What has the Lord got in His cubbards? One of His commodities is: mercy, a blessing that is an act of divine favor and compassion, and includes the compassionate treatment of those in distress, and forbearance. i like the meaning of forbearance, the Greek paraphrased meaning is, “allowing us to live a little longer that we might repent”. The Lord is heavy in mercy, and gracious to give it.

i believe mercy from other people is in very short supply these days, it is thinly given, and greedily received, but yet the truth is mercy is a most important and necessary commodity. It’s one of God’s most essential attributes.

Throughout the Bible, the Lord is considered “Merciful and Gracious” and is praised for it, as seen in Psalms 103:8.

Mercy is such a big deal, the artist Caravaggio was commissioned in 1606 to paint the famous altar piece titled The Seven Works of Mercy, which is feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick, visiting prisoners, and burying the dead.

Jesus describes fatherly mercy as “a gratuitous, generous gift”. In Ephesians 2:4 Paul refers to the mercy of God in terms of salvation: “God, being rich in mercy, even when we were dead, God made us alive together with Christ“.

i think more than finding all the places in the Bible where mercy is spoken of, i’m more interested in mercy within our own lives, up close and personal, like, are we merciful to ourselves? Meaning do we hold a grudge and remembrance of sin over our own heads long, long after God has forgiven and forgotten our wrongs? i believe many people only see the eyes of Judas looking back at them from the mirror.

Are we too merciful to ourselves, with a tendency to let our behavior off the hook, thinking, “well, it’s just the way i am.” And then there is mercy as God extends it to us, in the sense that when mankind lost his ability to relate to God, God had extreme mercy and gave His Son, Jesus, to bridge the gap between Himself and men.

Do we extend other people mercy as God extends it to us? Letting them live like they live, die like they die, decide what they decide without us feeling like we have to control them? Mercy should be practiced in wisdom and understanding, in full realization that people are just people, and if everyone got what they “deserved” and what was “fair”, there would be no one left alive.

A man called me on the phone once, complaining about the way someone treated him in a dispute of some sort. He said loudly with passion, “I just want what’s fair! I just want what is coming to me, what is mine!” As kindly as possible i heard my mouth saying, “If you want what’s fair and what’s coming to you, then you’ll get a sharp stick in the eye and have hell to look forward to. So, let’s talk about what you really mean, are you up for it?”

Are your pockets brimming with mercy, or is the law and justice your preference, preferring “line upon line, and precept upon precept? Isaiah 28:13 was not speaking of blessing you know. i call people who have law and justice as their preference, chanting “line upon line, and precept upon precept” as a weight, not wings, i call them “Nail drivers”. They think it’s their job to make sure everyone is properly pounded in place.

An Ethics expert, Jacob Appel, has observed a decline of mercy, and an increase in retribution, in American public life. Appel wrote:

“One of the glaring — yet too often overlooked — failings of contemporary America is that we have become a nation obsessed with our own idea of justice and retribution. We claim to be The Land of the Free, yet many have lost sight of what it means to be imprisoned, denied liberty, and subjected to isolation and violence. We have come to believe, in the most highly injurious or destructive way, that people should get what they deserve. What a change it would be in our public exchange of ideas and conversation and our civic life, if we focused instead upon mercy and forgiveness. A merciful and forgiving culture typically finds itself with less anger, less social disruption, and even less crime.”

Let’s not skew the subject of mercy here. We’re not speaking of irresponsibility and being passive about poor or wrong behavior. God and the Bible are our reference as to what is right and wrong. And we’re not saying there is not real right and wrong, because there surely is. God is the standard, not men or their behavior, not the church, not our traditions which have no scriptural authority, yet we give so much weight to. i’m asking that, within our sphere of influence, do we have mercy for others, including ourselves, when they struggle?

Having a heart of kindness seeing ourselves and others with compassion, are we willing to extend ourselves to come along side others when people have lost the way home? Are we compassionate when people feel frazzled and ripped, wounded and beaten, plundered and defeated by the constant breaking and entering of vicious circumstances? Or are we good with whatever happens just as long as it doesn’t happen to us?

Let’s look at a parable. Luke 10:25-35 is an interesting story of how we view other people, our own mercy values, and the needs of others. Jesus tells a story with 8 characters in it, and each person had a different level of mercy, and a different view of the needs of others.

Here’s the list of characters: The victim: a man who made a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, he could be any one of us. The robbers: they saw the victim, whom they beat and robbed, as someone to exploit and forcibly get gain from. The Levite and the Priest: they saw the beaten and robbed man as someone who looked like trouble. Is that you and me in our religiousness? The Samaritan: he saw the beaten and robbed man as someone to have mercy on and care for.  The Inn Keeper: he saw the Samaritan and the victim as someone to help as long as he was getting paid. Also there was Jesus, who was telling the story, and the lawyer who was listening.

Each one of the people in this story had a different view of the needs of others.  Some of us are victims, rightly or wrongly, we are.  There are those of us who claim to be believers but we have such a deep-seated prejudice, we hate some people yet can’t see even the simple things. Some of us see others as someone to exploit and get gain from, yet others of us see people who have dire needs as nothing but trouble, someone who might taint our reputation, concerned some of their “bad ju-ju” might get on us, careful to not touch them but telling them, “I’ll pray for you! Be warm and filled.” Many are willing to serve others in their need, but only if there’s something in it for them, or maybe we see people in their desperation as someone to care for and have mercy on. And then, some of us, like Jesus, see the needy, compromised multitudes as someone worth dying for. Or maybe we are like the lawyer, who seemed to be looking for a legal reason, based on his knowledge of the law, to exercise or not exercise compassion, as long as it was legal, or to find a failing in others he could exploit.

Has God had mercy on you? If He has had mercy on you, you can have the gift of mercy also. If He has done it IN you, He has also given it TO you.   Who do you see yourself as? Is your mercy level real, God given mercy, or is it just indifference? Mercy, peace, and indifference can often look the same. Who do we see ourselves as: a victim, a robber, a religious person, a Samaritan, an Inn Keeper? The lawyer? Like Jesus?  How do we relate to the needs of others? Is it through the eyes of mercy and compassion? A man asked recently, “Why will Christians not do for free, what they will do for money?” We often will help if someone gives us money or a gift. We will be obedient for money to a boss who is abusive, we’ll sweep the floor for money, but if someone asks us to sweep up at church, suddenly we’ve got an attitude like, “Who do they think they are to tell me anything?!” Wow.

Let’s be honest with ourselves and the Lord, not telling ourselves a fairytale so we look good in the mirror, but honest before the Lord. Which one are you? If God has given mercy to you, then give it away to others. Ask the Lord to help you to know how to do that.

Let mercy, your compassion for the miserable run free. Remember Jesus is open for the exercise of mercy toward men and women, in harmony with the demands of truth and righteousness. In Christ mercy and truth meet together and are married, both are in our hands to give away as a grace. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

i’m Social Porter for Living In His Name Ministries.