Mercy
“God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew 5:7
The simple fact is that we rely totally on the truth that God is merciful. We have sinned against him and those around us and if he were to insist on being just then we wouldn’t stand a chance. However, God is ‘rich in mercy’, to use Paul’s wonderful expression in Ephesians 2:4. God has chosen to set us free from our sin because of his love for us. That all sounds wonderful, but we need to realise that God doesn’t merely ask us to show mercy but demands that we do. Receiving his mercy and hugging it to ourselves is not an option. Since we have received mercy, we are required to be merciful to others.
Showing mercy sounds easy and straightforward right up to the moment when we need to put it into practice. When people have been rude to us or gone out of their way to hurt us, we all instinctively want to hit back. We want justice because we shouldn’t be treated like this. It isn’t right. Jesus isn’t denying the reality of our suffering. He knew all about being abused and ill-treated. However, he calls us not to fight back or to seek justice, but to show mercy.
The person who has learned to show mercy has learned the meaning of sympathy. The word sympathy comes from the Greek word pathos and literally means to ‘suffer with’ another person. We do this by seeking to walk in their shoes. Yes, we have been unfairly treated and that’s not right, but the person who has harmed us has their own difficulties and struggles. Perhaps the way in which they spoke or acted towards us is because of their own inner turmoil. As we understand more about them it will be increasingly easy to forgive them. As the French proverb says: “To know all is to forgive all.” However hard it may be we need to forgive them and, in that way, offer them the opportunity for their healing. This is tough in the extreme, but that’s what Jesus is saying with the sure knowledge that, if we act mercifully, we will be shown mercy.
QUESTION
In what situations have you needed to show mercy recently?
PRAYER
Lord God, I praise you that you are rich in mercy and have always been so generous and forgiving to me. Give me the strength to be merciful to others when they have hurt and offended me. Amen