“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
According to the Bible, how does someone become merciful?
A prostitute came into a house where Jesus was having dinner hosted by a morally upright Pharisee, who was scandalized that Jesus would allow such a despicable person to wash his feet with her tears, etc.
Then Jesus told him [the Pharisee] this story:
“A man loaned money to two people—$5,000 to one and $500 to the other. But neither of them could pay him back, so he kindly forgave them both, letting them keep the money! Which do you suppose loved him most after that?”
“I suppose the one who had owed him the most,” Simon answered.
“Correct,” Jesus agreed.
Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look! See this woman kneeling here! When I entered your home, you didn’t bother to offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You refused me the customary kiss of greeting, but she has kissed my feet again and again from the time I first came in. You neglected the usual courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has covered my feet with rare perfume. Therefore her sins—and they are many—are forgiven, for she loved me much; but one who is forgiven little, shows little love.”
We are all challenged today to offer mercy (empathy), especially to people not like us.
People in the opposite camp are easily labelled “lost causes,” as the prostitute was a lost cause to the Pharisee. They are so “not us!” are blind to the common humanity we share with them.
- Perhaps they are immigrants, even illegal immigrants. Perhaps they think Black Lives Matter and protest racial injustice. Perhaps they call themselves socialists. Perhaps they are homosexuals, or advocate for those who are. Perhaps they are not white (we may not say this out loud, but in our heart of hearts, it’s how we feel). Perhaps they ridicule what is important to me.
- Or, perhaps they are rural people who enjoy guns. Perhaps they have not gone to college and are unwilling to “adjust” to a global economy. Perhaps they yearn for bygone days, because they think there is no future for them. Perhaps they ridicule what is important to me.
When it’s ME sitting at the table with Jesus and the Pharisee, I wonder: how would I feel about the prostitute who has interrupted our dinner? Whose view of her would I lean towards–Jesus’ or the Pharisee’s?
Of course, we all say, “we’re with Jesus!” But in my case, I’m not so sure.
I’m an evangelical. One of the cardinal sins of evangelicals is pride. Moral certitude often creates lack of empathy for others.
- We’re right; everyone else is wrong.
- We have the truth; everyone else is “too liberal” to know any truth.
- We are God’s chosen; everyone else will eventually be “left behind.”
- We are the real Christians; everyone else (especially Democrats who say they are Christians) are woefully deluded.
Here’s another story that brings it all home:
“The Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him $10 million! He couldn’t pay, so the king ordered him sold for the debt, also his wife and children and everything he had.
“But the man fell down before the king, his face in the dust, and said, ‘Oh, sir, be patient with me and I will pay it all.’
“Then the king was filled with pity for him and released him and forgave his debt.
“But when the man left the king, he went to a man who owed him $2,000. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
“The man fell down before him and begged him to give him a little time. ‘Be patient and I will pay it,’ he pled.
“But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and jailed until the debt would be paid in full. (Matt. 18:23-35)
The first servant, who was shown extravagant mercy, could not show even a little mercy to one who owed him so little. Why is this? Because he never really experienced the mercy the King offered him. It made no dent on his consciousness or how he saw others, like the one over whom he had power.
Because he was emotionally unable to register the immense mercy he received, he could not act even marginally merciful to others.
Our ability to show mercy to others will be in proportion to having experienced mercy ourselves. (That includes people who think they don’t need mercy from God or anyone else.)
Here’s the point: Becoming a merciful person is a CONSEQUENCE of God’s grace (mercy) operating in us.
I immediately thought of “Blessed are the Merciful” as I read a recent op-ed piece about why some of us are unable to feel empathy for the victims of the cataclysmic events engulfing our nation. The article closes with these words:
To accurately size up a human situation you have to project a certain quality of attention that is personal, gentle, respectful, intimate and affectionate — more moving with and feeling into than simply observing with detachment.
Maybe I spend too much time on Twitter and in media, but I see less and less of this sort of attention in America, even amid the tragedies of 2020.
Far from softening toward one another, the whole country feels even more rived, more hardened and increasingly blind to lives other than our own. (My emphasis)
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
The fact that we are able extend mercy to others shows that we have already experienced (and realize we continually need) mercy ourselves.
