November 14: THE RADICAL KINGDOM #5

In the new radical lifestyle that comes following the surrender of life to Jesus, all things become new (2 Corinthians 5:17), especially our feelings about others. Matthew 5:7 states it: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” “Be you being merciful at all times”! One philosopher called mercy a “disease of the soul.” The Romans despised it in people. The Stoics disapproved. The Pharisees said you deserve anything bad that happens to you.
Mercy is more than sympathy. Mercy is more than skin-deep. It is more than saying “I am touched”. It is more than a wave of pity. One commentator said it is the ability to get inside someone’s skin and see life from their perspective. This demands a deliberate effort of our mind and will. Identification until we see and feel as they do. We sit with them and go through what they are going through.
The temptation when we see someone in pain is to say, “I don’t want to get involved, I must keep my distance.” “Mercy triumphs over judgement”, said James 2:13. We have a saying, “there but for the grace of God go I.” It is so easy to make snap judgements about people and their situations but mercy takes away the judging. Remember when Jesus came upon a group of men about to stone a woman to death because she had committed adultery? Jesus said, “let the one without sin cast the first stone” as He identified with the woman in her guilt and shame.
The Bible says in John 1:14, “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” That is mercy being fleshed out in the ministry of Jesus. Lamentations 3:23 says, “it is the Lord’s mercy that we are not consumed.” As God is merciful to us, we are called to be mercy givers. That means we are a perpetual receiver and a continuous giver. We are forever being filled and we are forever to be emptying out. Mercy is costly, it cannot be hoarded. It is our “tiny” Calvary inside His large Calvary.
If you find your self at a loss for words when confronted by a hurting person, tears will do.

“O lift us up to this high standard of mercy living, O Lord, may our
hearts be softened and our feelings tenderized to help the hurting. Amen”