And now let's turn to our reading for tonight, which will be taken from Matthew chapter 19.
And our second reading will be from Acts 16.
So our first reading from Matthew chapter 18, from verse 21 to the end of the chapter.
Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
The servant fell on his knees before him.
Be patient with me, he begged, and I will pay back everything.
The servant's master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go.
But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.
He grabbed him and began to choke him.
Pay back what you owe me, he demanded.
His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, be patient with me and I will pay you back.
But he refused.
Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
When other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything they had happened.
Then the master called the servant in.
You wicked servant, he said.
I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.
Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?
In anger, his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed.
This is how my heavenly father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.
We'll move on to our second reading, which will be Acts chapter 16, verse 22 to 32.
So verse 22.
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten.
After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.
Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
Suddenly, there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.
At once, all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.
The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.
But Paul shouted,
That's the word of the Lord.
As we've been thinking about the counter-cultural values of God's kingdom, here we come to Beatitude number 5, Matthew chapter 5, verse 7.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
I want to begin with an interview from the Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave.
He was in a wide-ranging Q&A with some of his fans online, and he was asked the question,
What do you think of cancel culture?
We heard of cancel culture, where there is backlash and boycott and social media attack because someone has said something or acted in a way that's deemed to be offensive,
and so the call comes cancel that person.
Here's what Nick Cave said.
As far as I can see, cancel culture is mercy's antithesis.
So the exact opposite of mercy.
Political correctness has grown to become the unhappiest religion in the world.
It embodies all the worst aspects that religion has to offer and none of the beauty.
Moral certainty and self-righteousness shorn even of the capacity for redemption.
So here is Nick Cave, not a Christian, but he's looking at our society,
and he's recognising there's so much judgement and a lack of mercy,
and people can be really brutal when somebody has opposing views.
It doesn't take us long to recognise that we live in a polarised world,
and that call for people to be shut down, that tendency to talk over or to talk down,
to condemn another because their views don't fit.
It should be so different for Christians and for the church.
As we seek to allow the beauty of the light of Jesus to shape us and then to transform us,
that should have a distinct character in the world.
We should be a different kind of friend, and indeed, we should be a different kind of enemy.
When people regard the Christian church as the enemy for our views,
the way that we love and the way that we continue to extend mercy
should point to the hope and the beauty and the life that there is in Jesus.
So we're going to see, I think, that this is another beatitude that challenges our culture.
But it's one that Jesus would say, again, is essential to every Christian life.
It is of the essence of the Christian faith and the Christian life to be merciful.
And there's a cause and effect of mercy.
To receive Christ, to receive the mercy of God, to have our sins forgiven,
to be adopted into the family of God, to have the hope of glory.
That's mercy.
So that's the cause for us then to be merciful.
It should lead us to extend mercy to others.
We enjoy a Niagara Falls, as it were, of mercy from God.
Every day, his mercies are new to us each morning,
and that should then flow from us to others.
And so one of the things I hope we'll do this evening is to examine ourselves.
You know, there are these streams of mercy never ceasing that flow from God to us as Christians.
Do those streams of mercy then flow out from us?
Self-examination is important to help.
I have here my handy-dandy peak flow meter.
Some of you will recognise this.
So I have asthma every now and again, especially around this time of year.
It can be a bit of a struggle.
And so the peak flow is really helpful.
So when I get to the point where I realise that I have the same lung capacity as the average 60-year-old lady
who is five feet in height, I realise that I need to do something about it.
I need to up my medication.
And maybe I need to speak to my doctor.
At some point, the flow has been blocked.
And so I need change.
And I want to think about that in our own Christian experience.
Am I grateful for God's mercy
to the extent that it's transforming my relation to other people?
Am I willing to take up the trouble of others
because I see how God has met me and shown kindness to me in my distress?
So that's where we're going to go this evening.
Now, what's the mercy that we are called to show here?
Well, all around us, I am sure we can see there is misery, there is distress.
So we live in a broken, in a sin-filled world.
In this particular time, there are so many different layers of distress that people are experiencing.
And mercy, as it were, looks another person in the face
and looks to express God's kindness to somebody in distress.
And Bonhoeffer said that mercy means that we are willing to lose things that we would consider to be treasures.
So we're willing to lose comfort
or we're willing to lose dignity and honour
to pick up and shoulder the distress of another.
So our beatitude today is calling those who have enjoyed God's grace,
who have enjoyed mercy, to pass it forward to others.
And there's a counter-cultural aspect to this.
So John Calvin, a long time ago, he said,
the world says we're blessed if we're trouble-free.
We recognise that.
We love a sense of comfort and security.
But Jesus says you are blessed both if you put up with your own troubles and suffer well
and if you are willing to take on the suffering, the distress, the misery of others.
So it's quite a different value system.
Now, an important clarification when we think about this beatitude.
When Jesus says,
blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy,
does Jesus mean we will receive mercy only if we are merciful?
And to that, well, the answer is yes.
But we need to ask a second question.
Is my mercy then the basis for receiving God's mercy?
Is this salvation by mercy ministry?
