The beatitudes teach the attitudes of heart that God blesses. Poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, and hungering and thirsting for righteousness are dispositions that characterize citizens of the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 5:7, Jesus adds mercy to this blessed list. But this beatitude is about more than possessing a merciful spirit. It is about practicing a lifestyle of mercy. 

The first four beatitudes are purely and primarily God-centered.

• The poor in spirit acknowledge their bankruptcy before God. 
• Those who mourn grieve the sinfulness of their sin against God. 
• The meek adopt a posture of lowliness under the authority of God. 
• Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness crave to please God. 

This fifth beatitude is the first beatitude that is overtly man-centered. God is merciful to us. We cannot be merciful to God. Because of God’s mercy to us, we are merciful to others. 

The first two beatitudes confront us with the fact that we are not like Jesus. We are poor in spirit and we mourn because we are not Christlike. The next three beatitudes confront us with what it means to be like Jesus. Jesus was meek. Jesus was righteous. Jesus was merciful. Hebrews 2:17 says, “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Jesus was merciful. Followers of Jesus are called to be merciful. 

In Luke 10:25-37, Jesus tells about a man traveling the Jericho Road. Thieves robbed him, beat him, and left him for dead. A priest and a Levite passed by without helping. A Samaritan stopped, treated his wounds, and paid his expenses at the inn. The one who showed mercy was a neighbor to the man who fell among thieves. The Parable of the Good Samaritan shows three ways to treat people. 

• Like the thieves, you can treat people harmfully. 
• Like the priest and Levite, you can treat people negligently. 
• Like the Samaritan, you can treat people mercifully. 

Good Samaritan Laws protect those who show mercy from being sued for their trouble. That’s the world we live in. Professing believers can be just as ruthless as hardened unbelievers. The world is not open to the gospel, because of the church’s lack of mercy. William Hendriksen wrote: “It is immediately apparent that if the implications of the fifth beatitude were put into greater practice with greater zeal and consistency the preaching of the gospel would be far more effective.” Mercy should be the calling card of the church. It should be the calling card of every Christian. It is the calling card of the life God blesses. Jesus says to the merciful, “Congratulations! You’re already blessed.” Do you want to be blessed? God blesses the merciful. Consider what this beatitude teaches about extending and receiving mercy. 

Mercy Extended

The language of this beatitude is critically important. Jesus does not bless those who show mercy. He blesses those who are merciful. This is not mere semantics. It is the difference between who you are and what you do. A person can show mercy without being merciful. But a person cannot be merciful without showing mercy. This beatitude is a call to Christian action. It is not a call to Christian activism. Christians do not show mercy to show mercy. We show mercy because we have been shown mercy. What does it mean to merciful? 

The Definition of Mercy. Luke 6:36 says, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Whatever it means to be merciful, this is the baseline. 

• It is not about having a nice or kind personality. 
• It is not about being sympathetic or empathetic toward others. 
• It is not moral indifference that lives and lets live. 

To be merciful is to be like God. A careful reading of the previous beatitudes makes it clear that this is our biggest problem. We are not like God. We are farther from God than we think if we assume the mercy God blesses is inherent within us. The one who is proud of how merciful he is does not know what mercy is. To bless yourself for being merciful and blame others for not being merciful only shows how much mercy you need. 

The attributes of God fall into two categories. Incommunicable attributes are those that cannot be shared with his creation. For instance, God alone is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Communicable attributes are those that we can emulate. Mercy is a communicable attribute of God. To be godly is to be holy. Likewise, to be godly is to be merciful. The mercy of God toward man is not a mere sentiment. It is lovingkindness, which reflects motive and conduct. This is what it means to be merciful. It is compassion in action. 

It may be that the best way to understand mercy is in juxtaposition to grace. Grace and mercy are complementary terms. They are not synonymous terms. It is said that grace is God giving what you do not deserve, and mercy is God not giving what you deserve. But grace and mercy are more in-depth than that. 

