Blessed are the (VI) merciful, For they shall obtain mercy

Years ago I was in a hurry to get a friend to the airport and was stopped because I was speeding. The officer after having taken my information told me “You were speeding sir.” 'Yes,' I replied. Somewhat taken back by my honesty, he said “What?” 'Yes I was speeding' I told him. “Go on,” he said letting me off. I told my friend “That's what I want when I die.” 'What' he asked. “Mercy not justice” I told him! Mercy can be defined as undeserved kindness to someone in need. The office was merciful, but he was not just. Justice is when we get what we deserve.  I had broken the law and deserved the fine he should have given. If we are poor in spirit we know we have fallen short of the glory of God and that the wages  of sin (what we get for what we did) is death, eternal separation from Him and from everything that is good (Romans 3:23, 6:23).

No one deserves to be saved, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6). We did not and do not deserve His mercy for we were dead in trespasses and sins, He showed His love and His kindness to us “in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). So mercy, undeserved kindness, but what about need? Well, we were without Christ, separated from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12). Was there ever a greater need?

Into all of this Paul beseeches us by the tender mercies of God that we present our bodies a living sacrifice. This, Paul tells us is the only reasonable response to His tender mercy (Romans 12:1,2 NKJV). And part of being a living sacrifice is to be merciful to others. In particular, we pray in the Lord's prayer we ask God to forgive our sins in exactly the same way that we forgive others. This has to be one of the scariest prayers we are commanded to pray (Matthew 6:12, 14). The parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:21-35) comes to mind. If we do not forgive others after He has forgiven us so much, He will not forgive us (Matthew 6:14).

Father, this can be so very hard. When we have suffered so much at the hands of others, it can even seem like more abuse to be told we need to forgive. This does not mean it did not matter, nor that we should allow the other person to repeat the offence, but we need to forgive or we will not be free -either in this world or the next. So Lord we need Your grace to do this, and You know Lord that many times it is a process. Thank You for Your Mercy Lord as we wrestle with these things in Jesus Name Amen.