Blessed are the Merciful
Matthew 5:7
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SERMON SUMMARY
​The Beatitudes flip our understanding of things upside-down.  The merciful are not typically thought of as blessed, rather its the ruthless.  Those who do like to promote mercy, often promote a twisted version of it.  In this message we'll check out what true mercy looks like and how it is multiplied in the believer's life.

Message begins at approx. the 5:30 min mark.

​​Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

​Matthew 5:7 ESV

Darren Carlson has been the President of a worldwide ministry called Training Leader’s International.  This position has taken Carlson all over the world.  While visiting Christians in Athens, he also met with Iranian and Afghan refugees who were seeking asylum in Greece.  As he mingled with those refugees, he recounts a story which he says he encountered many times over while he was there.  It would go like this:  Someone would say,

I left my country, and everywhere on my way to Greece, there were Christians. As I left my country, Muslims were literally shooting at me and my family. But in Turkey and Greece, Christians have welcomed me, clothed me, and fed me.

When I got off the boat, it was Christians that were passing out food and water. When I came to Athens, it was Christians who gave me a shower, helped me with a medical issue, and gave me a meal with spices from my home. I became a Christian because they were so different than Muslims.

There’s a marked contrast, is there not?  It’s an extreme one to be sure.  But it is quite illustrative:  On the one hand, you have a group of people who saw the pain and suffering of these refugees.  After viewing their plight they took pity upon them and offered to expressions of love and kindness, that they may be relieved of their sufferings.  Then, on the other extreme, you have a group of people who were quite calloused.  They treated these refugees with contempt and wanted nothing to do with them.  They coldly ran them out and put them on the streets.

Carlson’s story is one that expresses the heart of the beatitude before us this morning.  It is a story of real compassion and what ought to be at the heart of everyone who calls themselves a Christian. 

That is what this beatitude is all about.  For when we look at it we may ask, “who are those who are blessed?”  And you remember that this question is the same as asking, “What does a Christian look like?”  What kind of attributes will you find in a Christian?  And the answer that Jesus gives us is that those who are blessed are those who are merciful. 

And there is a sense in which we need to dwell on this question.  For mercy is something that is altogether missed and misunderstood in our day and age.  Once we understand how it is missed and how it is misunderstood, we can talk about how it is manifested and multiplied.

I. How mercy is missed
You might say that, on the one hand, this is something that is wholly missed in our day and age.  And what Jesus says here may be a little shocking in some respects.  That’s because the ones who are typically regarded as blessed in our world are those who are more calloused and who act in a merciless way. 

For instance, we might think of a guy like the late Steve Jobs of Apple iPhone fame.  Apple products soared into notoriety because Jobs was at the helm of the ship.  Jobs not only became incredibly rich, but he is now looked at as one of the most influential people in America.

But it is no secret that Steve Jobs was an incredibly ruthless in his leadership style. 

One article about Jobs’ legacy noted that “employees often had to work long hours, scrap ideas in response to his negative feedback, and tolerate a lot of harsh criticism. There are many legends of him firing interns following shared elevator rides, none of which have been definitively proven.”[1]

Another article summed it up this way:  “Steve Jobs was a tyrant leader, a manipulative executive, a failed father, a terrible husband, and a hypocrite who sold devices to the world which were not permitted to his own children.  [He was] a man who died lonely, and was hated by people who surrounded him. You love him, I know. Go and ask the people who worked with him and were fired on the spot and also those who were called [derogatory words I cannot repeat here] in public.”

But anyone here involved in the business world and who has done any kind of leadership advancement has probably seen Steve Jobs hailed as one of the greatest our time has ever produced.  He’s thought of as one who is “driven,” a man “who knows how to get things done,” a “stickler for detail,” “innovative,” and “passionate.”

