Blessed Are the Merciful

Something happened.

Something happened in room 301 of the Kenosha County Courthouse.

This was a few weeks ago, and I was there in support of someone.

But because of the lack of space in the courtroom, I was waiting out in the hall.

And so, we got in there right around 9 a.m., and there was this mob of people,

about 125, 150 people that had to make an appearance before the magistrate that day.

And as I observed these people waiting to go into the courtroom,

I noticed that they were pretty quiet.

There was a degree of anxiety.

Maybe a little fear.

People not knowing what awaited them as they had to take their stand before the judge.

And at one point, the bailiff says,

All right, everybody come in.

And so, all 125, 150 people kind of moseyed in,

and no room for supporters, so I had to stay out in the hall.

Door closed.

But over the course of time, what would happen is people would start to trickle out.

People who had come before the judge.

And something happened.

They were coming out different than when they went in.

They had encountered mercy.

They were coming out relieved, happy, and giddy, most at least.

They received mercy.

Eventually, I was able to take a seat in the courtroom.

I want to know what was going on.

And what I would witness is the magistrate would call a person by name.

That person would walk up and stand in a very, like a pulpit,

kind of thing like this in front of the judge.

The judge would then ask them to state their name.

They would state their name.

And then the judge would go on to say publicly for all to hear what this person's violation was

in the corresponding penalty, which was most often a fine.

And then, the magistrate would ask the accused a very particular question.

What do you plea?

Over and over and over again.

Accused up, name, violation, penalty, what do you plea?

And more often than not, depending how the accused answered that question,

what do you plea, would determine if they would receive mercy.

What do you plea?

For those who had admitted their guilt,

the magistrate found a way to reduce the penalty every time.

For those who resisted and contested without warrant,

and there was one particular creature who did,

there was no mercy.

Everyone in the room is a violator.

We've all violated God's law.

We all stand accused.

And on that day before the great white throne,

and it is coming,

when we are standing face to face with our judge,

the judge of all,

the question I want to ask you this morning is,

what are you going to plea?

What are you going to plea?

Matthew 5, 7, Jesus says this,

Blessed are the merciful,

for they shall receive mercy.

Do you want to find mercy on that day?

Do you want to stand before the throne of God,

before the judge of all,

without fearing condemnation,

but anticipating mercy?

Blessed are the merciful,

for they shall receive mercy.

As you read that in Matthew 5, 7,

you may be asking yourself a question like this,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

What is Jesus saying here?

Because this doesn't sound quite right.

Is Jesus saying that to receive mercy on that day,

I must show mercy on this day?

For me to receive mercy then,

I've got to be showing mercy now?

Is that what He's saying?

Because that's starting to move in a direction

of kind of a salvation by works.

I earn God's mercy by showing mercy.

Is that what He's saying?

Because it kind of sounds like it, doesn't it?

Well, He's not saying that.

Our salvation is by grace alone.

Our works of mercy certainly do not earn our salvation.

They may evidence our salvation,

but they don't earn it.

So what's going on in this fifth beatitude?

Blessed are the merciful,

for they shall receive mercy.

Well, here's what I want to help you see this morning.

Those who are promised God's mercy

in the future

have already received God's mercy now.

For those who are going to receive God's mercy then,

they've already received God's mercy now.

And the way I want to help you see that

from this passage

is by asking and answering three questions.

The first question is,

what is mercy?

We'll answer that.

We're going to go to another spot in our Bibles

to answer that.

We're going to look at a parable.

And then we're going to ask the question,

who are the merciful then of Matthew 5-7?

Who are they?

And then, by way of closing,

we're going to ask this question.

What awaits the merciful?

What awaits?

So, those who are promised God's mercy then

are the ones who experience God's mercy now.

So let's ask this question,

what is mercy?

Well, this past week,

I read some brilliant minds

on this passage.

And I read some brilliant minds

on the relationship between mercy and justice.

Justice is the exacting

of a punishment

for a wrong done.

That's what justice is.

What mercy is,

is mercy is the relenting

of punishment.

It's not giving you what you deserve.

And so,

we can't think of mercy

as existing in a vacuum.

Mercy exists because justice exists.

And God is a God of justice.

I read other minds

on the relationship

between mercy and grace.

Mercy and grace

both flow from the fountainhead

of God's love.

God's mercy and God's grace

represents God's loving response

to sin and its people

and its consequences.

Martin Lloyd-Jones said,

grace is especially associated

with men and women

in their sins.

Mercy is especially associated

with men and women

in the misery

resulting from their sin.

