Matthew 5:7 – “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”

As we look at what it means to be merciful we come not just to the half way mark in the beatitudes, but to a transition point in Jesus teaching. It is here that we see a clear change in direction, as we move from our need, to what we need to do; from belief to behavior. Just as there are two sides to every coin so there should also be two sides to mercy, receiving mercy and responding in mercy. The first four beatitudes focused on our need, we are bankrupt in spirit and broken with grief, which leads to meekness and a healthy hunger for righteousness. This should cause us to move from receiving to responsibility, from getting to giving. But many of us never make the move from getting to giving, we get stuck like children, consuming but never contributing. Like selfish sponges we soak up the blessing, absorbing the Masters mercy without ever pouring it out on other people. Mercy is a mark of maturity in a believer’s life, revealing that we have moved from just being consumers to compassionate contributors. As we look at what it means to be merciful, we have to first look at the meaning of mercy. Mery focuses on the hurts of others and seeks to bring healing. Mercy is outward focus, it’s not caught in the gravity of greedy selfishness. As long  as we cling to self-centered desires we will never be driven by mercy. Are you looking outward to see the hurt in others because of a heart of care? Mercy is motivated by the needs of others, it not only feels others pain but is compelled to care and do something about it. William Barclay defines mercy this way: “To get inside someone’s skin until we can see things with his eyes, think things with his mind, and feel things with his feelings; to move in and act on behalf of those who are hurting.” Mercy is active good will toward the afflicted, coupled with an earnest desire to relieve them. This is most clearly captured in the life of Christ, who continually cared for others. In Matthew 14:14 it says: “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” The word compassion means that Jesus was moved to minister to them. Jesus didn’t just see their pain he proceeded to do something about it. Mercy without action is meaningless, at its core mercy must move us. This is not just an occasional act of mercy but a lifestyle of mercy. Chuck Swindoll calls mercy, “God’s ministry to the miserable.” We often use the words grace and mercy interchangeably, but they actually have different meanings. Grace is undeserved and unmerited favor, mercy is compassionate care in action. Grace gives us what we don’t deserve, where mercy withholds what we do deserve. The opposite of mercy is meanness, it’s a heart of hostility that expresses itself in an unforgiving and faultfinding spirit. God is not only the master of mercy, who sent Christ to conquer our sin and set us free from the misery of slavery, but He is our model for mercy. Scripture is filled with references to His mercy:

Deuteronomy 4:31: “For the LORD your God is a merciful God…”

Nehemiah 9:31: “But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.”

Psalm 119:132: “Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name.”

Daniel 9:18: “We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.”

Micah 7:18-19: “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”

Romans 9:16: “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”

Ephesians 2:4: “…God, who is rich in mercy.”

James 5:11: “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”

We have a Merciful master, One who not only withholds what we deserve, but who turns toward us in our time of desperation, desiring to meet our deepest needs. While others may let us down we can always count on the mercy of God. David understood this truth and in 2 Samuel 24 after calling for a census, a deliberate act of disobedience, David became conscience-stricken, and confessed his sin before God. After repenting God gave him three choices for his consequences, David didn’t have to think about which he would chose, for he knew that it would be much better to throw himself on the mercy of the God rather than on men. In verse 14 he says: “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” Not only do we all need the mercy of the Master, but we need to model His mercy to others.  Luke 6:36 links our mandate to extend mercy with the model that God sets for us: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Yet in Matthew 18:21-35 we see the miser of mercy. One who called for compassion for himself yet refused to reciprocate it. He asked for the Masters mercy and after receiving it himself, refused to extend it to another who was just as in need of mercy as he had been. At some point in our lives we all require mercy the question is after receiving it will we relinquish it. We want mercy but will we model it? Most of us like mercy in principle more than in practice because choosing compassion costs. Mercy is probable the virtue we most enjoy and the least we employ. Being merciful means modeling the Fathers forgiveness, which may be one of the hardest things we do, because forgiveness is not fair. Most of us are more obligated to fairness than we are obedient to the Father. Our sense of justice wants to be vindicated, but before God we are all guilty and the last thing you really want is justice before Jesus. Many of us are crying out for the Masters mercy yet we have no intention of modeling it. For those who receive mercy but refuse to give it the end of the story in Matthew 18 has a stern warning: “31 When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. 35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.” That is where many are at today because they refuse to model mercy. They are stuck in the prison of their pain, taken captive by the torturers who come when we refuse to extend mercy and forgiveness to those who have wronged us. What are the torturers that take us captive? The hidden torturers of anger and the bile of bitterness that eat you from the inside out. The torturers of frustration and resentment that give you ulcers, high blood pressure, and headaches. The hidden torturers that keep you from sweet sleep as you lie awake night after night stewing over every wrong others have done. The torturers of an unforgiving heart who stalk and suck every ounce of joy out of your life. Why, because you refuse to model mercy and forgive from the heart just as your heavenly Father has done for you. But here is the crazy part, while you are trying to punish and put those who hurt you in prison the reverse actually happens. When we don’t forgive we end up imprisoned and the worst prison we can ever know is the prison of an unforgiving heart. Many of us lock ourselves away in lonely isolation chambers built by bricks of bitterness, walled off by the choosing of our own wills. When we chose unforgiveness, we become imprisoned in the past, forfeiting our present and locked out of all potential for change. Many of the most miserable people are those who are unwilling to show mercy. How desperate are you for the Masters mercy? Are you going to be motivated by His mercy and moved to meet the needs of others or are you going to be a mercy miser, always calling for mercy but never caring, always grabbing but never giving?

