The Joy of Lament: A Life Marked by Mercy

 


Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy - Matthew 5:7

Jesus has an uncanny way of staying focused even as He shifts gears just a bit. Thinking back to the 10 commandments we see the same. The first 4 deal with our relationship with God and the last 6 deal with our relationships with each other. Our love and treatment of one another flows from our fear and obedience to God. Jesus Himself gives an excellent example of this in His parable on The Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:21-35. Parables are stories with earthly settings to speak of a spiritual truth. In short in this parable a man owed a king a large sum of money, which he could not pay. He begged the king to have mercy on him and the king being merciful forgave the man his debt, but this same man went out and found his brother who owed him a few dollars. The brother could not pay the debt and begged for mercy, but the man would have none of it! He threw him into prison until the debt was paid. This naturally disturbed the other servants who went and spoke to the king. The king summoned the man and rebuked him for not extending the mercy that was so graciously extended toward him, so the king handed the man over to the jailers and until he paid his debt.  Mercy is what we receive instead of getting what we so justly deserve.

Jesus is still shifting our perspective here from an earthly one to an eternal one. He is concentrating on what our character should be if we are to follow Him. He started this sermon by blessing the poor in spirit, those who recognize their deep need of God. Here He is speaking to those who have received from God, His mercy. Those who know what it is to be free from the labors of impure religion. (James 1:26) Those who know what it is to be filled, satisfied, known, loved, and accepted by God. Those who have been comforted by God and know that theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Oh! to truly know the mercy that God has extended to us!

We have all sinned. Every single one of us and our sin is always first and foremost against God. Looking at the story of Joseph in Genesis 39 when he was badgered day in and day out by Potiphar’s wife to sleep with her his response wasn’t just no in regards to his boss, his position of favor and her husband but also, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9).  We have not acknowledged Him in all our ways, nor have we sought His wisdom. There’s nothing in us that deserves His mercy and forgiveness! Ephesians 2:1-3 and Romans 3:11-18 describes our state perfectly. There’s no fear of God before our eyes. We are not seeking after Him. We want a god of our own making. Our ears itch for what Scripture calls Another Gospel. 

We walk in our own darkened counsel and our mouth is full of bitterness and cursing. What chance do we have? BUT GOD WHO IS RICH IN MERCY BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT LOVE FOR US… (Ephesians 2:4). It does not say because of our great love for Him or our great worth and value. God is good and merciful by design. His goodness is extended to all, but He is merciful to those He chooses (Exodus 33:19). We can only love Him because He first loved us and since He has so dearly loved us and shown us such great mercy, we should extend that exact measure of love and mercy to each other. For how can we say we love God and hate our brother (1st John 4:7-21)?

 When we remember how we have sinned against God and our ongoing fight with sin, we should reckon the sins committed against us as a light thing. My grandmother used to say, “I forgive and show mercy because I have neither heaven nor hell to put anyone in, but the One who holds my soul does and nothing done to me is ever greater than what was done to Him.” It took me a while to learn this but I thank God that it is an on going ethic in my life and I think that’s what God is after in each of us, that His Word would produce in us an ongoing ethic of change and becoming more like Christ, which is the call of every Christian.

Mercy and forgiveness aren’t cheap, and they are not easy, they cost the Son of God His Life. Someone said that if we look closely at the cross it may seem that God favored us over His own Son. It may seem that way, but we know The Godhead is in perfect harmony and that no one took Jesus’ life, He laid it down willingly. How much more then should we, lay our life down willingly when someone sins against us? If we are in union with Christ, we will be marked by mercy.

In Christ

Storm Knight

Photo credit: pexels.com


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Didn't Come to Christ. He Came to Me

Image
Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of The Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" And he said, "Who are you Lord?" Then the Lord said, "Iam Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads." So he, trembling and astonished said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" - Acts 9:1-6 (NKJV) Yes, it's true I AM NO APOSTLE PAUL! Far from it. There are times when I struggle to remember John 3:16! Nevertheless, when it comes to conversion stories in scripture Paul's resonates the most with me. Knowing that we have all sinned and therefore fall short...
Read more

Everyone Gets The Twisties at Some Point

Image
  How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How Long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed against him"; lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But, I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me. - Psalm 13   During the Olympic Games we watched one of the world's greatest Gymnast, Simone Biles, sit out most of the competition. Simone was suffering from a condition that Gymnasts call The Twisties. It's comparable to when a pilot suffers from Spatial Disorientation (SD). Spatial Disorientation is when a pilot can't properly determine the airspeed, altitude or  aircraft attitude in relation to the earth. In some cases pilots c...
Read more

Reflecting Glory

Image
Sknight Luna 2019 Who is this, who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners? - Song of Solomon 6:10 Oh, how I LOVE this passage of scripture. It has been a constant reminder to me of how God sees me. The Song of Solomon is the passionate pursuit of each other by two lovers. It's a husband and wife and in a New Testament context it is Christ and His Church, because that's what marriage is an ultimate picture of (Ephesians 5:22-33). Chapter 6 in the ESV (English Standard Version) Translation has as its sub title "Lovers in the Garden of Love." The whole of the Song of Solomon is a conversation between the groom, the bride and their guests or others. It's a fascinating read and the original language will leave you blushing.  However, this morning I found myself pondering this passage in a different light. It's early in the year and while I made no resolutions and set no particular goals in my life I did t...
Read more