• Grace deals with the reality of sin. Mercy deals with the results of sin. 
• Grace addresses the cause. Mercy addresses the consequences. 
• Grace pardons. Mercy pities.

We live in a world that needs grace that saves from the guilt of sin. We also live in a world that needs mercy that saves from the grief of sin. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only agent of the grace of God. But every Christian is to be an agent of the mercy of God to a broken, hurting, lonely, needy, and dying world. 

My working definition for mercy is “intimate identification.” It is to respond to a person after you stand in their shoes, see things from their perspective, and sympathize with their situation. The word “merciful” was used to describe the closing argument for the defense in trial. The defense attorney would make his closing appeal to get an acquittal or lenient sentence. This is what it means to be merciful. It is to step into another person’s trial as the defense, not the prosecution. This is how God has treated us in Christ. 

Queen Victoria was friends with Principal and Mrs. Tulloch of St. Andrews. Prince Albert died. Not long after, Principle Tulloch died. Queen Victoria made a surprise visit to Mrs. Tulloch. When she was announced, Mrs. Tulloch quickly rose to curtsey. “My dear, do not rise,” said Queen Victoria. “I am not coming to you today as the queen to a subject, but as one woman who has lost her husband to another. This is how God has treated us in Christ. This is how we should treat others. 

The Demonstration of Mercy. An English preacher happened across a neighbor whose horse had been accidentally killed. As a crowd of onlookers expressed empty words of sympathy, the preacher stepped forward and said to the loudest sympathizer, “I am sorry five pounds. How sorry are you?” Then he passed the hat. 

It is one thing to be sympathetic. It is another thing to be merciful. 

• Mercy is more than a thought. 
• Mercy is greater than a feeling. 
• Mercy is beyond mere words. 

Mercy does something to help. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus did not say the priest and the Levite did not care about the half-conscious man in the road. Jesus says they passed by on the other side without stopping to help. Sinclair Ferguson wrote: “Mercy is getting down on your hands and knees and doing something to restore dignity to someone whose life has been broken by sin.”

Mercy consists of practical acts, not a dramatic act. In Matthew 25:31-45, Jesus commands simple acts like giving water to the thirsty, feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick or imprisoned. Mercy is a continual activity, not a special event. Anyone can perform random acts of kindness. Christians are to be perpetually engaged in a conspiracy of kindness. Galatians 6:10 says, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Mercy is an act of humility, not a platform for pride. 

Matthew 6:2-4 says, “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”  

This beatitude is strategically indirect. Jesus does not tell us when to be merciful, how to be merciful, or to whom to be merciful. The temptation is to fill in the blanks. But Jesus left the blanks empty on purpose. As God opens opportunities, as the Spirit leads, and as needs arise, we should be merciful. James 4:17 says, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” Without giving legalistic instructions, here are three biblical categories of mercy ministry. 

Sympathy for the hurting. Romans 12:15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” This is how we should respond to the grieving, brokenhearted, confused, discouraged, troubled, persecuted, and suffering. We should weep with those who weep. People become quick experts in determining if the weeping has a legitimate reason to weep. That is not our job. We are to sympathize with the hurting, not analyze them. 

Generosity toward the needy. 1 John 3:17 says, “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” There is nothing wrong with holding possessions in high esteem. Hold them with an open hand of generosity. God blesses us to meet our needs. God blesses us beyond our needs to meet the needs of others. Proverbs 19:17 says, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”

Compassion toward the guilty. Matthew 18:21-35 records the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant. He owed a debt he could not repay. When he begged for mercy, the master forgave him and wrote off the debt. He later ran into a fellow servant who owed him a smaller debt. When the servant begged for mercy, the forgiven servant threw him into prison. When the master found out, he threw the unmerciful servant into prison. This is us. We want mercy when we do wrong; justice when others wrong us. Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

The Mercy Received

This fifth beatitude is unique. It is the only beatitude that promises a reward of grace that is reflexive. The poor in spirit possess the kingdom of heaven. The meek will inherit the earth. The pure in heart will see God. The peacemakers are called children of God. But the reward for mercy is mercy. 

