When it comes to Mercy... You Get what you Give!

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." Matthew 5:7.

The first thing that touches you in reading those words, is that Jesus is saying to us, "You get what you give!" He's talking about the law of direct return, the law of reciprocity. For instance, if you go about life being critical of people, chances are very good that you'll wind up being criticized by others. On the other hand, if you strive to treat people with kindness and respect, chances are good that you’ll be treated with kindness and respect in return. The Bible says that we reap what we sow.  

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  This beatitude prompts the unavoidable question, "What is the right way to treat people?" Well, maybe I should stop and ask myself, "How would I like to be treated?" Jesus exhorts us to choose the path of mercy. 

What is mercy? Let me offer a very simple definition. Mercy is simply love in action. In the Scriptures, we often think of compassion and mercy linked together, and indeed, that seems to be the case.  Compassion is an attitude of the heart. It's something visceral, something that we feel deeply within us.  In Matthew chapter 9 we read that Jesus looked at the great multitude of people that were following him and he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. But mercy is more than just feeling sorry for people. It's more than feeling pity for someone who is down and out. It's doing something proactively to help alleviate their pain and suffering.  Mercy is more than kind words and deep feelings, mercy is love in action. 

There's no doubt that we live in a world where it's so easy for us to become callused and indifferent towards the pain and suffering around us. We are bombarded daily with news of tragedies, violent acts, and suffering people. And life often brings us our own share of such trials, hurts, and disappointments. Keeping our sanity and protecting ourselves from being hurt requires us to develop thick skin. That's our typical survival instinct. The idea is to keep your distance from the problems and suffering of others and you won’t get caught up in the problems.  But the danger is that it's not uncommon for this attitude to make us cynical and merciless. As Christians, God’s ambassadors, none of us want to develop a cynical or uncaring attitude. So, here’s a question you should ponder... How does a heart become merciful? Where does mercy come from? 

Mercy grows from the inside out.  Mercy grows from a heart that recognizes its own spiritual deficits. The key to becoming a merciful person is to first become a broken person — to realize your own need for mercy. Mercy comes from mercy. Mercy comes to us as we cry out to God and ask for it.  In Psalm 28, David cried out, "Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy." The Bible teaches that having been the recipients of mercy, we're commanded to extend mercy to others. Jesus said in Luke 6:36, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." 

In Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, one of the characters, Portia, says, "The quality of mercy is not strained. It drops as the gentle rain from heaven upon the Earth below, and it is twice-blessed. It blesses him that gives, and him that takes." Maybe Shakespeare had the Beatitudes in mind when he wrote his famous work. 

Certainly one of the clearest pictures of mercy in the Bible is the story of the Good Samaritan found in Luke chapter 10.  In the course of a debate, an expert in the law asked Jesus the question, "Who is my neighbor?" And Jesus proceeded to tell him the story of a man who was traveling down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and was held up by a band of thugs. They robbed him, stripped him of his clothing, and beat him within an inch of his life. As it happened, a priest saw him, didn't want to get involved, and passed him by... moving out of the way to other side of the road. A while later, a Levite saw him and did the same thing, he passed him by too. 

But then a lowly, despised Samaritan man came along and helped this poor man. He bandaged his wounds, took him to an inn, cared for him, even paid all of the expenses and promised the innkeeper that if more expenses were incurred, he'd pick up the tab when he returned to check on the poor fellow. Jesus then asked the expert on the law, "Who was the neighbor to this poor, helpless man?" The expert on the law said, "It's obvious, the one who had mercy on him." And Jesus said, "Go and do likewise." 

Isn't that a picture of what God did on our behalf? God saw us in our miserable, lost condition and he took pity on us.  Mercy was always in his plan from the very beginning.   He knew that sin had rendered us spiritually dead and utterly hopeless. He knew that he was the only one that had the power to bring about a remedy. God's remedy was to participate in our sufferings and he did that by sending his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to pay the penalty of our sins by dying on a cross. The apostle Paul said it this way...

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgression" (Ephesians 2:4).  Mercy is love in action! 

Something more to ponder... we don't struggle with the meaning of mercy as much as we struggle with the motivation for why we ought to be merciful toward others.  

Mercy comes from within... from your heart.  How does it grow?  It only can be... if you truly love the Lord.

Be merciful to others... or suffer the consequences!