John MacArthur talks about

grace dealing with sin itself

and mercy attending

to the problems

that stem from sin.

Mercy deals with symptoms.

Grace deals with cause.

Mercy offers relief

for punishment of sin.

Grace offers pardon for sin.

These are all good things.

But perhaps

an even better way

to answer the question

what is mercy

is to listen to one of our Lord's parables

concerning mercy.

Do you remember the parable

of the good Samaritan?

Maybe better yet,

the merciful Samaritan?

Jesus used this parable

to teach about mercy,

the kind of mercy

pleasing to God.

So if you want to follow along,

I'm going to turn your Bibles

to Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

I'm just going to summarize.

I'm going to walk through it

because I want you to see

something pretty.

I want you to see mercy.

As you're turning there,

I just want to remind you

that a parable

was a teaching tool.

It teaches,

it's a vivid picture

to teach a point.

And Jesus is using this

very vivid story

to teach a point.

Well, if you're there

in Luke chapter 10,

Luke 10 · chapter mention

there's a prideful lawyer

that tests Jesus.

Now, I'm not saying

that all lawyers are prideful,

but a particular lawyer,

a prideful lawyer,

tests Jesus with the question,

how do I inherit eternal life?

Jesus replies,

well, how do you read the law?

Lawyer,

love God with everything you got

and love your neighbor

as yourself.

Jesus says,

well, you're on target.

You do that

and you will live.

But the lawyer isn't done

testing the Savior

and he asks a question

like this,

and who then is my neighbor?

And Jesus takes that question

and runs with it.

And so Jesus is going to

use this parable now

to help us understand mercy,

how to love your neighbor.

So Jesus starts this parable

talking about a Jew

who is on his way

from Jerusalem to Jericho

on a road that was notoriously

used by bandits.

And this particular Jew

got robbed, beat up,

and left for dead.

And as it turns out,

according to this parable,

a Jewish priest

who was supposedly

very schooled

in the law of God,

a Jewish priest

comes along on the road,

sees his countrymen

lying there in distress,

and what does he do?

He walks on by.

And then there's another

Jewish official that comes,

this time a Levite,

another kind of Jewish leader

in the community.

And that Levite

comes upon the same man,

sees him in his distress,

and what does he do?

He passes on the other side.

And so these two religious people

don't give a rip.

Maybe they had a prayer meeting

to get to.

Maybe they had a Bible study.

Then Jesus goes on.

A Samaritan comes by.

Now what you need to know

about Samaritans

is that Jews saw Samaritans

as ethnic half-breeds

who were in a perpetual state

of impurity.

And so,

if Jews needed to travel

from north to south,

they would not go through Samaria.

They would go around Samaria.

That's what kind of sets up

the John 4,

Jesus with a Samaritan woman

at the well,

which is so amazing.

So this particular Samaritan

comes upon this Jew

and sees the Jew.

And unlike the priest

and unlike the Levite,

the Samaritan has compassion

on this man who's been beat up.

This man in distress.

And so the Samaritan stops.

He binds up this man's wounds.

Applies all sorts of healing ointments.

Somehow lifts him up on his beast.

Brings him to an inn.

And takes care of him.

And if that weren't enough,

he spends two denarii.

Which is like $300 to $400

our day.

Spends that money.

Gives it to the innkeeper

and basically says,

hey, use this money

to help this guy out.

If you run over it,

put it on my tab.

Because I am coming back.

And I want to know

how he's doing.

So this is,

Jesus tells this parable

to this lawyer.

And Jesus then looks at the lawyer

and says,

well, you tell me

who proved to be the neighbor.

The priest,

the Levite,

or the Samaritan.

And the lawyer says,

the one who showed

mercy.

That Jew didn't deserve

any of the Samaritan's kindness,

but he showed it.

Jesus says,

you go and do likewise.

What does it mean

to be merciful?

What is mercy?

Mercy?

Well,

mercy

is to see someone in need

and help them.

Mercy is compassion in action.

Mercy is Christ-like compassion

and action.

It doesn't ignore justice.

It recognizes justice,

but is merciful in the face of it.

Mercy is showing kindness

and help to people

suffering from the fallout of sin.

When you hear mercy,

think compassion in action.

And to be merciful

in a Christ-like fashion

is to be burdened

for those people

who are in distress.

We see that in the Good Samaritan.

He saw this man

and had compassion on him.

He was moved by it.

He had space in his heart

for this person

who was suffering.

And then the Samaritan

was inconvenienced.

He stopped.

We don't know what his deal was.

