[Mt 5:7] Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
This blessing is about mercy. Mercy is like benevolence. This is the heart of love. Do not treat others with harsh hearts. He said, be merciful, then you will be shown mercy from God.
Show Mercy to Receive Mercy If you do not want to be judged by God, then live on showing mercy to others, to many people. We received love and grace from God. Then we have the responsibility to give love and grace to others. But if we judge and criticize others, wouldn’t God also judge and criticize us?
Attitude of a Disciple In this world, there are people who are mean to others, who give others a hard time. The heart of the people of God is the heart that shows mercy and warmth to others. Not giving a hard time to others, but giving love. Then our hearts will be peaceful. This message, this Sermon on the Mount, is what Jesus taught his disciples. He is teaching us the heart that the heart and attitude and lifestyle that a disciple should have. So we should live on showing warmth and mercy and benevolence to others.
Story of Abraham’s Servant In the Old Testament, there is an ancestor of faith named Abraham. His son was named Isaac. There is a story of looking for a bride for Isaac. Abraham tells his servant to go out and look for a bride for his son. The servant is a great servant…
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Waiting at the Well He goes to a well, and waits for the first woman who comes to the well. There he prays to God, saying if there is a woman who comes giving water to me and my camels, I will know she is the one whom you sent.
Rebekah The first woman’s name is Rebekah. You have heard this name. A lot of Americans have this name. She is the name of Abraham’s daughter in law, a great person. She came to draw water.
Drawing Water A long time ago, you did not turn on a faucet, but drew up water down a long well. Then the servant asked if he could have water. As we said before, the Palestine area was where water was so hard to come by, do you do not just give water to someone who asks.
Rebekah Shows Mercy But Rebekah just gives water. The prayer of the servant was that she should also give water to his camels. Then it is so difficult to even give water to humans, but she just looked at the camels, and without being asked, she just gave them all a drink. And he had ten camels. It must have been so difficult giving them all water.
Servant Chooses Rebekah Then the servant said, “thank you Lord,” and chooses this great woman as daughter-in-law of Abraham ? the great ancestor of faith. Rebekah became the daughter-in-law of this great man. The heart of this woman is the heart of love. This heart is the heart of serving, a warm heart. We need to have this kind of heart. God truly wants us to have this kind of heart.
[Mt 9:13] But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
[Mk 12:33] To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
So God wants mercy. Mercy is greater than sacrifice. This is love for others, for your neighbors; this is greater than sacrifice. This is the living sacrifice that we should give Him. Treating each other with love is greater than any sacrifice that we could give to God.
Don’t Live the Same A true person of God lives with this kind of heart. We must live with this heart of love. Then we will be shown mercy. Coming to church, you are not supposed to live continuously living the same lifestyle, fighting and arguing, the way you did in the past. You are not supposed to hurt others’ hearts the way you did in the past. It says to love your neighbors as yourself. Each one of you treats yourself as so precious. You know how precious yourself is. So we must also treat each other like that, preciously. Jesus is saying, show love, then you will receive love.
[Mt 25:31-46]
31. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
32. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36. I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37. “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38. When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39. When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40. “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
41. “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
43. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44. “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45. “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46. “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
This is the parable of judgment, the end. At the end of days, the Shepherd will come and separate/divide the goats and the lambs. On the right he will put the sheep. On the left he will put the goats.
Sheep on the Right To the ones on his right, he said you who are blessed by my Father, come take your inheritance, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you invited me, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you visited… the righteous ones will ask, when did we ever do this for you? Then in v40, the king will reply, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.
Goats on the Left Then to the ones on his left, he said, depart from me you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, for I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, thirsty and nothing to drink, stranger and you did not invite me, needed clothes and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and did not look after me… then they will answer, when did we not? Then in v45, he said “whatever you did not do for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did not do for me.” Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.
This is telling us that what we do for our brothers is what we do for Jesus. He is telling us how important loving our brothers is. Having a heart of mercy is this important. What we do for our neighbors, our brothers, is what we do to God.
True People of God That is why mercy is greater than sacrifice. If we sacrifice, but do not show love for our brothers and sisters, then it is no use. God wants love. God is telling us that love is more important than sacrifice. So if our sacrifice is not a sacrifice of love, then it is useless. So I wish that we will have this kind of heart, showing mercy, showing others the heart of God, becoming the true people of God. And by doing so, I wish that you become true people of God.