God commands us to be merciful toward others because He has been so merciful to us. When you think about the people who have hurt you, if you're struggling to let go of the pain that others have caused you, we should stop for a moment and consider all of the flack we've given God. 

Let's be honest, the thing that most troubles us about mercy is that Jesus says it's a two way street. Much like the prophet Jonah, we want to be the beneficiaries of mercy, but we struggle to be the dispensers of mercy. We want God to forgive us immediately and completely, but it's so hard for us to forgive others. We would rather harbor grievances and nurture grudges. 

But Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, " Those who are merciful are truly blessed. Why? Jesus tells us, "for they will be shown mercy." They witness God's grace. Giving grace is the key to understanding grace. 

In Matthew 18:21-35, Jesus tells the story of a king who wanted to settle accounts with those who worked for him. He called in his debtors and told them to pay up. One man owed a staggering amount, ten thousand talents, a debt he could never repay in a dozen lifetimes. He fell on his knees and cried out for mercy. The king had mercy on the man and canceled the debt. His slate was wiped clean. As he was leaving the palace grounds, he encountered a fellow employee who owed him a measly debt. He grabbed the guy by the neck like a Mafia leg-breaker and demanded, "Give me my money, you lousy…." When this poor fellow begged for mercy, none was granted. Instead, this man who had just been forgiven a debt of ten thousand talents had his debtor thrown in jail. When word of this incident reached the ears of the king, he was livid. Jesus said in verse 35, "In his anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed." And then our Lord drops the bomb. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from the heart." 

There is a cognitive dissonance that often happens with this story. We read this and think, "Could someone actually be forgiven a debt of millions of dollars and be unable to forgive the debt of twenty dollars? How petty!" But who among us hasn't cried out for God's mercy and forgiveness on a Sunday morning during worship, and no sooner got home on Sunday afternoon and was suddenly overtaken by an angry and unforgiving spirit toward a brother or sister in Christ that offended and hurt us? 

And notice again in the parable what happens when we choose to calibrate our compassion. God turns us over to the jailer to be tortured. We're tortured by our own anger. We're choked by our own bitterness. But worse than that! At the end of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew chapter six, Jesus says, "If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." James, the brother of our Lord, says, "judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful." 

Brothers and sisters in Christ... what is that one thing you just can't seem to get out of your system? 

Maybe you were rejected by a spouse — you were left for someone else? Maybe you were unjustly fired from a job? Maybe you were mistreated by a parent? Maybe you were the victim of discrimination? Maybe you were betrayed by a friend?  Maybe you feel unloved or unappreciated by your children? But maybe it's not a big thing. Maybe it's something small. A social slight—not being invited to a party? Maybe at work your boss is showing favoritism toward others, you never receive credit for your good ideas and your hard work? In Proverbs 14:10, Solomon said, "Each heart knows its own bitterness." We all have our own hurts and disappointments. But the Bible warns us: "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." 

Why must we learn to be merciful? Because we owe it to God, we owe it to others, and the Scriptures tell us that we owe it to ourselves!  Anger, resentment, and bitterness will eventually metastasize to our very soul and destroy us!   

Are You Living... All In?

Once upon a time on a quaint little farm, there was a pig and a chicken. They were well looked after by the farmer and really appreciated how he always gave them their favorite foods and made their homes clean and comfortable. One day, the chicken was talking to the pig and said, “Did you know that Mr. Farmer is having a birthday this week?” The pig replied, “No, I didn’t. We should do something nice for him.“ The chicken and the pig went on with their day trying to think of a gift for Mr. Farmer.

As they admired the sun setting over the hills, the chicken said, “I’ve got a grand idea! Let’s do a nice breakfast for Mr. Farmer!” The pig got a little nervous when he heard this idea. “Er… a breakfast you say?” The chicken replied, “Sure, it would be lovely! Think of how Mr.Farmer will enjoy starting his morning off with a plate of eggs and bacon from us.” The pig felt even more nervous now, after all, he really did love the farmer and wanted to do something special for him. Seeing that the chicken wasn’t thinking of a “continental breakfast” the pig pressed the chicken, “Now hang on a moment... it’s not that easy for me the participate in this gift you want to give Mr. Farmer!   All you have to do is lay some eggs and go on about your day with a smile... for me, this is an “all in” commitment... I have to die to put [my] bacon on Mr. Farmer's plate!”