Was he on a business trip?

Probably.

But he was interrupted.

He took the time.

Mercy allows for interruptions

of plans.

And then this Samaritan

bore the cost.

He dropped quite a bit of jingle

to help this guy out.

He paid out of his own pocket.

This Samaritan was personally involved

with this stranger

he just found on a road.

He was personally committed.

He jumped right in.

I mean, he was going to come back.

And so when we ask the question

what is mercy

and we look at the parable

of the Good Samaritan

we see that mercy flows

along lines that

go beyond people's appearance

go beyond people's backgrounds

go.

Mercy is unconditional

in its application

to people in need.

Now what I find most intriguing

about the parable

of the Good Samaritan

is when you start to compare

the Good Samaritan

to Jesus.

The one who taught the parable.

We see in Jesus

this burden

this compassion

Matthew 9

Jesus looked upon them

the harassed and helpless

like sheep without a shepherd

and had compassion upon them.

He had space in His heart

for those who were suffering

the fallout of sin.

Jesus was inconvenienced.

He left His place in Heaven

to show us mercy.

He didn't walk around us.

He came and He knelt down.

Think about it this way.

The second person of the Trinity

condescended

and took on human flesh.

He became Emmanuel

to meet us in our distress.

He bore the cost.

Jesus paid it all.

He paid the bill

for our sins

out of His pocket.

He paid for our lives

your life

my life

with His life

and He paid with the currency of blood.

He paid it all.

He bore the cost.

He's personally involved.

What we learn from our Bibles

is that

not only does Jesus save us

but then He sticks with us.

What He starts

He finishes.

He will sanctify us completely.

Surely He will do it.

He is faithful.

He's personally involved.

It doesn't get much more personal

than when God in the flesh

dies in your place

for your sin.

It's that personal.

So when we ask the question

what is mercy

you know what we need to do?

We need to ask the question

no, no, no, no.

What is...

it's compassion and action.

We get it.

But it's really

who is mercy?

Jesus is mercy incarnate.

Jesus is compassion and action.

The Good Samaritan

was Jesus in disguise.

When we think about mercy

we think of Jesus.

He was compassionate.

He was inconvenienced.

He bore the cost.

He's personally involved.

He's committed to us

all the way through.

So what is mercy?

Mercy?

It's compassion and action.

Who is mercy?

Jesus.

Jesus.

And so for us

who are to be the merciful

we are to be Jesus-like.

Blessed are the merciful.

So who is mercy?

What is mercy?

Compassion and action

and we see it clearly

in the person of Jesus.

Let's move to the second question.

Who are the merciful

of Matthew 5-7?

So we've stepped out

of Matthew 5

the Beatitudes

to look at mercy

in Luke 10.

Now we're back

in Matthew 5-7.

Blessed are the merciful.

Who are the merciful?

Now over the last month

I have sought

to help you see

that the Beatitudes

are not some kind of

random gathering

of Jesus' sayings

with no particular order.

but in fact

Jesus very intentionally

arranged them.

There was purpose

in the order.

They build off one another.

So if that is true

they build off one another.

The Beatitudes

inform who the merciful are.

There's more to be said

of the merciful

than just those

who show mercy.

The merciful

are also

the poor in spirit.

They've declared

spiritual bankruptcy

but they've experienced

God's mercy

in their distress.

God bailed them out.

They didn't deserve that.

The merciful

are those

who mourn their sin.

They have been

so distressed

over their sin

that they can cry out

for mercy

just like that

that tax collector

in the parable

in Luke 18.

Have mercy on me

a sinner.

That tax collector

wouldn't even lift

his eyes to heaven.

And God

is merciful

to those in distress.

They find their comfort

mercy in Christ.

The merciful

are also

those who are meek

who are humble.

Out of God's mercy

God shows

the meek

who they really are

in the grand scheme

of things.

They're not the center

of all things.

God is.

And so the meek

are fully aware

and gladly yield

to God

his rightful place.

And God

in his mercy

deeds them

a parcel

on the new earth.

Blessed

are the meek

for they will

inherit the earth.

The merciful

are those

who hunger

and thirst

for righteousness.

To do God's will.

To be Christ-like.

Does it

make any sense?

I hope it does

that when

the spiritually bankrupt

are given

the kingdom

and then when

those who mourn

are comforted

when the meek

recognize

who they are

that their affections

that their desires

start to

now move along

with what God's

desires are?

They start to

hunger and thirst

for the things

of Christ?

Does it make sense

then

that those

who've been changed

by God's mercy

will now

want to show mercy?

