THE ACT OF MERCY

BEING KIND TO THE HURTING

The act of mercy is achieved by being kind to the hurting: From the well-known story of  the good Samaritan that Jesus used to explain to the lawyer who justified himself (Luke 10:30-37) “Then Jesus answered and said; “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.”  A whole priest and a whole Levite; the people who are well known to be the servants of the Most High God did not in any way help the wounded, hurting and desperate man who was in need of their help but a total stranger did help and had mercy on the hurting man (V.33-35) “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, “Take care of him; and whatever more you spent, when I come again, I will repay you.”  What an act of kindness?  As he did not only bandage him and left him there but went an extra mile of taking him with him to an inn and paid the inn and for the attendance to take care of the man from his own pocket. Jesus had to ask this question to the justified lawyer (v. 36-37) “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”  And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”  If only we could have men and women like the Samaritan; I tell us beloved, this world would be the happiest place to dwell on, just like the Garden of Eden. Jesus did grown in wisdom and in stature that He did understand the mind and thoughts of men; and always used the parables and metaphors to those who seemed to be wiser and justified themselves by putting them to shame.

MERCY AND LOVE HAS NO BOUNDARY

The ultimate question answered in the parable of the Good Samaritan is, “What is my duty towards others?” As the lawyer who justified himself not to understand who his neighbors were, was looking for an excuse for not having treated all people with love (Luke. 10: 29) “But he wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  To the Jew of that time, love of one’s neighbors related only to those of Jewish blood. He wanted to elicit from Jesus the proof that not all men were his neighbors. It is very unfortunate that this fellow thought in his mind that, he was too wise and thought to have tested Jesus with hard questions; and little did he know that he was dealing with a supernatural being who made him answer his questions by himself (V. 25-28) “And behold a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it? So he answered and said, “’You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and your neighbor as yourself.’” And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” Jesus’ story, which we consider a parable, could have been an actual event.  The point of the story or parable is that the duty of love to others knows no bounds. Neither nationality, circumstances, nor anything else matters. Though Samaritans were despised enemies of the Jews, the Samaritan described in the parable revealed the disposition of love and mercy which should characterize people who possess eternal life. Those who truly love God will also love their fellows. They will demonstrate neighborly love to everyone who is in need of help, regardless of race or creed or community standing.  The wisest man on the east said (Prov. 14:21) “He who despises his neighbor sins; but he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.”

BEING KIND TO THE POOR

The act of mercy is also achieved by being kind to the poor: This we get from the story of Lazarus and of the rich man (Luke 16: 19- 26) “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.” This was a very wicked and merciless man of the highest level! The merciless man would not even allow Lazarus to get the access of the crumbs of the bread which fell from his table while he eats. And instead his dogs were allowed an excess of linking Lazarus wounds. It is my hope and prayer beloved that we don’t have such in our generation of today. And the strange and worst thing of it all is that; the poor thing Lazarus died and had no burial for the dogs had feasted on his corpse. But the good news however, his soul was received by the angels to Abraham’s bosom (V. 22-23) “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.” It is now a time of reaping what the rich man had sawn with torments and gnashing of teeth. (V. 24-26) “”Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” But Abraham said, ‘Son remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted while you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.” May the Lord God have mercy and help us! The preacher noted that (Prov. 17:5) “He who mocks the poor reproaches His Maker; He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.” He also declared that (Prov. 19:17, 22) “He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given; ““What is desired in a man is kindness, and a poor man is better than a liar.” Therefore as we align ourselves with God’s word and apply in our daily lives, there will be most definitely a reward for the act of mercy towards the poor people.

THE BEATITUDE

When we show mercy to the poor and needy, to the orphans, to the widow and the strangers among us, God will indeed bless us and no lack will be found within our dwellings (Matt. 5:7) “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”  To obtain mercy beloved we must first be in the forefront; to show and give mercy to those who need it. I always say that, “whatever a man sawed, that he will by all means reap.” For no one can saw beans and expect to harvest potatoes instead.

“Grace to you and Favor from God our Father and the Lord Jesus be with us all. Amen and Amen and Amen.”