Servants of Mercy
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
Matthew 5:7
As Christians, we talk a lot about grace. We’re saved by grace, and we couldn’t make it through a day without grace so it’s only natural that we think a lot about it. Brennen Manning, author of The Ragamuffin Gospel, a few years before his death said, “All is grace”; I love that thought. Grace is everything we receive from God. That means even the mercy of God is grace.
Mercy and grace are like flip sides of the same coin, though we often fail to see them that way. Not only is grace mercy, but mercy is grace. Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve, and mercy is His not giving us what we do deserve, and that’s a whole lot of mercy when you consider what it is we deserve – death. St. Paul teaches us in Romans three that we’ve all sinned and that the wage of that sin is death. Isaiah 53 reminds us that we’ve all gone our own way. At our core we’re all selfish.
But, into our selfish, sinful lives Jesus comes in to save us with waves of mercy. He brings forgiveness and love that can’t be earned. But, He doesn’t stop there. He tells us to take His mercy to the world around us. In fact, he says it’s not an option for the believer to be merciful to others. Jesus said, if we want mercy, we better show mercy, because only the merciful “shall receive mercy”.
I don’t know about you but that really hits home to me. I don’t want to come to the end of my life and not see His mercy waiting there for me; I’m not good enough for that and I’ll bet you feel the same way. So, in view of our need for mercy, let’s all be servants of His mercy to the world around us. Let’s let those waves flow through us.
Grace and Peace,
+Pastor Brad
Prayer
Merciful Father, thank you for another day of life and the grace to live it well. Help me to be a servant of your mercy to all whom I meet. Amen.
Image credit: http://forthisverymoment.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-strength-of-mercy.html
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