That's what we see

going on here.

The merciful

are those

who have already

received God's mercy.

That's what we see

from the Beatitudes.

They have already

experienced God's mercy.

They've already

experienced God's blessing.

The merciful

are citizens

of the kingdom.

The merciful

are Christians

who have received

mercy themselves.

And so,

who are the merciful?

Well,

if we're understanding

the progression

of the Beatitudes,

right,

the merciful

are those

who have already

been shown

God's mercy.

They're citizens

of the kingdom.

They've received

God's mercy

in abundance.

But they're also

people who

show mercy.

Having received

God's mercy

in Christ,

the merciful

hunger and thirst

to show

Christ-like mercy.

Here's another way

to think about it.

Back to the Good Samaritan.

If Jesus is the

ultimate Good Samaritan,

if Jesus is

mercy incarnate,

if He showed

us mercy,

we are to be

Christ-like

in showing mercy

to others.

It just makes

logical sense.

We're made right

with God.

He shows us mercy.

And now,

we show mercy

to others.

We love our neighbors

as ourselves.

We're to be

good Samaritans

Samaritans

to those

around us

in distress.

And I don't know

where your mind

goes to

those in distress.

Maybe you think

of homeless people.

Maybe you think

people who

come here

and are seeking

some kind of help.

You don't have to

go there.

It's true.

But start thinking

just in terms of

who's in distress

from the fallout

of sin

under your own roof.

Your spouse?

Your children?

Children,

start in your home

and work out.

Look for the lonely.

Look for the isolated.

Look for the overwhelmed.

The frail.

Those who are experiencing

the hardship

of sin

in their life.

Whether it's

their own decisions

or other people's decisions

or systemic sin

or the fallout

of living under

a world

that is

burdened

and groaning

because of sin.

If we are to be merciful

like Christ

then there's going to be

some things

that will be true of us.

We're going to be

burdened for those

in distress ourselves.

And so our hearts

will be

compassionate

to others in need.

So,

are you making

space

in your heart

for people

in need?

Is there

space

in your heart

for that?

Are you willing

to go there?

Are you willing

to open yourself

to that?

But not only

is there need

for a space

in your heart

to be burdened,

there's got to be

space in your schedule.

You're going

to be inconvenienced

on a daily basis.

To show mercy

takes time.

It's not going

to mesh well

with your

present daily

arrangement

usually.

I mean,

think about it this way.

Jesus was on his way

to Jerusalem

and he had to go

through Jericho

and this is at the end

of his days.

And he's walking

up to Jericho,

two blind men

start calling out

to him,

Jesus,

son of David,

have mercy on me.

They say it again,

Jesus,

son of David,

have mercy on me.

And Jesus'

disciples are like,

shh,

shh,

shh,

shh,

shh,

shh,

we're on an itinerary

here, buddy.

Got to get to Jericho.

Sorry,

no time.

Jesus hears them

and he says to them,

what can I do for you?

What can I do for you?

That can wait.

You're asking for mercy?

I give mercy.

How can I help you?

Jesus restores their sight.

It wasn't on the agenda though.

So for us to be Christ-like

in our mercy,

we're going to be burdened,

we're going to be inconvenienced,

we're going to bear cost.

It's going to show up

in our budget,

both personal

and church budget.

It shows up.

Money will be involved

in helping those people

in need.

We've got to make space

for mercy.

Many of you right now

may be asking the question,

well,

how does that work?

How much do I give?

How do we do that?

What do I do

when someone comes up

and asks me for five bucks?

What do I do?

I'll come back to that

in a second.

But we're at a bare cost.

It's going to show up

in our budgets.

We've got to make space for that.

Like Christ,

we're going to be

personally involved with people.

There's just no substitute.

When we come across

people in need,

there is no substitute

for personal relationship

with them.

None.

No substitute.

To pony up next to them,

to say,

hey,

how can I help you?

I might not have

all the answers,

but I can walk with you

through it.

You've got to make space

for that.

We see it in Jesus.

Having received God's mercy,

we now show mercy.

We are burdened

to inconvenience.

We bear costs.

We're personally involved

because it's like

the Good Samaritan.

Because it's like Christ.

The merciful are those

who have already received

God's mercy

and are seeking to show

God's mercy to others.

Now,

if you are not burdened

for those who are suffering

the fallout of sin,

if you're not willing

to be inconvenienced,

if you're unmerciful

with your money,

if you're unwilling

to get personally involved,

the question you need

to answer this morning

is this.

Have you received

God's mercy in Christ?

Do you know what He's done

for you?