Matthew 5:6 – “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled”

After looking at the requirement Jesus now gives us the:

• Reason

The reason is righteousness; our appetites should ache for righteousness. Righteousness should be our relentless pursuit, and the object of our desire. Yet for many of us the idea of righteousness is not only a foreign concept but a foggy one. What does it mean, for many righteousness is a bit of a mystery, but righteousness means being right with God. Righteousness involves right living and in the Sermon on Mount the word righteousness is used four more times. Taken together these four passages paint a picture of what it means:

Matthew 5:10 says: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness…” This is the eighth beatitude, and when taken together with the fourth, we discover that righteousness is a lifestyle which not only identifies us as followers of Christ but also invites opposition from the world.

Matthew 5:20 says: “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” The spiritual leaders in Jesus day had created a religious system built on rules and regulations instead of on relationship. True righteousness starts in the heart, changing us from the inside out. This is more than just behavioral modification where we conform on the outside while staying corrupt on the inside.

Matthew 6:1: “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” The Pharisees not only loved to be noticed by others, they lived for it. Instead of practicing true piety they participated in performance based religion that promoted self. Instead of their goal being to give God the glory they practiced self-praise. Their prayers pointed to self not the Savior, their giving was done to get attention. True disciples seek a righteousness that is not self-seeking and that does not need to be seen by others. Authentic righteousness seeks an audience of one.

Matthew 6:33: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Seeking God’s righteousness is paramount and should precede everything else.

Putting these four passages together it becomes clear that we are to hunger and thirst after a Christ centered lifestyle which changes us from the inside out, so that we stop seeking the praise of others and start seek God’s approval above all else. Hungering and thirsting after righteousness means seeking to do whatever it takes to be in a right relationship with Jesus. This involves both imputed righteousness and imparted righteousness. 1 Corinthians 1:30 says: “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” Imputed Righteousness is given to us at our conversion. When we place our faith in the finished work that Christ did for us on the Cross, His righteousness is credited to our account. This imputation of righteousness is always by faith, never by our works. Faith is the same footprint that is seen throughout scripture, from the Old Testament to the New. From Abraham in Genesis 15:6 where it says: “Abraham believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” to Romans 10:10: “For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we receive His righteousness. Have you receive the righteousness of Christ? Has your hunger and thirst led you to Christ, the only One who can satisfy the cravings of your soul? 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that Christ died as our substitute, taking our sin and exchanging it for His righteousness: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Imparted Righteousness involves right living; this is what Christians are called to live out in their lives. Where imputed righteousness comes as a result of salvation, imparted righteousness comes from hungering and thirsting for sanctification. Because we are righteous in position, we must live righteously in practice. Because we are right with God we are to live right for God. Romans 6:18 says: “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Do you have a hunger for holiness and a relentless thirst to do what is right? How hungry and thirsty for righteousness are you? In contrast to the self-righteousness of the religious leaders, Jesus wants us to live rightly not out of obligation and duty but out of a deep desire to live for Him. Lastly Jesus reminds us of the:

• Reward

Our requirement is to hunger and thirst, the reason is for righteousness, and our reward is that we will be filled. This means that when we seek Him we will be satisfied. God’s plan is for us to live satisfied lives not starved ones. But until we come to the place where we are single-minded in our pursuit of the Savior, we will never be satisfied. Are you seeking to find your satisfaction in the Savior? The Prodigal Son sought satisfaction in the world and wound up eating pods with the pigs. It was only when he was starving that he sought the Father. Sometimes it’s only when we come to the end of ourselves that we finally allow God the Father to have His way. The bible tells us that true satisfaction only comes when we seek God with all our hearts.

Psalm 23:1: “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.”

Psalm 34:10: “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.”

Psalm 107:9: “For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”

Jeremiah 31:14, 25: “I will satisfy the priests with abundance, and my people will be filled with my bounty…I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”

Do you want to live a full life or a famished one? Do you desire righteousness? What is it worth to you, is it worth giving up worldly things? Are you going to pursue God’s purposes or your plans? The Message paraphrase renders Jeremiah 29:13 this way: “When you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” Most of us today are living mediocre lives instead of meaningful ones because we are filling our lives with junk instead of Jesus. While our souls are crying out for Christ we are feeding them crumbs. Instead of seeking true sustenance we are seeking substitutes. What are you filling your life with is it the Father? Jesus invites us to dine with the deity, how about you, are you ready to sup with the Savior?