In other words, Steve Jobs is a blessed man in the world’s eyes.  His legacy lives on and tales are told of him as people gather at leadership summits.  We idolize him and enshrine him as the leader god.
Similar things could be said about church leaders, unfortunately.  The Steve Job’s sort of mentality exists within the leadership of churches as they push for the perfect branding, the great image, and more people in the doors.

That’s how you get on in this world.  That’s how you get blessed.  It is by doing whatever it takes.  It’s by playing hardball.  It may mean that there are some corpses in your wake, but you get ahead that way.

What Jesus says here stands in direct contradiction to the normal mindset of the world.  The world says, “Look out for number one.” But Jesus says, “blessed are the merciful.”
But mercy is not just missing from our culture, it is often misunderstood as well.

II. How mercy is misunderstood
Yes, there are those who hate mercy and disregard the whole notion of it, but there are others who go to the opposite extreme and glorify mercy.  But the kind of mercy that they embrace is not the one that is held forth in Scripture. It is a twisted form of mercy. 

They may think that they are showing mercy, but they are not.  What they are actually doing is disobeying the kind of lawful action that God wants them to take.

There’s a story in the Old Testament that really illustrates this.  It’s the story about Saul’s war with Agag.  King Saul was supposed to go and utterly destroy Agag and his people.  Even the flocks and the herds were to be completely wiped out.  Not one thing was to be spared.  God had commanded that they take no prisoners or spoil.

But you know what Saul did?  Saul fudged the lines a little.  He not only spared Agag (taking him prisoner), he also took some of the animals took keep for himself.  And that was a grave sin in the eyes of the Lord.

You understand what was going through Saul’s mind though.  He thought he would do something nice.  So he held back a little.  Instead of fulfilling the demands of God, he thought he would show a degree of “mercy.”  But that was not mercy; that was disobedience.

We have to understand that when God calls for us to do something, to waiver in that or hold back from it is wrong.

We see this today in our justice system.  We think that the death penalty is too cruel or severe.  And so we have created this system of prisons and fines and re-education.  We do this thinking that we are so much more kind and caring.  We look upon that which God ordained for justice as cruel and calloused and we have tried to come up with something we would call much more merciful or “humane.”

The same thing happens in homes.  Instead of rearing our kids the way the Lord wants and taking the Lord’s forms of discipline seriously and applying them the way we should, we try to express what we believe to be a more sympathetic form of parenting.  Instead of using corporal discipline we take a different course of action or even take no course of action. 

We need to understand that this is a humanistic approach and it is a perverted form of mercy.  It is not the kind of mercy Jesus is speaking of here.  A merciful person is not one who is derailing the commands of God in order to achieve something they think is more pleasant. 

True mercy will never denigrate the law of God.  True mercy will never replace God’s law with some form of made up, human ideal.  That is injustice and evil, not mercy.

Which makes us then ask, what then is true mercy?  How is it truly manifested?

III. How mercy is manifested
Mercy is manifested when you see another person in need and you seek to offer whatever help you can in order to bring them relief.  I personally love the definition that the old Puritan minister Thomas Watson gives.  He says that mercy is “a melting disposition whereby we lay to heart the miseries of others and are ready on all occasions to be an instrument for their good.”

What I want to do here is give you a few examples of how merciful people act.  That way you will understand how mercy is manifested and whether or not you are one of these blessed people.
The first way a person manifests mercy is in…

A. Forgiving the guilty 
That is to say, those who have offended you.  A merciful person is one who makes it his aim not to bear a grudge or become embittered against those who have sinned against them in some way or other.  They show mercy in that they grant forgiveness or at the very least, (if a person does not repent of their sin), he demonstrates a forgiving spirit towards them.

You know there are many families that have deep divides within them because they simply cannot show mercy towards one another.  They are always holding onto injuries and harboring ill feelings towards their spouse, or sibling, or parent. 

There are churches that cannot grow because the members are always leaving.  And they leave because they have a calloused attitude towards their brothers and sisters in Christ.  They are not willing to set aside their pride and show the kindness of bearing and forbearing. 

