Blessed are the merciful: for they will be shown mercy

And now let's turn to our reading for tonight, which will be taken from Matthew chapter 19.

Matthew 19 · chapter mention

And our second reading will be from Acts 16.

So our first reading from Matthew chapter 18, from verse 21 to the end of the chapter.

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.

Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

The servant fell on his knees before him.

Be patient with me, he begged, and I will pay back everything.

The servant's master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go.

But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.

He grabbed him and began to choke him.

Pay back what you owe me, he demanded.

His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, be patient with me and I will pay you back.

But he refused.

Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

When other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything they had happened.

Then the master called the servant in.

You wicked servant, he said.

I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.

Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?

In anger, his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed.

This is how my heavenly father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.

We'll move on to our second reading, which will be Acts chapter 16, verse 22 to 32.

Acts 16:22–32

So verse 22.

The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten.

After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.

Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

Suddenly, there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.

At once, all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.

The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.

But Paul shouted,

That's the word of the Lord.

As we've been thinking about the counter-cultural values of God's kingdom, here we come to Beatitude number 5, Matthew chapter 5, verse 7.

Matthew 5:7

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

I want to begin with an interview from the Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave.

He was in a wide-ranging Q&A with some of his fans online, and he was asked the question,

What do you think of cancel culture?

We heard of cancel culture, where there is backlash and boycott and social media attack because someone has said something or acted in a way that's deemed to be offensive,

and so the call comes cancel that person.

Here's what Nick Cave said.

As far as I can see, cancel culture is mercy's antithesis.

So the exact opposite of mercy.

Political correctness has grown to become the unhappiest religion in the world.

It embodies all the worst aspects that religion has to offer and none of the beauty.

Moral certainty and self-righteousness shorn even of the capacity for redemption.

So here is Nick Cave, not a Christian, but he's looking at our society,

and he's recognising there's so much judgement and a lack of mercy,

and people can be really brutal when somebody has opposing views.

It doesn't take us long to recognise that we live in a polarised world,

and that call for people to be shut down, that tendency to talk over or to talk down,

to condemn another because their views don't fit.

It should be so different for Christians and for the church.

As we seek to allow the beauty of the light of Jesus to shape us and then to transform us,

that should have a distinct character in the world.

We should be a different kind of friend, and indeed, we should be a different kind of enemy.

When people regard the Christian church as the enemy for our views,

the way that we love and the way that we continue to extend mercy

should point to the hope and the beauty and the life that there is in Jesus.

So we're going to see, I think, that this is another beatitude that challenges our culture.

But it's one that Jesus would say, again, is essential to every Christian life.

It is of the essence of the Christian faith and the Christian life to be merciful.

And there's a cause and effect of mercy.

To receive Christ, to receive the mercy of God, to have our sins forgiven,

to be adopted into the family of God, to have the hope of glory.

That's mercy.

So that's the cause for us then to be merciful.

It should lead us to extend mercy to others.

We enjoy a Niagara Falls, as it were, of mercy from God.

Every day, his mercies are new to us each morning,

and that should then flow from us to others.

And so one of the things I hope we'll do this evening is to examine ourselves.

You know, there are these streams of mercy never ceasing that flow from God to us as Christians.

Do those streams of mercy then flow out from us?

Self-examination is important to help.

I have here my handy-dandy peak flow meter.

Some of you will recognise this.

So I have asthma every now and again, especially around this time of year.

It can be a bit of a struggle.

And so the peak flow is really helpful.

So when I get to the point where I realise that I have the same lung capacity as the average 60-year-old lady

who is five feet in height, I realise that I need to do something about it.

I need to up my medication.

And maybe I need to speak to my doctor.

At some point, the flow has been blocked.

And so I need change.

And I want to think about that in our own Christian experience.

Am I grateful for God's mercy

to the extent that it's transforming my relation to other people?

Am I willing to take up the trouble of others

because I see how God has met me and shown kindness to me in my distress?

So that's where we're going to go this evening.

Now, what's the mercy that we are called to show here?

Well, all around us, I am sure we can see there is misery, there is distress.

So we live in a broken, in a sin-filled world.

In this particular time, there are so many different layers of distress that people are experiencing.

And mercy, as it were, looks another person in the face

and looks to express God's kindness to somebody in distress.

And Bonhoeffer said that mercy means that we are willing to lose things that we would consider to be treasures.

So we're willing to lose comfort

or we're willing to lose dignity and honour

to pick up and shoulder the distress of another.

So our beatitude today is calling those who have enjoyed God's grace,

who have enjoyed mercy, to pass it forward to others.

And there's a counter-cultural aspect to this.

So John Calvin, a long time ago, he said,

the world says we're blessed if we're trouble-free.

We recognise that.