• Mercy extended is mercy received. 
• Mercy poured out is mercy poured in. 
• Mercy deposited is mercy withdrawn. 

The direct opposite of this promised blessing is also true: “Woe unto him who is merciless, for he will receive no mercy.” This is not a threat. It is a fact. Moreover, it is the reality of the sinner without Christ. The unsaved may be friendly, sympathetic, and charitable. They are not merciful because they have not received mercy. Every act any person performs is either bad-bad, good-bad, or good-good. 

• A person can do a bad act with bad motivations. 
• A person can do a good act with bad motivations. 
• A person can do a good act with good motivations. 

At best, the unsaved can only do good-bad. Matthew 5:16 says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Only Christians can glorify God by the good works of mercy. 

God is always just. God is not always fair. As odd as it may seem, you do not want God to be fair with you. In his justice, God can be merciful. To be fair, God would have to give precisely what is deserved. None of us can afford God being fair with us. But the person who shows no mercy is begging God to be fair with him. James 2:13 says, “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” There will come a time when each of us will have to go to the bank to withdraw mercy. The one who has not deposited mercy into the account of others will have insufficient funds in their accounts when they need to withdraw mercy. A life without mercy is self-sabotage. 

Max Lucado wrote: “Hatred is the rabid dog that turns on its owner. Revenge is the raging fire that consumes the arsonist. Bitterness is the trap that snares the hunter.” The bad news is that judgment is without mercy to one who shows no mercy. The good news is mercy triumphs over judgment. 

I do not want to loosen the tension of the text. Jesus says the who extends mercy will be the one who receives mercy. But we must not interpret this beatitude in a legalistic, tit-for-tat manner. Jesus is not saying that you earn mercy by being merciful. That would contradict the truth of scripture, the teachings of Jesus, and the message of the gospel. “Earned mercy” is contradictory. You earn merit, not mercy. If you have to earn mercy, it is not mercy at all. This beatitude is not about earning mercy. It is about experiencing mercy. The experience of mercy is like a pipe through which water flows. If both sides of the pipe are open, water flows freely in and out. But if one side closes, so that water cannot go out, soon the water will no longer be able to get in either. This is a midway blessing. 

We are merciful because we have received mercy. Mercy is how we were are saved. Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” Mercy sustains us day by day. Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Mercy is assurance for today and tomorrow. Psalm 23:6 says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” 

We are merciful because we will receive mercy. Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Mercy is the believer’s testimony about the past. Mercy is also the believer’s assurance for the future. The merciful shall receive mercy. This is a divine passive. God is unmentioned here. But God is at work here. The merciful will receive mercy from God. If you stand in another person’s shoes, God will stand in your shoes. 

If you show mercy to others, others will show mercy to you. Luke 6:37-38 says, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” This is the law of reciprocity. If you show mercy to others, others will show mercy to you. We should live with this expectation. 

Matthew 7:12 records the Golden Rule: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Many wise men taught that you should not do to others what you do not want them to do to you. Jesus turned that negative instruction into a positive exhortation: The good that you want others to do to you, do it to them first. If you want others to be merciful to you, be merciful to them first. 

This formula does not always work. Galatians 6:7-8 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” The Bible says you will reap what you sow. It does not say you will reap where you sow. Because you sow good seed in a person’s life does not mean that you will reap a good harvest from that person in return. 

• Where you sow mercy, you may reap malevolence. 
• Where you sow generosity, you may reap stinginess. 
• Where you sow kindness, you may reap cruelty. 
• Where you sow love, you may reap hatred. 
• Where you sow loyalty, you may reap betrayal. 

You may not reap where you sow. But you will reap what you sow. If you sow mercy to others, God will provide a harvest of mercy to you. R.G. Letourneau, an inventor of earthmoving machines, reached a place in his life where he was giving 90% of his income to the Lord. When asked how he was able to sustain such a high level of generosity, he replied, “I shovel out the money, God shovels it back – but God has a bigger shovel.”