My Thoughts From the Sermon Series “The Beatitudes” (5)

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

One of my favorite descriptions of grace and mercy is:

Grace is receiving what I don’t deserve.

Mercy is not receiving what I do deserve.

Thankfully, God shows me both. I desperately need both.

As PB said Sunday:

“And this is what the 5th Beatitude really says… O the Bliss of the man who gets right inside other people, until he can see with their eyes, think with their thoughts, feel with their feelings, for he who does that will find others do the same for him, and will know that that is what God in Jesus Christ has done!

Jesus looks at the vile nature of man and still went forward to show mercy to us. Mercy, by it’s very nature, is something undeserved, unearned, unmerited, unwarranted, and unnatural. Is is supernatural.”

To receive mercy, I must show mercy.

On my email signature I have, “Be kinder than necessary for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.”

For years I’ve heard, “Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes before you judge him.”

Or how about the Native American quote: “Do not judge your neighbor until you have walked two moons in his moccasins.”

Every one of these can be tweaked to say – show mercy to others. Show them love, don’t judge them, don’t criticize them. I could go on and on with a list of Bible verses that say this very same thing – using different words, different examples.

My note to PB:

“This sermon was one that needed to be preached.

Well said, PB. What was said from the pulpit needed to be said and you delivered God’s message very well.”

PB mentioned nine sins in his sermon that we often forget to show mercy over – then he stated “…. and the list goes on and on.” The Bible is not a book of “can’t do’s.” But God was specific on what is righteous living.

In this sermon about mercy, PB mentioned anger, not the righteous anger mentioned in another post but a sinful anger over certain types of sin. When we get angry with someone because of their sin. When we think one sin is worse than another and we focus on it and not on the love of God. While listening to him, I realized that often my sin isn’t anger but it’s apathy. I have a tendency to say “I am not going to change your mind and you won’t change my mind” so I say nothing. I ignore the sin. In doing this, I am ignoring a portion of my responsibility as a Christian, I am ignoring that part where God tells me to hold another Christian accountable – IN LOVE. Not judging, not condemning but with prayer and love help them overcome the sin and turn from it. Just as I would pray they do for me.

My apathy is one of my sins. 

I want to be the person God desires me to be. I fall short of the mark. I want God to show me mercy where I'm weak. I must learn to show mercy to others in the same measure I want God's mercy.

Mercy is God’s love in action.

Thank you, PB.

(remember, these are my thoughts concerning this passage of Scripture and not all are from PB)