saul.

⁵⁹ And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.⁶⁰ And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. Acts 7:59-8:1

Paul was leading the charge of persecuting Christians. He approved and gave consent to have Stephan and others stoned. God had mercy on him and his faith in Jesus led him to endure all sorts of horrible events like jail, beatings, and shipwrecks. God’s mercy transforms lives.

Mercy despite condemnation

There’s an encounter between Jesus, a mob of people, and a woman caught in adulatory.

⁶ This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. ⁷ So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. ⁸ And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. ¹⁰ When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? ¹¹ She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. John 8:6-8,10-11

We have no idea what Jesus wrote on the ground, but we do know he showed great mercy. Mercy is forgiveness and compassion extended to those who do not deserve it. The accusers and the adulterers. He extends mercy to all! We can not fail our way out of God’s love.

No one these examples deserved mercy. There’s nothing they could’ve done to gain mercy. Mercy is a gift. It is unearned. It’s only by God’s love that he gives us mercy.

Today, the world is full of entitled people. Our natural way is to act sinful and selfish. The only way we can truly experience mercy and give mercy is by having our hearts transformed. Mercy releases understanding to adopt the command to love people. You can never truly understand the command to love others, until you understand the mercy and love God has for you. Mercy is is transformation in our relationships.

How do we show mercy?

First, we need to see the world through God’s eyes. We see a drunk passed out in the gutter with rats crawling all over him. God sees a man suffering the devastating effects of war. God sees a man who can not forgive himself. God see a man spiritually devoid and a painful history of being rejected and a spiritual hunger for freedom. The world sees a demeaning cold emotionless woman. God sees a heart with walls and a prison a little girl put herself into to protect her from her abusive father. God sees a heart that shuts others out for fear of rejection and a hurting heart trying to protects its self. We need to not look at the external circumstances but beyond them.

Second, forgiveness. Forgiveness on our part is the process of replacing hurt and resentment with compassion. Even if another person’s wrong doing brings harsh consequences or they refuse to admit their wrong doing. We receive mercy in the freedom from the chains of bitterness, the healing that can only come when we let go of anger. When we give genuine forgiveness we receive God’s mercy to be forgiven.

Finally, mercy is not just about forgiveness. We can be the light others need to find and receive healing through God’s mercy and forgiveness. We may not understand the drunk or the bitter woman, but through showing repeated acts of kindness, saying encouraging words, or offering an ear to hear can impact lives.

How does mercy bring happiness:

²¹ He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he. Proverbs 14:21

Being merciful and kind to others brings blessings! Mercy produces great joy in our lives.

¹⁷ The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh. Proverbs 11:17

This is one of God’s universal promises: You reap what you sow. Do you go around judging and condemning others? or do you go around being merciful and giving mercy through the love of God? One is a life of misery and the other happiness.