SERMON: THE MEASURE OF A CHRISTIAN: BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL

THE MEASURE OF A CHRISTIAN: BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL
(The Beatitude Series)
26 June 2011

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 5:7

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

-- There is a story told about a mother who came to Napoleon on behalf of her son who was about to be executed -- The mother asked the ruler to pardon her son for his crimes -- when Napoleon heard her plea, he pointed out that it was the man's second offense and that justice demanded that her son be put to death for his crimes
-- the woman replied, "I don't ask for justice -- I plead for mercy." -- Napoleon spoke up again, "But your son doesn't deserve mercy." -- "Sir," the mother replied, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask." -- Her son was granted the pardon.

-- this morning, we are continuing in our sermon series on the Beatitudes that I have entitled, “The Measure of a Christian” -- as you remember, these Beatitudes are the attitudes and behaviors and attributes that we are seeking in our lives as we grow more and more like Jesus -- as we become more and more mature as Christians
-- each Beatitude that Jesus gave us represented a step of progression in our Christian lives -- we started with the call to be poor in Spirit and respond to the grace that is offered us at the cross -- next, we were made aware of our sins as we mourned them and began the arduous path of sanctification
-- we learned to experience and express the power of the Spirit in our lives through meekness -- not prideful of God’s presence in our lives -- not boastful of our position -- but power in control -- power exercised for our good and the good of others
-- and then last week, we talked about continuing growth in Christ as we realized that this Christian life is all about our relationship -- being in a right relationship with God by living lives focused on God through the power of the Spirit within us
-- this week, we are looking at the fifth Beatitude -- blessed are the merciful -- which informs us how we are to live with those around us -- especially those who have wronged us

II. Defining Mercy
-- when I was in school, one of my professors constantly quoted from Voltaire in the middle of his lectures -- he would say, “If you would converse with me, define your terms.” -- that’s pretty good advice
-- in the church we have developed this Christianese language -- we have this list of words and phrases that we use all the time and we just assume that everyone knows what they mean -- but that’s not always the case -- so, before we begin looking at this Beatitude in depth, let’s start by looking at some definitions so that we all know what we’re talking about
-- let’s start with mercy -- what is mercy? -- if you’ve been in my Bible studies, you’ve probably gotten this question thrown out at you several times
-- mercy is not getting what you deserve -- it’s really a legal term -- mercy describes a situation where you’ve done something wrong -- you’re guilty -- you deserve punishment -- but, you are let go without having to pay the price
-- “When you forget to do your homework, and your teacher lets you turn it in the next with no penalty, that's mercy -- When a police officer catches you running a stop sign and decides to let you off with a warning, that's mercy.”1
-- as Brian Wilkerson put it, “Mercy is kindness or compassion where it's not expected, because the person showing mercy is under no obligation to show it, or because the person's suffering was somehow deserved -- Mercy goes beyond what might be considered normal and natural.”
-- mercy is not justice -- it is not fair -- it is not getting what you deserve

-- mercy is often paired with grace, so I wanted to mention grace quickly before we move on -- grace is often defined as God’s unmerited favor -- a good way of thinking about grace is that while mercy is not getting what we do deserve, grace is getting what we don’t deserve
-- grace is always a gift -- it is a kindness or a blessing that we don’t expect -- that we don’t earn -- that we don’t deserve -- but we get anyway

-- mercy deals with our sins -- grace restores our relationship -- the Bible tells us that everyone of us has sinned and deserves the punishment of death for our sin
-- God showed us mercy by not punishing us for our sin and by forgiving us for what we had done
-- God showed us grace when He let the righteousness and holiness of Christ take the place of our sinful natures and restore us to a relationship with Him again

III. Mercy Displayed (Matthew 18:21-35)
-- so now that we know what mercy is, the real question before us, then, is “What does mercy look like in the life of a Christian?” -- or, to put it a little differently -- “How do we show mercy to others?”
-- Jesus says here, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”
-- What does that look like?

-- I think to really answer this, we need to look at another passage of Scripture -- if you would, flip over to Matthew 18, and let’s look at verses 21-35

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 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.

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

-- before we start talking about this passage in depth, let me give you the background and context so you’ll know what’s going on -- remember what I’ve said -- you have to always interpret and understand scripture in context -- and I would encourage you to go back and read the rest of this passage in detail because it will help you really understand what is going on here

-- this passage is found within a larger teaching by Jesus on sin and forgiveness from sin
-- Jesus begins by warning His disciples to avoid sin and to be careful that their actions don't lead anyone else into sin -- especially children and little ones in the faith -- "Don't be the person who causes someone else to fall," He tells them -- and then He turns to the subject of forgiveness
-- first, Jesus talks about how the Father forgives all of those who have sinned against Him -- He tells them the parable of the lost sheep and says that God will not let even one sinner get away without offering His forgiveness -- His forgiveness is so great that He'll leave the 99 to go get the one who has wandered off
-- and then, Jesus teaches His disciples that they should forgive that way as well -- "when someone sins against you," He says, "work it out between you -- offer God's forgiveness to them and forgive them of what they have done"
-- which brings us to verse 21 and Peter's question on the subject of forgiveness -- keep in mind that to forgive is to show mercy to another person

-- look back at verse 21

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

-- now Peter has been standing there listening to all of Jesus' teachings on sin and forgiveness -- and it seems like he just wants to puff himself up before the others -- he's trying to establish himself as the leader and as the one who really gets it -- who really understands what Jesus has been saying -- so he turns to Jesus and asks, "how many times should I forgive someone who sins against me -- even up to seven times?"
-- you get the sense that Peter is fishing for a compliment -- I think that he hoped that Jesus would praise him for his question -- you see, the Talmud -- the teachings of the rabbis based on the Old Testament law -- said that you only had to forgive someone three times -- the fourth time, it was up to you how to respond -- you could forgive them or you could hold it against them
-- Peter is, in essence, saying to Jesus -- "Look how holy and merciful I am -- I would forgive someone not just three times -- but all the way up to seven times -- isn't that the right way to do it?"
-- but Peter doesn’t get the response from Jesus that he expected