Have you experienced

His kindness

in His mercy?

He came for you.

These words of Jesus

pose a real challenge

to us,

don't they?

They really get at

the self-righteous too.

All citizens

of the kingdom of heaven

show mercy.

Do you know why?

Because all the citizens

of the kingdom of heaven

have received mercy.

The kingdom of heaven

is a kingdom of mercy.

And the king of heaven

himself

is mercy incarnate.

Now,

I want you to imagine

in your mind

a line.

We're going to call it

the mercy spectrum.

And on one end

of the line

is the word

merciful.

And on the other end

of the line

is

merciless.

Where do you fall?

Think in terms of

burden,

compassion.

Think in terms of

inconvenience.

Think in terms of

bearing the cost.

Think in terms of

being personally involved.

Where do you fall

on the spectrum?

Where do you want

to move?

Where do you fall

on the mercy spectrum?

We've all got

ground to take.

Now,

you may be asking

yourself another question.

Where do I start?

Where do I start?

Start in your house.

Start in your home.

Start with your kids.

Start with your spouse.

Look for opportunities

to show mercy to them.

To meet them.

To help them.

To show kindness

to them.

Not to bring the lumber.

Not to put them

in their place.

You probably already

know that.

How do you show mercy?

Where do you start?

Start with those people

immediately around you.

That's where you start.

They will be experiencing

some kind of stress,

distress from sin.

Now,

maybe you need

helping,

help thinking about

how to show mercy.

So,

back to the question of,

all right,

I'm over at,

you know,

common grounds.

Some person comes up to me

and asks for five bucks.

What do I do?

What do I do?

Well,

there's a couple things

I want to help you with.

If you go online,

if you Google the words

helping without hurting,

it's going to bring you

to a video series.

It is outstanding.

So,

helping without hurting,

it's put out by

the Chalmers Center.

It's based out of St. Louis.

And,

those six videos

will give you

a very helpful introduction

to wise mercy.

how to respond

in those kind of moments

where you feel

put on the spot.

So,

go there.

Another option is

this book,

Same People

When Helping Hurts.

This is another

outstanding resource.

I've got three copies

of this

and I'd be glad

to hand them out

to anybody

who would like one

at the end of the service.

So,

you want help

in showing mercy?

People have gone before us

and have done

some very careful thinking

about it.

Who are the merciful?

Those who have been shown

God's mercy

and who are seeking

to show

God's mercy.

Compassion and action.

I want to close

with this question.

What awaits

the merciful?

What awaits

the merciful?

In Matthew 5-7

we read,

Blessed are the merciful

for they shall receive

mercy.

Brothers and sisters,

God has already

shown His mercy

to you in Christ.

You didn't get

what you deserved.

He paid it all.

And He continues

to show His mercy

to you

and He will show

His mercy to you

on that particular day,

that great and final

day of judgment.

We will all

stand before

the judgment seat

of Christ.

But you have

nothing to fear.

For your judge

is also

mercy

incarnate.

The one who sits

upon the throne

has already been

burdened for you.

The one who sits

upon the throne

He's already

been inconvenienced

for you.

The one who sits

upon the throne

already bore

the cost for you.

The one who sits

upon the throne

has been personally

involved with you

from the beginning.

He's the one

who sits upon

the throne.

Mercy incarnate

sits upon the throne.

Jesus sits

upon the throne.

And so if He

were to ask you

on that day,

what do you

plead?

If you were

to ask me,

Michael,

what do you

plead?

There's only one

word that will

come to your mind.

And only one

word will come

off your lips

and it will be

with a whisper.

Jesus.

Jesus.

Jesus,

Jesus,

you are my

only plea.

You are my

only plea.

the only hope

I have before

this throne

is you.

What awaits

the merciful?

More mercy.

What awaits

the merciful?

Mercy incarnate.

We fear not.

If you were

to ask,

what do you

plea?

And we say,

Jesus,

He says,

enter the joy

of your

master.

What awaits

the mercy?

The merciful?

Mercy.

Those who are

promised God's

mercy in the

future have

already received

God's mercy

in the present.

And so,

we show mercy

to all

because Jesus

is mercy

incarnate.

Let's pray.

God in heaven,

we are in

constant need

of mercy.

mercy.

And we want

to be merciful.

God,

would you do

the work in

us?

Would you

make us

merciful?

Thank you

for the promise

which lies ahead

that we have

a merciful judge

waiting for us.

God,

we rest in

that,

knowing that

we bear

His righteousness.

In Jesus'

name,

amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.