Is this a form of salvation by good works?
And the answer to that is absolutely not.
So what's the logic then?
What's going on here?
Remember, Jesus is speaking to disciples,
to those who have already received mercy and grace from God.
And he is saying to know that mercy,
to have received the life-transforming good news that is in the gospel,
that out of sheer loving kindness and in response to his covenant promise,
God has sent Jesus to be our saviour,
to be the once for all sacrifice for sin,
to take us from death to life, from darkness to light.
And to have our hearts and lives transformed leads to the showing of mercy,
that that is the natural result and consequence of having a new heart.
It's an evidence of receiving the mercy of Christ in our lives.
And so it's important to recognise that.
Now, to help us to think about mercy,
I want us to think about two parables on mercy.
One which is sort of taught in the negative,
one which is taught in the positive.
Daniel read for us from Matthew chapter 18,
verses 21 to 35,
often known as the parable of the unmerciful servant.
The parable, as you'll remember,
is told because Peter is asking a question about forgiveness.
How often should I extend forgiveness to someone?
That's a form of mercy in itself.
And Jesus tells a story about a king,
about a king who wants to check on his account
and who wants debts to be settled.
And so he calls in a man who owes a huge debt,
equivalent of millions of pounds today.
And he demands that the man pay all the debt
or be thrown in prison.
And the man, before the king, falls on his knees and he pleads.
He pleads for mercy.
And the king's response is to show mercy and to cancel that debt.
So while the parable is about the unmerciful servant,
we also see a very merciful king.
But the response of the man is significant
because he then goes out having received this gift.
He sees a fellow servant who owes him a few hundred pounds
and he grabs him and he demands from him.
And because the man is unable to pay,
he throws his family into prison.
And of course, the other servants are outraged.
They report it back to the king.
The man is brought again before the king
and he is sent to prison and he faces judgment.
Why?
Well, here in the words of the king,
shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant
just as I had on you?
So there was a gift of mercy,
but that left the servant's heart cold and unchanged.
He did not share the king's merciful heart,
which is a way of showing that he has no part in the kingdom.
And the point that Jesus is making,
and he says it in verse 35,
this is how my heavenly father will treat each of you
unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.
If we find ourselves harsh and judgmental
and critical of others,
quick to talk over them,
quick to talk them down,
quick to point the finger,
then it is a sign that we also
are taking the mercy of God, our king, for granted.
We have a false view of ourselves
where we have lost sight of the fact that
in God's eyes,
we have a massive debt of sin to a holy God,
a debt that we could never repay.
And the only way that we are in God's kingdom
and we've been forgiven
is entirely because of the mercy of forgiveness.
And if we lose sight of that,
then like the servant,
we can very easily become unmerciful.
So Jesus tells that parable as a warning
against having a small and a closed
and an unmerciful heart.
But then to tell the positive parable on mercy,
perhaps one of the most famous parables
that Jesus taught in Luke chapter 10
and verses 25 to 37,
we find the parable of the Good Samaritan.
And that parable is told to challenge a man
who is full of self-righteous pride.
He thinks he has kept all the commandments.
He thinks he has it in and of himself
to attain eternal life.
And Jesus says to him,
if you want to truly live,
you need to love your Lord your God
with all your heart, soul, mind and strength
and love your neighbour as yourself.
And what becomes clear is the man
has a very narrow view of who is my neighbour.
He wants a self-contained,
nice and clear,
not a messy view of who is my neighbour
and what neighbour love will look like.
And Jesus tells a story
that shatters his illusions
and shows us how wide mercy is to go.
Because in the Good Samaritan story,
what we have is an enemy
who is better at showing love
than so-called friends are.
So you have the Samaritan who shows mercy
compared to the Levite
and the Pharisee, the priest,
who don't show mercy.
We really see three lessons about mercy
from that very famous story.
The first thing is that mercy is costly.
There is risk involved.
The priest and the Levite don't want to take a risk.
They don't want to cross the street.
They don't want to get involved
in case there's a risk to their life
or a risk to their cleanness.
But the Samaritan, he takes a risk.
He makes himself vulnerable
in order to meet this man
at the point of his desperate need.
Mercy is costly.
Mercy is also generous.
As Jesus tells the story,
we see various resources are used
to meet this injured man's need.
He is bound up.
There is oil used for his wounds.
He is placed on the man's own donkey.
He is taken to an inn
where payment is made
so that the man can continue to be cared for.
And to follow on from that,
mercy is also sacrificial.
We see in the Samaritan
an ongoing willingness to bear the cost.
He is going to inconvenience himself.
He's going to return another time
to check on the patient.
He's going to pay any further medical costs
that are required.
Here's a holistic response to distress
that goes the extra mile
because he has seen someone in distress.
That's what mercy looks like.
Jesus, having told the parable,
then turns to the self-righteous man
and he says,
which of these three do you think
was a neighbour to the man
who fell into the hands of robbers?
The expert in the law replied,
the one who had mercy on him.
And Jesus said,
go and do likewise.
As we think about showing mercy,
maybe we can consider together
three important factors.
