"Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy."
Matthew 5:7
What happens if you don't stand up to a bully? What happens if you don't stand up for yourself when a family member is treating you unfairly? What happens when someone does something to you and you allow it to pass without comment?
We all know the answer to these questions, don't we?
The bully keeps bullying and is empowered to bully again. The family member never learns their lesson and continues to act selfishly and unfairly. And the offending person continues to offend. And you suffer even more for it.
We know intuitively that we must stand up to bullies. We must fight for our rights. Oh, how many times have we heard the line in a movie, "I have rights! I'm an American!" We must fend for ourselves or be forced to live "beneath" everyone else who is fending for themselves.
And yet, Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek, to pray for our enemies, and yes...even to love them instead of loving only our neighbors.
Now remember, we are looking at the beatitudes in light of them being statements of fact rather than admonitions of how to be. But in other places like the ones sighted above and many, many more all the way through the Bible, we are instructed to be merciful and to show mercy. In fact, one of the main descriptions of God throughout His word is that He is merciful, and we are called to emulate that quality.
In Josh's condensed and paraphrased dictionary, God's mercy is all about his covenant love with His people that compels Him to put up with a whole bunch of junk simply because He is committed to His people. I've often used a description I heard a long time ago that describes grace and mercy as flip sides of the same coin. Grace is getting something we don't deserve (i.e.- forgiveness) and mercy is not getting something we do deserve (i.e.- not getting an eye for an eye, etc.). They are often used interchangeably. And over and over again, we are taught and instructed that when we receive God's mercy, we are compelled to pass it on.
But the problem, is that we all know what happens if we are not careful about passing out too much mercy...
we will get walked all over!
The bullies will keep bullying.
The offenders will keep offending.
The manipulaters will keep manipulating.
And that is why Jesus sets the record straight at the very beginning of his ministry about what happens inside the kingdom, because it is the exact opposite of how we think it happens in the world. Even though people might get walked on in the world, we can be sure that God's kingdom takes precedence. And inside the kingdom of God, those who lavishly throw around mercy, will have mercy lavishly thrown upon them. That's just the way it is.
So the question for us then becomes do I really want to demand that others get what they deserve when they do me wrong in order to ensure my own well-being? Because in the kingdom of God, we are promised to be shown mercy simply because we are in the kingdom of heaven through the blood of Christ. And once we are in the kingdom of heaven and experiencing that mercy...the only thing in the world...and in all of eternity that makes sense is to pass that mercy on to everyone else we can and forget about the temporary consequences that typically make us cautious in our mercy-giving.
Turning the other cheek is showing mercy by not getting revenge (not slapping them on the cheek as our revenge). But it is not the same as being a doormat for bullies. When Jesus is slapped in Jn. 18:22-23 he does not slap back, but he does turn his face to the one who slapped him and challenges him, asking the high priest's officer what he said wrong, and if it was not wrong, why did he slap. So turning the other cheek means continuing to speak boldly, even if it means continuing (to offer our cheeks) to be slapped; the appropriate response is to continue to speak against evil, thereby offering our cheek anew.
ReplyDeleteAfter the mention of mercy in Mt. 5:7, in Mt. 9:13 Jesus speaks of mercy after Pharisees criticize him for (showing mercy by) eating with tax collectors and sinners. And similarly, in Mt. 12:7 Jesus again quotes Hos. 6:6 (I desire mercy, not sacrifice) as an answer to Pharisees who criticized him for letting his hungry disciples pick grain on the sabbath. In these cases, Jesus does merciful, compassionate actions that result in bullying (by Pharisees), and lead to Jesus confronting them with the importance of mercy. Mercy here is not putting up with junk; it is an act of love that leads to junk, which is faced squarely and gently (not retaliating in kind, but loving even one's enemies).
Mercy in terms of showing compassion to those despised or avoided by others leads to the other main uses of this word in Matthew: Jesus healing people (Mt. 9:27; 15:22; 17:15; and 20:30). Finally, in 18:33 showing mercy has to do with forgiving debt (sin); and in 6:2 "give alms" (to the needy) translates a Greek word that includes mercy in a compound verb.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. I couldn't agree more. In fact I was just having this conversation with a friend who read this article and was making similar points. Mercy is definitely used in different ways and I'm glad you brought out his healings as acts of mercy as well. I simply wasn't focused on that aspect of it for this article. I agree that turning the other cheek doesn't mean being a doormat for someone. I would challenge, however, that mercy doesn't mean putting up with junk at times....although that is definitely not all that it means. God's mercy is shown most clearly in Jesus, but He showed mercy and described Himself as merciful long before Jesus' act of love lead to people mistreating and abusing Him. However, my struggle is in what to do with Matthew 5:38-48.
My point and challenge is this...in our culture, we are far more prone to err on the side of "fighting for our rights" than we are to turn the other cheek. I think the whole point of Jesus statement in this beatitude and in Matthew 5:38-48 is that God is a defender of the helpless (Psalm 68:5). At all points, we are acting merciful when we become God's hands and feet to defend someone. But more often than not, the fights that we are willing to fight are for our own comfort and well-being and not someone else's. At what point, do we trust that God will defend us?
As I said before, I'm looking at the beatitudes as facts of what is instead of admonitions of what we should do. The kingdom of heaven in many cases is exactly opposite of our conceptions of the world. Perhaps Jesus is setting the record straight in the kingdom of heaven. Those whom the rest of the world sees as being doormats because they love to a fault...yes even they will be shown mercy in the kingdom of heaven.
All in all, I think we are actually very much on the same page...I think I just didn't take the space to elaborate all the different sides of mercy. Thank you for filling in those blanks.