Text--Matthew 5:7
This has been quite a week. The weather in my part of the world has been so warm this week it felt like summertime instead of December. It's getting dry again, and our drought situation keeps getting worse. I had a really good week writing, for which I thank the Lord. I hope that everyone's week went well.
I'd like to ask everyone to pray for peace in Syria. So many have lost their lives these past months, and the war keeps raging. Let us be in prayer for peace wherever there is conflict in the world.
In last week's message, I focused on Jesus' words, "Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Those without Christ can satisfy their spiritual hunger, and those who know Jesus should have the desire to follow the commandments and teachings of the Savior. Those who live for Jesus will be rewarded at His return.
We also looked at Luke's version of Jesus' statement and focused on the problem of hunger in this world. We saw that the Lord will end all injustice when He establishes His eternal kingdom on earth. Those who lacked will have all that they need. The exploiters and greedy will come under judgment.
Just this week, I read about instances of exploitation. Two of the cases were overseas. In one instance, workers were found working in terrible conditions for very low pay manufacturing products for American companies. Another instance involved children being forced to work as long as 19 hours a day to make Christmas decorations for the American market.
Here in the United States, a major financial corporation decided to fire 11,000 workers so that the company could make more profit. The other instance here involved a major company that wants to fire all of its full-time employees and hire only part-time employees. There reason for this is so that they don't have to pay for their employee's health insurance.
These are instances of what Jesus meant when He said in Luke, "Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry." These kind of things do not go unnoticed by a just and holy God.
Now let's turn our attention to our Scripture for today. Jesus says in Matthew 5:7, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy."
God is a God of mercy. This is clearly attested to in Scripture. The Lord brought His people out of bondage into a land of promise. However, time after time, they turned their backs on God and worshipped false gods. God would bring judgment upon them, and then the people would repent and cry out to God for mercy and deliverance from their oppressors. God was merciful and delivered His people over and over and over again.
Look at us, the Lord loved us so much that He gave us His Son. As I Peter 1:3 says, "...His great mercy has cause us to be born again to living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
Because God is merciful, He expects us to be merciful as well. Just as we have been forgiven, we ought also to forgive.
Jesus told two stories about being merciful. The first story is the familiar account of the Good Samaritan. While others passed by the injured man lying in the ditch, the Good Samaritan stopped and helped the man. The Good Samaritan showed mercy to his fellow man and was a true neighbor to one in need.
We as believers in Jesus are to be merciful and remember that there but for the grace of God go I. There are many in this world who have great needs both physical and spiritual. We need to help reach out a hand of mercy to help lift up the fallen.
Another aspect of mercy is forgiveness. This is where Jesus' second story comes in. Peter asked Jesus if he should forgive someone 7 times. Jesus said that Peter should not forgive 7 times but 70 times 7 times. Jesus told the story of a man who owed an enormous debt. The main begged his creditor to forgive the debt, and the debt was forgiven. However, the man who was forgiven an enormous debt was not willing to forgive someone who owed him a very small amount. When word of this came back to the creditor that had forgiven the man's enormous debt, the creditor revoked his forgiveness and had the debtor thrown into prison. Jesus said that if we were not willing to forgive, we would not be forgiven.
God had mercy on us and forgave us of a debt of sin that we could never pay. He now expects us to forgive and show mercy to those who have wronged us.
Earlier, I gave some examples of how the rich are exploiting the poor. I'll come right out and say that I really don't like these kind of people. However, if they would truly repent and amend their ways, God would forgive them and have mercy upon them. The Lord expects me to do the same because I too have been forgiven and received the abundant mercy of the Lord.
Everyone who shows mercy and forgives others will receive forgiveness and mercy from the Lord. How can we not be merciful and forgiving people as believers in Jesus when Jesus has done so much for us.
The Lord is willing to be merciful to anyone who repents and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't think that your sin is too great for the Lord to forgive. Trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross, and believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. Accept Jesus as the Lord of your life and start going in a new direction.
If you're having trouble in the areas of mercy and forgiveness, remember the abundant mercy of the Lord. Ask the Lord to give you His strength to be the kind of person that He desires you to be. May God bless you. Amen.
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