We love a sense of comfort and security.

But Jesus says you are blessed both if you put up with your own troubles and suffer well

and if you are willing to take on the suffering, the distress, the misery of others.

So it's quite a different value system.

Now, an important clarification when we think about this beatitude.

When Jesus says,

blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy,

does Jesus mean we will receive mercy only if we are merciful?

And to that, well, the answer is yes.

But we need to ask a second question.

Is my mercy then the basis for receiving God's mercy?

Is this salvation by mercy ministry?

Is this a form of salvation by good works?

And the answer to that is absolutely not.

So what's the logic then?

What's going on here?

Remember, Jesus is speaking to disciples,

to those who have already received mercy and grace from God.

And he is saying to know that mercy,

to have received the life-transforming good news that is in the gospel,

that out of sheer loving kindness and in response to his covenant promise,

God has sent Jesus to be our saviour,

to be the once for all sacrifice for sin,

to take us from death to life, from darkness to light.

And to have our hearts and lives transformed leads to the showing of mercy,

that that is the natural result and consequence of having a new heart.

It's an evidence of receiving the mercy of Christ in our lives.

And so it's important to recognise that.

Now, to help us to think about mercy,

I want us to think about two parables on mercy.

One which is sort of taught in the negative,

one which is taught in the positive.

Daniel read for us from Matthew chapter 18,

Matthew 18:21–35

verses 21 to 35,

often known as the parable of the unmerciful servant.

The parable, as you'll remember,

is told because Peter is asking a question about forgiveness.

How often should I extend forgiveness to someone?

That's a form of mercy in itself.

And Jesus tells a story about a king,

about a king who wants to check on his account

and who wants debts to be settled.

And so he calls in a man who owes a huge debt,

equivalent of millions of pounds today.

And he demands that the man pay all the debt

or be thrown in prison.

And the man, before the king, falls on his knees and he pleads.

He pleads for mercy.

And the king's response is to show mercy and to cancel that debt.

So while the parable is about the unmerciful servant,

we also see a very merciful king.

But the response of the man is significant

because he then goes out having received this gift.

He sees a fellow servant who owes him a few hundred pounds

and he grabs him and he demands from him.

And because the man is unable to pay,

he throws his family into prison.

And of course, the other servants are outraged.

They report it back to the king.

The man is brought again before the king

and he is sent to prison and he faces judgment.

Why?

Well, here in the words of the king,

shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant

just as I had on you?

So there was a gift of mercy,

but that left the servant's heart cold and unchanged.

He did not share the king's merciful heart,

which is a way of showing that he has no part in the kingdom.

And the point that Jesus is making,

and he says it in verse 35,

this is how my heavenly father will treat each of you

unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.

If we find ourselves harsh and judgmental

and critical of others,

quick to talk over them,

quick to talk them down,

quick to point the finger,

then it is a sign that we also

are taking the mercy of God, our king, for granted.

We have a false view of ourselves

where we have lost sight of the fact that

in God's eyes,

we have a massive debt of sin to a holy God,

a debt that we could never repay.

And the only way that we are in God's kingdom

and we've been forgiven

is entirely because of the mercy of forgiveness.

And if we lose sight of that,

then like the servant,

we can very easily become unmerciful.

So Jesus tells that parable as a warning

against having a small and a closed

and an unmerciful heart.

But then to tell the positive parable on mercy,

perhaps one of the most famous parables

that Jesus taught in Luke chapter 10

Luke 10 · chapter mention

and verses 25 to 37,

we find the parable of the Good Samaritan.

And that parable is told to challenge a man

who is full of self-righteous pride.

He thinks he has kept all the commandments.

He thinks he has it in and of himself

to attain eternal life.

And Jesus says to him,

if you want to truly live,

you need to love your Lord your God

with all your heart, soul, mind and strength

and love your neighbour as yourself.

And what becomes clear is the man

has a very narrow view of who is my neighbour.

He wants a self-contained,

nice and clear,

not a messy view of who is my neighbour

and what neighbour love will look like.

And Jesus tells a story

that shatters his illusions

and shows us how wide mercy is to go.

Because in the Good Samaritan story,

what we have is an enemy

who is better at showing love

than so-called friends are.

So you have the Samaritan who shows mercy

compared to the Levite

and the Pharisee, the priest,

who don't show mercy.

We really see three lessons about mercy

from that very famous story.

The first thing is that mercy is costly.

There is risk involved.

The priest and the Levite don't want to take a risk.

They don't want to cross the street.

They don't want to get involved

in case there's a risk to their life

or a risk to their cleanness.

But the Samaritan, he takes a risk.

He makes himself vulnerable

in order to meet this man

at the point of his desperate need.

Mercy is costly.

Mercy is also generous.

