Sunday Devotional: Matthew 5:7

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be mercied.

Continuing our series on the Beatitudes, my translation might sound a little odd since “mercy” is not a verb in English. We speak of having mercy, or showing mercy, or being merciful, but we don’t speak of mercying someone. Yet in the Greek it is a verb, and I wanted to bring that out since it helps us to remember that mercy is more than a feeling–it’s something that is apparent in our actions. And as Christians, we have been on the receiving end of God’s merciful acts, and so we should be the first to make mercy a characteristic of our lives.

In Matthew 18, Jesus tells the story of a king who forgave one of his slaves who owed him a lot of money. Although the slave had been forgiven a great debt, nevertheless he went out and had a man thrown in prison who owed him a relative pittance. The king’s retribution against the slave was severe, because the slave was unwilling to show the same kind of mercy he had received. Jesus told the story in answer to Peter’s question, “how many times should we forgive someone?” This is how the kingdom of heaven operates, Jesus is saying: as much as mercy has been shown to you (and, in Christ, we have been shown greater mercy than we can comprehend), you show that mercy to others.

The previous Beatitudes have referred to blessings poured out upon those who are oppressed, weak, and in need of mercy. This Beatitude directs those who might be in a position to help such people to show mercy. I think other Biblical teaching, particularly the example set by the early church in Acts 4, indicates that the Christian’s first object of mercy should be those within the church. Every church has people who are in need of help, whether physical, financial, or spiritual, and the body of Christ should be willing to help those people. Our church has a special “mercy ministry” fund, administered by our deacons, to help primarily the needy in our midst.

But then, the church should also look beyond her own walls to the community, and seek ways to show the love and mercy of Christ to those outside the church. And not simply as a tool to get them to come to church, but as a genuine, compassionate outreach, that God might be pleased to use us to affect people’s lives–that we might be conduits of the Spirit’s blessings to people who desperately need him. We can’t change people’s hearts, but through our actions we can demonstrate the love and mercy of the One who can. It might be that God would use us to draw people to Himself.

Have a great week!