June 9th, 2019
Devotional
“The Fifth Blessing"
Matthew 5:7
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Monday: “Merciful” - Matthew 5:7
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Or as The Message translates this verse, “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.”
Sometimes it can be quite difficult to both express and receive mercy. While we may not consider it very often, we live in a society that demands justice when wrongs have been committed, not mercy. Therefore, we have not internalized within ourselves the message of mercy.
At least not until we receive it. Until we take time to consider how mercy can and has changed us. When we express mercy, compassion, care to another person, it acts as a mirror, revealing within us those tender places where we need the same gifts to be offered.
How do you define mercy? How do you express mercy towards others?
Prayer: Lord, we stand as a people in need of your mercy. But we also know, Precious Lord, that when your mercy has touched us in a transformative way that you want us to share that mercy with others. We pray this week that you show us opportunities to be a people of mercy, all for the sake of your Kingdom. Amen.
Tuesday: “Forgive” - Matthew 18: 21-35
One of Jesus’s first teachings to the disciples about forgiveness came as part of the Lord’s prayer, which he repeated throughout his time on earth - “forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us”. We pray this prayer together each and every Sunday, 52 weeks a year. But have you let those words capture your soul? Do we mean what we pray? We are asking God to forgive us as we, or in the same way, that we forgive others. Thats powerful. How would God respond to you if you are being judged in the exact manner that you judge others? Would God quickly forgive you? Hold a grudge? Try to let things go, but find that they keep coming up in your mind and spirit?
Peter struggled with some of these same questions in today’s scripture passage, where he asks Jesus how many times he should forgive, and Peter was shocked by both Jesus’s answer and the parable that follows. But this teaching reminds us that thankfully, God does not judge us as we judge others.
I think that one of the reasons we are slow to forgive is because we don’t exactly know what forgiveness and mercy means or looks like in our daily lives. Even the best relationships in our lives have conflict. Most of the conflict are small things - irritations and disappointments - but if we don’t actively choose to forgive the small things, they often fester and infect our soul. Other conflicts are like boulders, weighing on us. But whether we have to make a decision about forgiving small or large conflicts, it boils down to the same basic question: are we going to choose justice or mercy?
Tell of a time that you received unmerited mercy or forgiveness. What was that experience like for you?
Prayer: Lord, help us to recognize the mercy that we have received by your hand, so that we can go forth as people who both understand, but also live into, what it means to be a merciful people. Amen.
Wednesday: “Have Mercy on Me” - Matthew 15:22-28
Jesus is approached by a woman from Canaan as he was traveling through cities bear Tyre and Sidon. This woman came up to Jesus frantically begging that Jesus have mercy on her and her daughter, who is plagued by demons. And Jesus ignored her. But she was persistent to the point where she was bothering the disciples and they wanted to send her away. The words that came out of Jesus’ mouth next were not what we expect– “I was not sent to you. I was only sent to Israel”. He was effectively saying, ‘go away.’ But the woman inched closer and said, help me, have mercy on me. And Jesus replied, “It isn’t right to take food away from children and feed it to the dogs.” Jesus was effectively calling her a dog, an unclean one. A name the Jews used for Gentile pagans.
But this woman understood something that Jesus had previously spoke to the Pharisees about earlier in this chapter of Matthew– it wasn’t so much about following the law as it was about seeking mercy. And this woman understood that with an unshakable clarity. She believed that Jesus was the one who could have mercy on her, even if he just needed to be persuaded to remember. She wasn’t judging what Jesus had given to others or trying to say that he should take away from others in order to give to her. She wasn’t filled with greed or jealously. She simply believed in her heart that this was the one who could have mercy on her and her daughter. And that sentiment was echoed by the cry that crossed her lips.
How is mercy life changing?
Prayer: Lord, all too often we act like we want people to earn the mercy that we offer them. But when we look at this scripture passage we are reminded that mercy cannot be earned, but instead it is a gift. May you free our hearts, O Lord, that we can offer this gift to others in your name. Amen.
Thursday: “Mercy as Neighbors” - Luke 10: 25-37
The story of the Good Samaritan is one that we may already know. But it goes something like this. A lawyer came to Jesus and asked him a very specific question - “what must I do to gain eternal life?” But Jesus saw right into the man’s heart and he responds with a question of his own - what does the law say and how do you interpret it? Jesus wanted to engage the man further, seeing where his own justification lie. To which the man replied. “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
The story that unfolds is a tale of those who showed love to their neighbor as well as those who didn’t. Jesus ends the story by asking, What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man who encountered thieves? And the lawyer couldn’t even bring himself to say the Samaritan - all he could say was the one who demonstrated mercy.
This lawyer would never have thought there could be such a thing as a Good Samaritan - in fact, even at the end of the story he couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge either inside of his heart or through his words. But he did at least see and say that this was the one who showed mercy.
What is one way you can show someone mercy this week?
Prayer: Lord, it is so much easier to cry for people to be punished than to show mercy. It is easier to demand an eye for an eye than to act like a good neighbor. Reveal to each of our hearts what it truly looks like to be a people of mercy. Amen.
Friday: “Not to Condemn but to Save” - John 3:17
Nicodemus has gotten a lot of flack over the centuries from the church. Questions arise about why he couldn’t just see what Jesus was doing and get on board. Why he wasn’t willing to risk more to follow the one who is the Light and the Truth. But I believe the main reason Nicodemus has been scrutinized is because we recognize something about ourselves in his story and that makes us uncomfortable.
Have you ever met a Nicodemus? Do you recognize Nicodemus within yourself? Can you think of a time when you wanted to compartmentalize your faith - believing in Jesus with your mind, but being resistant to follow him with your actions? Someone who likes the words of the Gospel but haven’t let them change how you act?
For the Gospel of John that isn’t faith; isn’t life. Jesus came to make us whole, not compartmentalized people. In this Gospel the message is clear, believing and doing are inseparable. If we believe in the mercy of Christ then we are to show that mercy to others. And Nicodemus is struggling with that. He is struggling with this Jesus, this one he has caught a glimpse of God in, who doesn’t speak his language of the law and doesn’t give concrete answers. And he struggles with wondering if this belief is really worth what it would cost him. Because, mercy is costly.
What do you think some of the cost of mercy may be?
Prayer: Lord, we thank you for paying the ultimate price for our sin on the cross. We pray, O Lord, that we so be changed by what you offer us, so be changed by the message that you have come into the world to offer salvation and not condemnation, that we too can offer mercy and grace to others, no matter what the cost. Amen.
Saturday: Preparing for the Word
You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “The Sixth Blessing” - Matthew 5:8.