Cute and familiar story about the idea of what it means to be “all in”.  Now, think about it as an analogy to your life as a Christian. Suddenly it’s a tougher consideration than you might have first thought.  The knee-jerk reaction for most of us is that we’re absolutely the pig. Fully committed and fully passionate about what we do as Christians.  Are you really the pig, or is putting the “bacon” on the table a bit beyond what you might be willing to do?  It seems the real test is determined by our attitude and our actions. 

All In.  In the card game of poker, it could mean wagering one's entire stake, all the money you have, to the last penny.  The most concise, efficient meaning... All things having been taken into account, nothing held back, no reserves.

All in all, when first coined, was a reference to the omnipresent and all-pervasive nature of Almighty God, i.e. 'all things in all places'. The phrase comes from 1 Corinthians 15:28, which says... When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

There are numerous references in the Bible addressing the Christian’s commitment in various aspects of living: to our families, our neighbors, employers, the church, our health, and in “all things” what we do and say (Ephesians 6:5; Hebrews 10:25; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 31). The Bible also teaches that the chief commitment of our lives is to God Himself. Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38).

ALL your soul... ALL your mind?  Jesus is telling us in those powerful words that every fiber of our being, every facet of our lives must be fully, totally, completely committed to loving and serving God. This means that we can hold nothing back from Him because God holds nothing back from us (John 3:16).

Jesus has made it plain what’s involved in the cost of discipleship... “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24). In essence, the true cost of commitment to Christ is one’s total self-denial, cross-bearing –– following God no matter what happens in your life.  

These imperatives paint a vivid picture for us of personal sacrifice, selflessness, and service. A cross epitomized the ultimate punishment and humiliation (Galatians 3:13). More than that, it fully demonstrated the love of God (Romans 5:8)—selfless and sacrificial in the giving of His life for the world (Matthew 20:28).

It was the apostle Paul who exemplified the Lord’s example of commitment to sacrifice and service. when he said: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

So... what do you think, are you the chicken or the pig? Hesitating makes sense, but not for your entire life.  You must get on board with God's expectations, or risk your promise of eternal life. There’s a lot we are responsible for in meeting God’s expectations for our lives in relationship to Him.  Living Christian is a life long learning and growing experience of making steady progress.

Total commitment to God means that Jesus is our sole authority, our guiding light, our unerring compass.  However, instead of getting stuck in fear at what could happen, neither moving or growing in Christ, use your time of hesitation to think about how you can do the little things that will boost your “all in attitude”.  Remember, “he who is faithful in small things, will be faithful in the bigs ones when they come.” (Luke 16:10)  Your conscience will reveal your current level of commitment and help you determine how much action you will need to move your lifestyle and attitude into closer harmony with God.

Being committed to Christ means being fruitful... it means being a servant.   As Christians, our axiom is simple and succinct... “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).¨

How You See GOD... is the Way You See the CHURCH

God expects the Church, the Body of Christ, to be viewed with awe, and if we aren’t viewing it that way, then we aren’t seeing it properly. Among those who first saw the new born Church, there was a transition that took place in spirit and attitude. It was reported that those early believers "were filled with awe" when they saw the Church. Something very dramatic happened in their lives to the extent that they all abandoned their separate lives and were united together and had everything in common. It’s not just, "Yeah, yeah, I know. They loved Jesus and sometimes hung out together." They gave their life to the Messiah who they realized had come to save their souls. They repented of acts and attitudes that lead to division, strife and conflict. 

Something else happened, too. They were devoted to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to prayer, and to the breaking of bread—all these things have to do with other people and have to do with the Church. They instantly had a regard for the Household of God as something much more than a loose-knit affiliation of people who each believed in God. 

Fellowship... bearing with one another... was not just about praying for patience and strength to accept those you had a hard time accepting, it was about recognizing that even when hurt by others, this "Christian thing" is not about me, or you. or even us.  Its about living in the Spirit, being lead and influenced by the power of God, refusing to allow the standards of the world to permeate our views of one another.  These other people, those who hurt us... well, they are Christians, too and living under the same "grace" you are. So what do you do when faced with that uncomfortable reality?  Certainly you have choices... but the only right choice is to live for God, and not judge your fellow Christian, who is also living for God. 

True Love Expresses Itself among believers...

If there is someone you love desperately, such as your spouse and children, what does your mind and your heart want to do? You have to find some way to express that love. If you love someone, your mind is going to be creatively finding ways to express it by always thinking, “How could I do something special for them that would make them smile or take a load off their shoulders? How could I creatively find a way to get into their heart, into their life and to just do something special, with no need for anything in return? I just want to give.”  

