Give me some mercy!

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The Attitudes that must be! (Part 7)

Give me some mercy!

The machine that usually did the job was broken. And so they hired a man to paint lines on a newly resurfaced portion of a remote highway. The first day he painted 9 miles, and the supervisor, impressed by such an effort, told him he would hire him full time and give him a big raise if he kept up that pace for the next few days. But the next day he was able to paint only 5 miles. On the following day he did only one mile, then the next day a half a mile. The supervisor fired him but asked what had happened. "It isn’t my fault," the man muttered as he walked away shaking his head, "I just kept getting further and further away from the can."

Matthew 5:7-8 (NKJV)
7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

“This reminds of a joke about a lady who had her photograph taken and upon seeing the proof complained to the photographer. He said, "Ma’am what’s wrong?" "Wrong? Why this picture doesn’t do me justice." To which he looked at her and said, "Ma’am you don’t need justice, you need mercy."

2   mercy  a      a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion

Being merciful is a disposition to show kindness or compassion.

The Greek word for mercy, eleos, is used in relation to misery and its relief. Grace is God’s free gift displayed in the forgiveness of sins. Grace is extended to men as they are guilty. Mercy is extended to them as they are miserable (ISBE Bible Dictionary).

-In the first century Roman culture, mercy was not seen as a virtue, but was seen as a sign of weakness. One Roman philosopher called mercy “a disease of the soul”. To them mercy was a sign that you did not have what it takes to be a real man and especially a real Roman. They glorified courage, justice, discipline, and absolute power. They looked down on mercy because they saw it as weakness, and weakness was despised above all other human limitations. So mercy was hard to find in that day and age. [Daniel Brown, SC]

Jesus showed mercy everywhere He went.  His motivation came from the desire to please His Father, and from that flowed very deep love and mercy.

God was very often referred to as full of mercy!  Holy is the Lord, His mercy endures for ever.

2 Chronicles 7:3 (NKJV)
3 When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever.”

In the Holy of Holies there was a “mercy seat”

Exodus 34:6-7 (NKJV)
6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

Psalm 18:25 (NKJV)
25 With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;

Proverbs 11:17 (NKJV)
17 The merciful man does good for his own soul, But he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.

Isaiah 58:6 (NKJV)
6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?

Matthew 6:14-15 (NKJV)
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

MERCY IS GIVEN

It is available to everyone, given as a gift with cost!

Matthew 5:44-45 (NKJV)
44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

God does not reserve His mercy for those who deserve it. In fact, if anyone deserved it, it would not be mercy, but payment or obligation.

There are different personality types, some people are prone to justice, while others are prone to mercy.

Galatians 5:22 (NKJV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Mercy is found in the fruit of love, kindness, & goodness.

Ephesians 2:4-5 (NKJV)
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

-The point we need to see here is that in the midst of what might be a miserable life, we have a God who cares about us and offers His mercy and kindness. This free gift of mercy is available to all who will close their umbrellas of defense, and let the undeserved and unrestrained kindness of God wash over them.

Just as mercy is a free gift from God, coming down to us. 

Mercy should be fruit or an attribute of God coming out of us.

It’s through the work of the Holy Spirit in us that we can show mercy.   Even those who have a personality bent toward justice, can be merciful.    Sometimes we need to back up and look at people through the eyes of Jesus Christ.

1.      Merciful people help hurting people.

2.      Merciful people are patience with those who struggle.

Galatians 6:1-2 (NKJV)
1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

a.       How many times do we struggle in our walk and yet God continues to show us mercy.

3.      Merciful people are kind even to their enemies.

a.       How do you treat those who mistreat you? 

Matthew 5:46 (NKJV)
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

4.      Merciful people are forgiving.

Colossians 3:12-13 (NKJV)
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

a.       Notice he said to put on tender mercies, kindness etc. 

b.      This is an attitude adjustment, this is an attitude we must put on.

-Robert Schuller tells a story about Bernice Schug. He met Schug when she needed work and they hired her as a housekeeper. She was a lovely woman, showering the Schuller’s with love and poppy-seed rolls. But he says that no one knew of her hidden hurt. One day she came to Schuller and said, "Bob, I was reading the bulletin and I noticed that you are having a guest speaker next Sunday who was a Kamikaze pilot." Schuller nodded telling Bernice that this particular pilot had a tremendous story about finding Jesus. "That may be true, but my boy was killed in WWII by a Kamikaze pilot and I don’t think I could handle it." Schuller understood and told her he didn’t think it would hurt her to miss one Sunday. Schuller writes: "The next week the Japanese pilot shared his story. His love and gratitude for Jesus shone from his black eyes. You could feel the love and release he had found. People were moved by his testimony. And when the service was over, I walked with him back down the aisle to the rear of the Church. Suddenly, as we approached the last pew, an older woman stepped out directly in our path. She stood firmly in front of the Kamikaze pilot and blocked his exit. She looked him squarely in the eye and said, "My son was killed by a Kamikaze!" It was Schug. We all held our breath as she continued, "I have seen how God has forgiven you your sins, and tonight, for the first time in 40 years, I’ve allowed Him to forgive mine. Will you forgive my hatred for your people?" With tears in his eyes the young pilot said, "Will you forgive me for what my people did to you?" She threw her arms around this little Japanese man and they stood there holding each other, both of them crying and crying.” “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

When we realize the mercy shown to us everyday through the forgiveness offered at the cross; how can we not help but show mercy to others.

If we will allow mercy to flow out from us to others, it will change our lives and many lives around us. This is better than the world’s idea Paying It Forward! It’s better than building up good karma. Let’s look at this last perspective on mercy and the reward that comes from living in the flow of mercy.

MERCY REWAREDED!

Luke 6:35-38 (NKJV)
35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. 37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

God continually has an out flow of mercy; as we walk in Him we should also have a continual out flow of mercy. 

We will be rewarded when we live in a flow of mercy. 

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