Listen to Sermon
Pastor Tom Johnson, February 24, 2019
Jesus’ words today are a portion of a longer sermon. He wants us to not only receive the mercies of God but also to extend mercy and love toward those who come across our paths—no matter who they are—even our enemies. His whole ethic seems to be hinge on this one command: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Another translation could be, “Be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” Mercy is withholding punishment or harm to someone. The good news is that God withholds punishment or harm toward us. In our case, we deserve punishment for the things we have done and the things we have left undone. Mercy is God not doing to us what he justifiably can do—judge and condemn us for our sins. Mercy is not giving us what we have earned and deserved for our failures. Mercy is our not being rejected and cast away. Mercy is the absence of God’s anger and judgment. Mercy is having the authority to condemn but deciding to relent. Mercy is the one who has the power to do harm but chooses not to carry it out. Mercy flows from compassion and empathy. Mercy is Joseph in our Old Testament reading. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. It is the highest betrayal family could do. Years later, it could have been sweet payback and poetic justice for Joseph. His brothers deserved to suffer for their sin. And yet, Joseph relents. He sees the bigger story of what God is doing.
Jesus says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” He gives many examples of what that mercy looks like. Mercy is not hating your enemies back—it is not paying evil with evil. Mercy is not hitting those who hit you. Mercy is not doing harm to those who do harm to you. Mercy is not judging, not condemning, not demanding, and not keeping a record of wrongs. When Jesus says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” he is showing us the inseparable connection between God’s mercy on us and our capacity to have mercy on others. We are reminded of this connection every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer and say, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Forgiveness is a form of mercy—withholding judgment and condemnation for offenses toward us. Forgiveness is mercy toward those who owe us a debt. This is a life-transforming truth. This is an attitude adjustment. This is the source of strength we need to be merciful toward those around us—to understand and appreciate the mercy God has first extended to each of us. This is the same connection between the great commandment to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
So, when we are not merciful—when we are judgmental and self-righteous—when we revel in our power to see to it that our enemies get their just deserts, we have forgotten (or have never fully realized) God’s great mercy toward us. If there is a lack of mercy in our hearts, minds, and lives toward those around us. It is not because of the way we were raised or the tough breaks we have had in life. It is because we have not yet been amazed by the mercy of God. Only the mercy of God can transform us. We are studying Romans on Wednesdays. Paul says in chapter 12, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Mercy flows from the hearts, minds, and lives of those who live in awe of God’s mercy toward us. Mercy flows from the person who can see themselves in others and say, “Am I really any better? Don’t I deserve to suffer for my sins?” Each of our stories is different. But we now can imagine how each person around us can experience God’s mercy for themselves. That is how God kills our judgmental attitudes. That is how God deals a death blow to our mercilessness. “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exod. 34:6). Mercy flows from God who so loves the world that he sends his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him will not perish (mercy) but will have eternal life. It is Jesus’ suffering and death for what he did not deserve that makes God’s mercy possible. That is how much God has had mercy on us—he would not even spare his own Son for us. And his mercy is for the whole world. When Christ died, mercilessness died with him. When he rose again from the dead, he gave new life to mercy. God’s mercy flows to us. God’s mercy now flows through us.
How can your pardon reach and bless
the unforgiving heart,
that broods on wrongs and will not let
old bitterness depart?
In blazing light your cross reveals
the truth we dimly knew:
what trivial debts are owed to us,
how great our debt to you!
(“Forgive our sins as we forgive” LSB 843 v. 2,3)
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