Matthew 5.7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
Mercy is a soft word that makes tough demands. Mercy is more than empathy and compassion; it is a standard of behaviour, a habit of the heart, a call to action for those who seek first the Kingdom of God. Generous giving, compassionate care, practical help, honest to goodness kindness, costly forgiveness, - these make up the barcode that when scanned, identifies true followers of Jesus.
The above is one of the brief Thought for the Day reflections I've been writing every day for our church community in Montrose. It is one of seven for next week, each based around one of the Beatitudes. As I tried to condense into around sixty words the meaning and demand of that word 'mercy', I was very aware it isn't a word we use much these days. Which made me wonder if it was an idea we hadn't much time for, in a culture fixated on value for money, addicted to buy one get one free, more in favour of quid pro quo than uncomplicated generosity looking for nothing back.
Could we ever envisage a society like ours able to act on a presumption of compassion, an inner moral instinct towards humane consideration of the needs of the other? Well, whether or not - what would it mean for me to be merciful, one individual, in a world of militarised interventions, displaced millions seeking home, consumer lifestyles built on exploitation, an asset stripped planet, racial hatreds and divisions, globalisation and the inequalities on which it is built?
That kind of questioning thinking set me off looking with more care at the concept of mercy as an essential human quality and disposition. What becomes obvious as soon as you dig into the biblical texts is the that the originating source of mercy is God. Right at the beginning of his Gospel, Luke records the song of Zechariah praising God for becoming entangled in the eternally costly love affair with Israel and through his people, with his world.
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
Look at that line in verse 78 - "because of the tender mercy of our God." It all comes from and flows back to the tender mercy of God, a cycle of mercy. The motivation is mercy; the originating cause of the entire Christian story is mercy. The rising sun and the daylight rays of life shine in the dark places, and guide those 'in the shadow of death' back to God. Mercy is active, purposeful, determined and irrevocably committed to guide people from the shadow of death to the paths of peace. "You are the light of the world" said Jesus with more faith in the disciples than they had in him.
Now. What happens if we use the Song of Zechariah as our definition of mercy as we go about the business of being merciful? This individual me in a globalised world, choking on its own overgrown web of connectivity, consumption, and competition - how do I become one of the blessed merciful?
Old Zechariah gives this advice, don't only look for the light, be the light. Find ways to shine on those living in darkness and the shadow of death; ask yourself what we need to do to guide people into the path of peace. Mercy is the sunshine breaking through the shadows of death and germinating new seeds of hope that life can change direction into paths of peace.
Blessed are the merciful, the light shiners, those who appear in other people's lives like the rising sun.
Blessed are the merciful, those willing to come alongside those whose lives are overshadowed and be the light of hope and new possibility
Blessed are the merciful, those whose patient kindness slowly opens doors closed by fear and anxiety
Blessed are the merciful, those whose faithful compassion can be depended upon when life is overshadowed by too many rejections
Blessed are the merciful, those unafraid of speaking the truth in love, and speaking love truthfully to lighten the darkness of those whose hollowed out by guilt, regret and self-condemnation
Blessed are the merciful, those who shine the light of hope and affirmation on people undermined by low self-esteem and diminished self-worth
Blessed are the merciful, those whose daylight openness and love befriend the soul haunted and made suspicious by old hurts that make new trust and new friendships seem impossible
Blessed are the merciful, those who see unjust and power based systems which humiliate people, diminish hope, oppress and exclude, and in the seeing bring to bear a moral light which can guide our feet into the paths of peace.
Mercy is not an option. Not if we want to be shown mercy. Jesus is not making a suggestion we might wish to consider. He is making a promise that has two possible outcomes. If you show mercy you will be shown mercy. If I live carelessly, without caring, complicit in a world of unmercy, I can have no complaints when I am the one who needs mercy and nobody cares, or listens, or comes.
Blessed are the merciful -perhaps at the start of each day, to repeat to myself as a daily imperative, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."
- perhaps at the end of the day, indeed at the end of each day, that is a rigorous criterion by which to judge my performance as a human being, a follower of Jesus, one to whom great mercy has been shown.
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