It is calloused and ruthless because you are essentially saying, “I want you to suffer.”  You made me hurt, and I cannot give you the blessing of my fellowship.

This attitude is not in keeping with the grace that God has shown us.  God in his infinite mercy has forgiven us a debt which we cannot even begin to imagine.  Our sins, which were legion, were all pardoned by God. And our God drew near to us to fellowship with us.

The person who has experienced the depth of that mercy will be one who is merciful himself.  He will be ready to forgive and extend the kindness of his love to those who sin against him.

Mercy is also manifested when you help the needy.

B. Helping the needy
When someone is sick or poor, they will typically be in need of some kind of assistance.  A merciful person will see their plight and make an attempt to provide for their comfort.  This is most aptly illustrated in the parable of the Good Samaritan.   It’s also illustrated with regard to the refugees I mentioned at the outset who were encountering Christians who were lending tangible forms of relief.

Now again, we must recognize that this is one’s own help.  Jesus is not telling us that a merciful person will advocate for the redistribution of wealth through social programs.  Merciful people do not raise taxes and force people to give by taking their money.  That would be a grave misunderstanding of mercy.  One that violates the commands of God, like we said earlier.

This is a person who out of his own resources is willing to sacrifice what he has.  The Good Samaritan spared his own time by bandaging up the man and taking him to an inn.  He paid out of his own pocket the money that was needed for the man’s recovery.

In sum, a merciful person takes seriously the need to care for the poor and needy (the fatherless, the widow, the sick, the indigent).  He has a melting disposition whereby he lays to heart their miseries and is ready on all occasions to be the instrument for their good.
Thirdly, you manifest mercy when you instruct the ignorant. 

C. Instructing the ignorant
It is interesting that there are several words that can be translated mercy or compassion in the New Testament.  One of the words is used in Matthew 9 (splagchnizomai) and it literally means to “hurt in the bowels.”  Jesus looked upon the crowds and he felt compassion, he ached in his gut for them (so to speak) because they were like sheep without a shepherd. 

Of course, it’s not that Jesus had some digestive issues.  It’s a way of talking about his feelings.  He got emotionally sick because of what he saw.  He hurt emotionally because these people were hurting spiritually.  They were ignorant of God’s ways.  The religious leaders were not doing their job and teaching the people.

And this is one way we can show mercy.  It may be that we do some teaching.  It may be that we put a kid through school and pay for his tuition.  Or it may simply be that we lovingly go to them and offer some guidance.

We understand that schools typically have gotten started because Christians have seen the need for instruction.  They wanted kids to be able to read the Word of God and be taught how they might live for him.  That’s traditionally been a mark of the Christian populous.

Let me give you one more.  Mercy is manifested when you befriend the lonely.

D. Befriending the lonely
That’s something I often see a lot here.  It’s a great thing.  When someone visits our church, I love it that they are always welcomed and made to feel like they belong here.  That’s what mercy is all about. 
And I merely want to encourage it all that much more by pointing it out here.  That is a mark of a merciful person.  And this is a something that you young people in particular can be aware of.  A merciful person will notice that someone needs a friend.  They understand that loneliness is a miserable condition and they will do what they can to keep someone from feeling like they are not part of the group.

Now, I’ve mentioned just 4 ways mercy is shown.  I’m sure we could go and list many more.  This is not an exhaustive list, by any means.  I do, however, think that it at least is a good summary of what mercy really looks like.

If I might borrow from Thomas Watson again.  I might summarize this by saying that mercy is manifested when you have a “tender commiseration” which is coupled with a “liberal contribution.”  It doesn’t matter if it is forgiveness, physical provisions, or just your simple love and attention. You will know you are merciful when you open wide your heart and hand to assist the ones around you who are in need.

I want to move on and talk about how mercy is multiplied.