When you really love someone, you just want to give. That's the way it is with God, and HIS Church. If you really love God, there is no way you can draw some line between loving Him and expressing a lesser love among fellow Christians. You must have the same love and zeal God has for the body of Christ. If you really want to serve Him, there aren't a lot of ways to do that with a God whom you can't touch, and whom no one has seen or can see. So how can you wash His feet, so to speak? What other ways do you have to love Him if you don't love and forgive your fellow Christians for being hurtful, ignorant and sometimes just plain stupid?  

Let's not kid ourselves, this is a very simple Biblical concept, a requirement actually.  We can't escape responsibility for loving and accepting one another unconditionally. It's not a deep, far-fetched concept, but Christians despise this reality in the Body of Christ. When conflict emerges among fellow Christians, we despise this idea of being joined one to another, of being members of one another. These are gruesome terms to people who want to live selfish lives. What does God see?  Its obvious, if we reject one another then we have no love for Him.  We are consumed by our own hurt feelings and we miss entirely our responsibility to one another and ultimately to God. 

It's easy to call oneself a "Christian" but NOT at all easy to live what it means. No one wants to be hurt and become a slave to others even to the point of death if necessary... especially for those  who have done hurtful and maybe even despicable things because of their station in the congregation.  God's answer is simple... just do it... forgive.  HE says... "Do it with a genuine heart and keep on doing it until the day you die and I will be sustain you and glorify you for your goodness shown to your fellow Christian brother or sister who hurt you."  What more could you desire?

This is when I usually say "get over yourself" and focus your eyes not on the one who offended you, but upward.  Wait!  That is what I am saying!  Whoever you are, its not about you, its about how you as a Christian allow God to use you to defeat the enemy Satan, who wants to ruin your walk with Christ over trivial things, especially disputes and grievances among brothers.  

And yes, whatever offense has been done to you, it is a trivial thing when compared to what God has set before us.  Focus upward on the coming of Jesus.  Being ready means bearing with one another, carrying one another, forgiving one another and ignoring most of what is said to us and done to us, in favor of reaching the prize that awaits each of us for a race well run.

God's forgiveness is conditional... ours is unconditional

God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins, so that we may be reconciled to Him, without spot or blemish.  That incredible “act of love” was His choice.  It opened the door to forgiveness of our sins and reconciliation with Him.   What does He expect of us?  He asks that we extend to others the same forgiveness that He paid for us at the cross.  

God's love is unconditional, but God's forgiveness is conditional. It's remarkable how stark the contrast is. God's love is for every person in all the world all the time, and he has extended himself in that act of love through Jesus Christ. But whether or not we receive forgiveness of sin is a conditional act based on how we respond to His love. We've done nothing to merit that love, but there is a response to it that determines whether or not that forgiveness will be ours.  

First John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." In Luke 24, Jesus' instructions to the newborn church are to preach the repentance and remission of sin. Repentance means confession, agreeing with God concerning that sin, and then turning from it. These sins are paid for by Jesus, but the appropriation of that forgiveness is conditional on confession and repentance.  

The forgiven recognize that forgiveness is dimensional. One of the conditions of forgiveness is to confess our sins. The second of the conditions is to forgive as surely as we have been forgiven, as it says in the Lord's Prayer: "And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us."  There is a linkage. When you realize your own personal debt, you have mercy on those who are indebted to you. "Forgive us" is not a mantra to be repeated; it's something to be experienced as a change in the way we think and live. The absence of forgiveness gums up the possibility of redemption being fully experienced. Failure to forgive brings bondage and despair.  

In Matthew 18, Jesus talks about the master who forgave a servant a massive debt. As soon as that servant was forgiven the debt, he began to wring the necks of those who owed him money. As a result, the master took that servant and threw him into jail. In the same way, Jesus says, if you do not forgive those who have sinned against you, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you your sins. There's a conditional place of, "Lord, forgive us our sins and those who have sinned against us as well. Lord, let the experience of my forgiveness now be experienced by others who have become indebted to me." So it is that God's forgiveness is conditional. 

Think about this... the reason your life in Christian fellowship may not be working as well as you would like or hoped, could be because you are holding unforgiveness in such a way that it has gummed up your personal relationship with the Father.    

It isn't that God doesn't love you, but He's waiting for you to say, "I give up, and I forgive."