Sunday Service: Blessed Are The Merciful, for They Shall Obtain Mercy

Berlin Immanuel Church gathered on Sunday, 4 February, continuing in series on the Beatitudes with Matthew 5:7. How do we become merciful? Mercy grows up like a fruit that was first planted in the soil of a broken heart, a poor spirit and a soul that hungers and thirsts for the mercy of God. Our mercy for others comes from knowing God’s mercy for us. What does it mean to be merciful? Mercy considers the suffering of a sinner. Mercy sees the misery of the those who suffer as a consequence of sin, feels compassion and is moved to relieve the suffering. The perfect example of mercy and being merciful is God sending his Son into this world. Because there was mercy in him, he saw our misery and even though we sinned against him, he was moved to action. Christ came and dealt with the condition of sin itself and gave us new life, a new heart and new nature.

The Lord gave us a clear example of what it means to be merciful in the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10. The Samaritan, even though an enemy to a Jew, saw him in distress and felt compassion for him. A merciful man not only feels with the one in pain, but also acts to relieve his suffering. The man who looks at the Son nailed on the cross, at the one who never did any harm, who came to proclaim the truth and seek that which was lost, can be filled with mercy. The one who was hanged on the cross looks down on those who put him up and says, ‘Father, forgive them.’ Why? ‘For they know not what they do.’ It is this mercy that is desired above the greatest religious and moral sacrifice – Matthew 9:10-13. It is more important that any rules, traditions and laws – justice, mercy and faithfulness are the weighty matters in a life of a believer – Matthew 23:23,24.