As Jesus tells the story,

we see various resources are used

to meet this injured man's need.

He is bound up.

There is oil used for his wounds.

He is placed on the man's own donkey.

He is taken to an inn

where payment is made

so that the man can continue to be cared for.

And to follow on from that,

mercy is also sacrificial.

We see in the Samaritan

an ongoing willingness to bear the cost.

He is going to inconvenience himself.

He's going to return another time

to check on the patient.

He's going to pay any further medical costs

that are required.

Here's a holistic response to distress

that goes the extra mile

because he has seen someone in distress.

That's what mercy looks like.

Jesus, having told the parable,

then turns to the self-righteous man

and he says,

which of these three do you think

was a neighbour to the man

who fell into the hands of robbers?

The expert in the law replied,

the one who had mercy on him.

And Jesus said,

go and do likewise.

As we think about showing mercy,

maybe we can consider together

three important factors.

One, we need to think about

the lens that we wear

because there is the danger,

as we see in both these parables,

of being short-sighted,

of failing to see clearly

that salvation depends on God's mercy to us.

And that should change how we view others,

that we would learn to see others

as fellow image bearers of God,

that we would aim to see the best in others

and not be so quick to condemn

a person for the madness of a single moment.

And it should also make us ask a wisdom question

as we have those lenses on

where we're looking to see

how we can show mercy.

How can I best help answer distress?

So it's about the lens that we wear.

It's also about the honour that we give.

In Hebrews,

there is a wonderful statement

where it says that Jesus,

our great high priest,

he is not ashamed

to call us brothers and sisters.

Jesus is not ashamed of us.

And his shameful death

becomes the vehicle for us

receiving honour from God.

The gospel secures our honour

in view of the one

whose opinion of us matters the most.

And knowing that,

we can then be willing to face loss,

the loss of dignity and honour

to care for others,

to honour somebody else

who stands in need of mercy.

And the other important factor

for us as Christians

in showing mercy

is to think about the Saviour

that we follow.

Because think about the pattern

of Jesus' ministry.

Think about the list of people

that he loved and helped

and reached out to and cared for.

There was the touch

to the lepers.

There was the welcome

to the Samaritans.

There was eating and drinking

with the despised

as a way of extending

grace and mercy

from God

to them.

It's the pattern

of his life.

He is the

good Samaritan

coming to meet us

in the point

of our distress

and needs

to pay the ultimate price

to restore us,

to restore us

to fellowship with God.

It's the nature

of his work

on the cross

that seeing

the misery

that sin

had brought us into,

the breakdown

of relationships,

including our breakdown

in our relationship

with God

and knowing that

we are unable

to fix or rescue

ourselves.

Jesus came

to do what we couldn't do,

to be the answer

to our distress

by becoming

the sin bearer

of the world,

by being our representative,

by being

the one

perfect sacrifice

to deal with sin,

to show us mercy.

And as we think

about the work

of Jesus

on the cross

and his mercy,

that's where mercy flows.

Three barriers

to mercy.

Even reading

the parables,

we can probably

recognise it

as we look

into our own hearts.

If you're anything

like me,

I'm sure you can

recognise it.

As we begin

to examine

ourselves,

that can be

painful,

can be

humbling,

revealing,

can be

revealing,

but it's the way

towards healing.

Just like my

peak flow

meter

reveals

where

I'm struggling,

where there's been

a blockage,

and I need help.

So we need to reflect

on our own lives

so that we might

see

how

we can

reconnect

and appreciate

the mercy

of God

in our own lives

to pass it forward.

Because the most

common cause

when mercy is blocked,

when it's not flowing

from us,

it's me and you,

it's ourselves.

When we are

self-centred,

when we feel

that we are just

unable to

enter into

the distress

of someone else,

where we're always

standing at a distance,

or where we,

for the sake of

our own comfort,

we insulate ourselves

to the hurt

and misery of others,

we can be

very self-centred.

Or when we're

full of self-pity,

it doesn't matter

what someone else

is facing,

we always feel

like my trouble

always eclipses

that of others.

Or we simply think,

I have my own stuff

to deal with,

I don't have the capacity

to care for anybody else.

Or there's self-preservation,

maybe especially

with our resources,

but I feel so time poor,

how can I

give my time

to a hurting friend?

Or there's

the emotional drain,

I feel so

low emotionally,

how can I

then try and

extend sympathy

and care to someone else?

Or maybe we feel

tight financially,

how can I give

generously

in that

circumstance?

When we recognise

and examine

ourselves

and we see

that there are

blockages,

how do we

remove

those barriers?

How can we

allow those

streams of mercy

to flow

from us?

again,

the answer

is to preach

the gospel

to ourselves

so that we would

live in the

overflow

of the Niagara

of God's

mercy

to us.

