The Sermon on the Mount Part 6

[HKHaugan]

The Sermon on the Mount Part 6

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy (Mt. 5:7).”

The fifth blessing is about mercy.

The fifth blessing depends on how we see people. Mercy begins by seeing people as images of God. You are blessed when you see people as God sees them. This is where and how mercy begins. It's critical to any move we intend to make in regard to others. Our sinful nature tends to look on the surface at appearance. It starts with gender, then on to the way people dress, the manner in which they present themselves, their ethnicity, the immediate assumptions about dialect and class, athleticism and institutional memberships. For us as disciples of Jesus, those attitudes are the ones we crucify.

Every human being born is an image of God with a mind, heart and spirit. But sin has placed us in self protecting categories that come with expectations others have to fit into before we trust them and then we add whatever we want after that. Rather than us earning their trust we expect them to earn ours. But the moment we shift into seeing others as images of God like we are, sinners in need of a loving God, mercy is the extension of God's blessing to them. We offer them the same openness, the same mercy, with which the Lord Jesus blessed us. A disciple of Jesus is aware that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of mercy guiding us as we meet new people and anticipate His gift of discernment to move within us.

Three things happen when the Holy Spirit works His mercy through us:

First, He makes us aware our first impressions are usually socially, not spiritually, conditioned. Immediate repentance opens us to what He wants. His forgiveness is just as immediate. Confidence is given. Fear gone.

Second, the Holy Spirit moves us to look and listen spiritually. Whoever we are with can say or do anything. If it's anger or insult we know it's coming from something that conditioned them to act that way. Like us who used to use all kinds of things to protect ourselves they are simply doing the same thing. It's also a recognition that they may be testing you to see if you are trustable.

Third, He will lead us to sense they have a need and pray that we can give an honest response to whatever happens next. How we react will send one of two messages---we are trustable or not trustable. That is what mercy is all about, relating to others in a way that establishes mutual trust. This gives them the room to grow in grace the way we are. Both of us get the blessing.

Judgmentalism and social expectations can cloud our view of others. When we rid ourselves of the comfortable stereotypes we lay on the appearance of others or on their culturally conditioned behavior, we are moving into their heart neighborhood. We have to let others do the same with us. The Holy Spirit is our personal support system wherever we are.

Again mercy gets us to be open, honest and real with others because we have been open, honest and real with the Lord.