-- verse 22

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

-- you can almost sense the humor in Jesus' reply -- "Peter, not seven times but seventy-seven times" -- some translations say "seventy times seven times" -- this was an enormous number -- the only way you could do that would be to carry a book around with you and keep track of how many times someone wronged you
-- Jesus was trying to make a point -- your forgiveness to others should be like the Father's -- the Father doesn't keep track of how many times you sin and how many times you come before Him -- He doesn't quit forgiving you at three or seven or seventy-seven -- He forgives every time -- and so should you -- in other words, Jesus is saying, "don't limit your forgiveness but let it flow out of your heart without ceasing" -- be merciful to others

-- to make His point, Jesus then told a story -- a parable -- to help everyone understand what mercy and forgiveness looks like -- verse 23

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
-- every sin that we commit is a debt to God -- as David said in Psalm 51, "Against you and you only have I sinned" -- all of our sins are stacking up against us as a debt against God -- borrowing against His mercy -- and at some point, that debt is going to have to be paid -- He's going to settle His accounts with us

-- verse 24

24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 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.

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

-- so Jesus gives us the picture of a man who owes a lot of money to the king -- ten thousand talents in today's money would be somewhere between one and ten million dollars -- we're talking about a lot of money here -- this is not just some pittance -- this is significant
-- this debt that he owed is like the sin debt that we have racked up before God -- the number of sins that we commit in our lifetime just grows larger and larger and larger until they reach an amount that we never could hope to repay
-- so, when the king brought this man before him and demanded to be paid, there was nothing this man could do -- he couldn’t pay that sum back -- he fell to his knees and begged for mercy
-- the king listened to this man as he pleaded for mercy -- he understood the man’s hopeless situation -- there was no way he was going to work off that debt, try as he might -- and so the king had pity on the man and showed him mercy and grace
-- mercy -- not giving him what he deserved -- not selling the man and his wife and his children into slavery to repay the debt like he deserved -- and grace -- giving him what he did not deserve -- wiping the man's debt totally clean -- marking the account "paid in full"
-- what a beautiful picture of the forgiveness of the King -- of the mercy and the grace of God through Christ Jesus -- forgiving us a debt so great that we could never hope to repay it -- no matter how long we worked -- no matter how many sacrifices we made

-- verse 28

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

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

-- now this fellow who has been forgiven a debt of over one million dollars goes out and finds a fellow servant who owes him only a hundred denarii -- that's less than $100 -- and he demands that the servant pay him back immediately -- and when he can't, he has him thrown into prison until the debt is paid back in full
-- the one who was shown mercy has shows none to another -- the one who was shown grace offers none to another

-- verse 31

31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

-- the master calls this man a "wicked" servant -- not wicked because he had accrued a debt of over a million dollars -- but wicked because he has refused to show mercy to another
-- after being forgiven so great a debt, how could this man not forgive such a lesser debt owed him? -- and so the king has the man thrown into prison to be tortured until he can pay back all of the money he originally owed
-- now look at Jesus' final summary of this parable and of all His teachings on the topic of forgiveness -- verse 35

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

-- this parable makes it clear -- as a Christian, we have a duty to forgive -- it is not a choice, but a requirement -- if we are going to enjoy the forgiveness of God for the sins that we have committed against Him, then we have to extend His forgiveness to those who sin against us -- to those who hurt us -- especially to those we are in a relationship with
-- blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy

IV. Closing
-- as Ray Stedman puts it, "Not a day goes by but that we do not stand in desperate need of the forgiving word of the great King -- Again and again he cancels out the debt as we come in our guilt and abandon, in the consciousness that we have terribly failed, hearing anew the tender forgiving word
-- "And yet, when someone offends us, how quickly we revert to the basis of justice and start demanding, "Pay me what you owe." -- "I demand an apology." -- "Give me my rights." -- "Let me have what's coming to me." -- "Treat me like I deserve." -- "I demand to be treated with respect."
-- how many times do we utter such words? -- how many times do we joyfully receive the grace and mercy and forgiveness of God but turn in anger and unforgiveness against our brother and sister?

-- blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy -- in this Beatitude, Jesus calls us to a different way -- He tells us to stop living according to the pattern of this world -- to stop doing what the world would expect and demand us to do -- and to start doing what God would want us to do
-- be merciful, Jesus says -- when others wrong you -- when others do things that demands justice -- show mercy because of the mercy you have already experienced and the mercy that you continue to enjoy

-- In one of his radio spots, Chuck Colson tells a story from Iraq about a U.S. triage facility that was doing its best to save the lives of two Iraqi insurgents -- these men had been wounded in an attack against U.S. soldiers, but they had been carried from the battlefield to the hospital by the soldiers
-- The medical team had done everything possible to save the lives of the insurgents, but one of them was not going to survive unless he got 30 pints of blood, which this triage unit did not have on hand
-- The call went out through the facility for volunteer donors, and within minutes, dozens of American soldiers had lined up to donate blood -- At the head of the line was a battle-hardened soldier named Brian -- When a reporter asked if it mattered to him that he was giving his blood to an enemy soldier, Brian replied, "A human life is a human life."
-- That's a picture of mercy in action -- unexpected kindness to a person who doesn’t deserve it -- forgiveness to those who have wronged you
-- blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy

-- let us pray




References:
1[Bryan Wilkerson, pastor of Grace Chapel in Lexington, Massachusetts, http://www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/sermons/2008/september/changeofheart5.html?start=1]