“Mercy Me”
February 24th, 2008Matthew 5:1-7 - Jesus said, blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” This is not as easy as it sounds. Mercy is the act of extending ourselves to show others God’s compassion and love. This is the call that Christ places on our lives, to extend mercy to everyone, not just people we like or are comfortable with, but everyone.
“Mercy Me”
Matthew 5:1-7
1. There is a pivotal scene in William Shakespeare’s play “The Merchant of Venice” where Portia has come to rescue Antonio, the title character.
A. Antonio has found himself in debt to Shylock, and he has come to collect his “pound of flesh” – literally. Portia comes to plead Antonio’s case. She has disguised herself as “Balthasar” a young doctor of law.
B. At first, Portia does not appeal to Shylock on legal grounds – but delivers a Christian moral. When Shylock demands to know why he should be merciful to Antonio, Portia replies…
C. “The quality of mercy is not strain’d/
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven/
Upon the place beneath/It is twice blest
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes”…
D. “It blesseth him that gives and that takes.”
E. Those who give mercy and those who receive mercy are blessed.
F. A wonderful sentiment, ad very poetically expressd – even though not particularly characteristic of anyone actually in the play.
2. I think Jesus said it better in plain English. Well, actually he said it in Aramaic, and then it was written in Greek and translated into English, but I still like his version better.
A. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
B. Mercy = extending one’s self to show God’s compassion and love to others.
C. Mercy = “Eleemon” - not an attitude, it is a specific act.
D. Don’t let the word “beatitude” fool you. Jesus is not talking about how we feel. He is talking about what we do.
E. He is not describing an “attitude” of mercy. He is describing the act of being merciful.
F. This is harder than it sounds – much harder.
3. I received an amazing gift this week – worth more gold than exists in the world.
A. Came home from work Monday – huge box with files in it. Hard copies of my father’s sermons – the MOTHERLODE!
B. I spent hours looking through them, remembering, etc. After a while, I came upon a sermon with the scripture heading Matthew 5:1-12. I thought, “Hey, I am preaching on the beatitudes, I wonder what my dad had to say about them.”
C. As I thumbed through the sermon, I thanked God again for allowing me to grow up hearing great preaching.
D. My dad said a lot of great things – but one quote in particular puts the beatitudes in their appropriate context.
E. “Much of the power of the beatitudes depends on where you are sitting when you hear them. They sound different from the top than they do from underneath. They sound different up front than they do in the back. Up front with the religiously satisfied and self-assured, they sound pretty confrontational. Where is your hunger and thirst, you well-fed Christians? Where is your spiritual poverty? Where are the bones of your soul showing through your clothes, and why aren’t your handkerchiefs soaked with tears?”
F. Where are you when you hear these words this morning?
G. Front of bus, or back. In need of mercy, or need to extend some.
H. This is one of the hard ones folks.
4. Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
A. For they will receive mercy. “Ay” to quote Shakespeare just one more time, “there’s the rub.”
B. This is where the rubber meets the road.
C. The mercy of which Jesus speaks is his cure for the self-righteousness of the Pharisees who sought to earn their righteousness through obedience to the law.
D. The assumption was that if they were righteous, than they need not be merciful to others.
E. And if I haven’t made the point clearly enough during this sermon series – the beatitudes themselves are Jesus’ response to the self-righteousness of self-satisfied religious leaders of his day.
F. Just think of the people that Jesus called “blessed.” The poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful…Is he talking about us?
G. Because too many of the “religious” people that I have encountered in my life are exactly the opposite. “I’ve got my ticket to heaven…bye-bye.”
H. This kind of faith turns their lives inward – “my blessings, my faith, my salvation,” etc.
I. That is certainly not Jesus’ way. Jesus way = Good Samaritan, who overcame centuries of hatred to help the beaten man on the side of the road.
5. The mercy of which Jesus speaks is the most difficult kind. It is the mercy that does not discriminate between those we like and those we don’t, those we approve of and those we don’t. It simply acts. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
A. How are we receiving these words of Jesus this morning? Where are we when we hear this blessing? In the front of the bus, or in the back?
B. Who do we find it difficult to extend the mercy of God to?
C. Compassion ministries in Mexicali – you will hear more about this next week.
D. What limits will we put on these words of Jesus, “blessed are the merciful, for you they will receive mercy.”
E. But, remember, if we limit the mercy we give, we also limit the mercy we receive.
6. In their song “The End,” which appropriately came at the end of the Abbey Road album, the Beatles proclaimed, “and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
A. In a sense, this is what Jesus is saying about mercy. In the end, the mercy you receive is equal to the mercy you give.
B. This is not just a theological reality, it is also a fact of life.
C. Bitterness, resentment, prejudice cling to us – illusion that we are strong – in our relationships, in our affiliations, etc.
D. Abe Lincoln was hired by a man to sue a neighbor to pay a $2.50 debt. Abe charged $5.00. He gave the neighbor $2.50, which he paid back to the man. Case closed.
E. Mercy, true mercy – that sees the beaten man at the side of the road and does not worry if he is a friend or foe, that responds to the hurting in this world with the warm salve of the love of Christ – is liberating because is places our righteousness in God’s hands.
F. Mercy frees us to be reach beyond the limitations of our own imaginations and to see the world, even if for just a moment, as God would have us see it.
7. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
A. Jesus is not just waxing poetic here; this is a call to action.
B. This is what life is like in the kingdom of God.
C. This is what is means to follow Jesus.
D. In the weeks to come, we will explore this more deeply, so I encourage you to pay close attention.
E. Because, I can talk forever. But Jesus, his words are few.
F. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy… Enough said. Amen.
Sermon delivered 2/24/08 at Light of the Canyon United Methodist Church, Anaheim Hills.