Knowing that

we are

blood-bought

children of God

because of

his mercy,

it should cause

mercy to well up

in us.

to see how

God has

answered our

distress,

should give us

new eyes

and new hearts,

soft hearts

to meet the

distress of

others.

And also,

we should focus

on future

glory

and of the

mercy still

to come

to cling

on to that

so we'd be

willing to

lose

temporary

treasure

for what is

eternal.

all.

Now,

as we

finish,

I want to

turn back

to Acts

16,

which again

Daniel read

for us,

where we

found Paul

and Silas

in Philippi

in prison.

They have

been arrested

for rescuing

a slave

girl from

demon

possession.

They have

been attacked,

they have

been flogged,

they have

been imprisoned,

they have

been chained,

they are

regarded as

enemies of

the state

for their

radical teaching,

turning the

city upside

down.

But what do

we find

Paul and

Silas doing?

We find

them engaged

in a

midnight

hymn sing.

That's

wonderful.

We find

them praying

to God,

praying to

God and

singing in

such a way

that everybody

could hear,

prisoners and

the jailer

alike.

And then

that great

act of God,

the earthquake

comes,

doors fling

open,

chains fall

off,

there is

release,

and as

the jailer

comes to

his senses

and realises

what's going

on,

there is

terror,

isn't there?

If he

loses these

prisoners,

he might as

well give

up until

he's about

to kill

himself.

But what

do Paul and

Silas do?

Paul and

Silas show

him mercy

in his

distress.

Remember,

they were

regarded as

the enemy,

but they're

a different

kind of

enemy because

they're an

enemy that

loves Jesus

and so

they're

determined to

love and

show kindness,

to show

love and

not hate.

And what

happens is

that their

connection to

the God

of mercy

has kept

their hearts

soft,

has enabled

them to

present the

mercy of

Christ so

that they

spare this

man.

and when

he asks

them,

sirs,

what must

I do

to be

saved?

They say,

believe in

the Lord

Jesus and

you'll be

saved,

you and

your

household.

Their

mercy

received from

God is

a constant

supply that

they're so

conscious of

that allows

them to

share that

mercy with

others.

It's

mercy in

action.

What does

the mercy

that is,

in the

words of

Jesus,

what's the

mercy that

is blessed

look like?

How do we

see mercy

in action?

So I was

thinking about

sort of the

last few

weeks,

things that

I've heard

in church

or just

conversations

with people

because mercy

takes on

many forms.

When we

heard from

our friends

in Columbia

and they

were talking

about the

importance of

giving at

a place,

at a safe

place for

people to

share how

their

feeling,

to ask

someone,

how are

you really

to struggling

pastors and

to struggling

Christians,

that's a

mercy because

they're realising

so many

people are

in distress.

We talked

to our

friends in

India,

mercy looks

like feeding

the poor

in pandemic,

that when

the church

could have

their own

worries to

care about,

and they

certainly did,

they were

still going

to the

towns and

to the

villages to

try and

care for

others.

mercy looks

like gathering

online to

pray for a

sick friend.

Mercy is

being prompted

by the

spirit to

give a

homeless person

money to

stay in a

hostel and to

get a hot

shower and a

hot meal.

Mercy looks

like walking

with a family

that's going

through hard

times.

mercy looks

like leaving

everything behind

to go and

serve refugees

in another

country.

Mercy looks

like taking

the time to

call a

lonely friend.

Mercy takes

many forms,

but it's

whenever we

look someone

else in the

face and

we help

them in

distress.

let me ask

you today,

do you feel

tired?

Do you feel

weighted down

by your own

troubles?

Do you feel

powerless

when you see

so much need

around and

you find it

hard to

show mercy?

how can

we in that

situation

unblock

the flow?

It's where

we need to

look and

keep looking

to Jesus

and his

work on the

cross.

Look back,

look back to

God's response

to the misery

of sin,

that he sent

Jesus to

love you

and rescue

you and

now Jesus

lives in

you and

he's with

you always.

Look back

until your

heart bursts

with a sense

of gratitude

and from

that gratitude

look to

help and

extend kindness

to others in

the strength

that he

supplies.

But don't

just look

back,

look forward

also.

Remember that

this beatitude

promises

blessing.

Blessed are

the merciful

for they

will be

shown

mercy.

In this

life,

that ongoing

stream of

forgiveness

and

compassion

and the

presence

and help

of God

of the

Lord Jesus

but also

mercy and

glory,

treasure and

heaven that

can't be

taken from

us,

honour and

joy and

love and

life and

having that

treasure and

delighting in

that, we

can then lose

treasure to

show mercy to

those in

need.

Didn't

honor and

you

said it

so

it's

so

it's

great.

You

devotion