IV. How mercy is multiplied
The second half of our beatitude says that those who are merciful will receive mercy.

Now, we have to understand that Jesus is talking about how the Lord will grant extra help to those who are helpers.  Mercy is multiplied in that the Lord looks favorably upon those who are kind, compassionate, and charitable.  And, when this person comes to times of need and finds himself suffering in some particular way, God will remember his promise and come to his aid.

This is not to be mistaken with the mercy that is first experienced in our salvation.  That mercy is already evident in the merciful person’s life.  Indeed, he would not be merciful if he had not already experienced mercy. 

As we have seen, the beatitudes are built one upon another.  We’ve already seen that the blessed man has received mercy.  God in his mercy no doubt made him able to see his poverty of spirit.  Had God not given him this mercy, he would never have acknowledged his sinful, lost condition.  He would not have mourned it.  There are many hard hearted people in this world who are rejoicing in their sin and quite pleased with it. 

Of course, God’s mercy was what made him meek.  It is what gave him that drive to hunger and thirst for righteousness.  And here we can say that he is merciful only because God in His great mercy has shown mercy to him and given him a merciful spirit.

So do not confuse this promise with the initial mercy that a Christian person experiences.  He is not earning mercy or obtaining salvation by virtue of his being mercy.  That is not the case at all.  It is as I said, he is seeing mercy multiplied in his because God takes delight in him and wishes to reward him.

Let’s just take an example.  Let’s say that you are merciful in that you are very generous in helping the poor.  You devote a good deal of your time and energy, not to mention you own, hard earned wages to helping some families who are in great need.  You help them gain shelter and a good supply of food.  You give them instruction and provide some connections so that the fellow can obtain some gainful employment.  Of course, this was not a one and out kind of thing.  This was months of showing love and kindness, patience and care.

Now later on, you may find yourself having come into hard times.  Maybe the economy takes a dive or the company you work for goes belly up for some reason.  Now you’re in a position where you are in need.  What do you think will happen?  Do you think that God will abandon you and leave you to suffer?  That would seem out of accord with what he has promised, wouldn’t it?

Of course, we know the Lord has his ways and ordains the events of our life.  And he can do whatsoever he pleases.  We know that all things will work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.  So the Lord may very well take us down paths of difficulty. 
But we should have the confidence that He will bear us up and show steadfast mercy to us through those times.  And we should further be assured that he will bring us through it.  The Lord will likely show mercy by sending us aid, making our finances stretch, and (above all) opening up a new opportunity for employment.

Let me give you a more clear illustration; a real world story can be found in John G. Patton, missionary to the New Hebrides.  Patton ministered among these heathen cannibals for years on end.  He worked diligently to not only minister the Word of God, but also to show mercy to the native peoples in the midst of all their heathen problems.  Children were cared for.  Women were rescued.  Medical treatments were given.  Food was distributed.  There were all kinds of good and kind things done for these people.

But they were uncivilized heathens.  And there were numerous times that Patton’s life was in danger.  He was hunted and taunted; threatened and at times face to face with the thought that the foes outside his door would burst in and run him through.  Yet time and again, he was spared.  One wonders how he made it.  And, in his autobiography, he essentially wondered the same.  The only thing that he could attribute to is that God, in his mercy, gave him deliverance time and again.
Does that not seem like what would be in keeping with what Jesus has said here?  Does it not make sense that the Lord will bless those who bless him?

Of course, God is the one who multiplies these mercies.  But we should recognize that this has an earthly element too.  The more merciful we are to others, the more inclined they will be to be merciful to me.  The more friends you make by means of mercy, the more people there will be who will show kindness and mercy towards you. 

You can become endeared to many because of the love you show.

Now do you not see how mercy can be multiplied?  It should be quite evident that the Lord causes his mercy to proliferate in the lives of his people.  And a true Christian should be able to attest to their life has been filled with mercy, from first to last.



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[1] https://www.fingerprintforsuccess.com/blog/steve-jobs-leadership-style