One, we need to think about
the lens that we wear
because there is the danger,
as we see in both these parables,
of being short-sighted,
of failing to see clearly
that salvation depends on God's mercy to us.
And that should change how we view others,
that we would learn to see others
as fellow image bearers of God,
that we would aim to see the best in others
and not be so quick to condemn
a person for the madness of a single moment.
And it should also make us ask a wisdom question
as we have those lenses on
where we're looking to see
how we can show mercy.
How can I best help answer distress?
So it's about the lens that we wear.
It's also about the honour that we give.
In Hebrews,
there is a wonderful statement
where it says that Jesus,
our great high priest,
he is not ashamed
to call us brothers and sisters.
Jesus is not ashamed of us.
And his shameful death
becomes the vehicle for us
receiving honour from God.
The gospel secures our honour
in view of the one
whose opinion of us matters the most.
And knowing that,
we can then be willing to face loss,
the loss of dignity and honour
to care for others,
to honour somebody else
who stands in need of mercy.
And the other important factor
for us as Christians
in showing mercy
is to think about the Saviour
that we follow.
Because think about the pattern
of Jesus' ministry.
Think about the list of people
that he loved and helped
and reached out to and cared for.
There was the touch
to the lepers.
There was the welcome
to the Samaritans.
There was eating and drinking
with the despised
as a way of extending
grace and mercy
from God
to them.
It's the pattern
of his life.
He is the
good Samaritan
coming to meet us
in the point
of our distress
and needs
to pay the ultimate price
to restore us,
to restore us
to fellowship with God.
It's the nature
of his work
on the cross
that seeing
the misery
that sin
had brought us into,
the breakdown
of relationships,
including our breakdown
in our relationship
with God
and knowing that
we are unable
to fix or rescue
ourselves.
Jesus came
to do what we couldn't do,
to be the answer
to our distress
by becoming
the sin bearer
of the world,
by being our representative,
by being
the one
perfect sacrifice
to deal with sin,
to show us mercy.
And as we think
about the work
of Jesus
on the cross
and his mercy,
that's where mercy flows.
Three barriers
to mercy.
Even reading
the parables,
we can probably
recognise it
as we look
into our own hearts.
If you're anything
like me,
I'm sure you can
recognise it.
As we begin
to examine
ourselves,
that can be
painful,
can be
humbling,
revealing,
can be
revealing,
but it's the way
towards healing.
Just like my
peak flow
meter
reveals
where
I'm struggling,
where there's been
a blockage,
and I need help.
So we need to reflect
on our own lives
so that we might
see
how
we can
reconnect
and appreciate
the mercy
of God
in our own lives
to pass it forward.
Because the most
common cause
when mercy is blocked,
when it's not flowing
from us,
it's me and you,
it's ourselves.
When we are
self-centred,
when we feel
that we are just
unable to
enter into
the distress
of someone else,
where we're always
standing at a distance,
or where we,
for the sake of
our own comfort,
we insulate ourselves
to the hurt
and misery of others,
we can be
very self-centred.
Or when we're
full of self-pity,
it doesn't matter
what someone else
is facing,
we always feel
like my trouble
always eclipses
that of others.
Or we simply think,
I have my own stuff
to deal with,
I don't have the capacity
to care for anybody else.
Or there's self-preservation,
maybe especially
with our resources,
but I feel so time poor,
how can I
give my time
to a hurting friend?
Or there's
the emotional drain,
I feel so
low emotionally,
how can I
then try and
extend sympathy
and care to someone else?
Or maybe we feel
tight financially,
how can I give
generously
in that
circumstance?
When we recognise
and examine
ourselves
and we see
that there are
blockages,
how do we
remove
those barriers?
How can we
allow those
streams of mercy
to flow
from us?
again,
the answer
is to preach
the gospel
to ourselves
so that we would
live in the
overflow
of the Niagara
of God's
mercy
to us.
Knowing that
we are
blood-bought
children of God
because of
his mercy,
it should cause
mercy to well up
in us.
to see how
God has
answered our
distress,
should give us
new eyes
and new hearts,
soft hearts
to meet the
distress of
others.
And also,
we should focus
on future
glory
and of the
mercy still
to come
to cling
on to that
so we'd be
willing to
lose
temporary
treasure
for what is
eternal.
all.
Now,
as we
finish,
I want to
turn back
to Acts
16,
which again
Daniel read
for us,
where we
found Paul
and Silas
in Philippi
in prison.
They have
been arrested
for rescuing
a slave
girl from
demon
possession.
They have
been attacked,
they have
been flogged,
they have
been imprisoned,
they have
been chained,
they are
regarded as
enemies of
the state
for their
radical teaching,
turning the
city upside
down.
But what do
we find
Paul and
Silas doing?
We find
them engaged
in a
midnight
hymn sing.
That's
wonderful.
We find
them praying
to God,
praying to
God and
singing in
such a way
that everybody
could hear,
prisoners and
the jailer
alike.
And then
that great
act of God,
the earthquake
comes,
doors fling
open,
chains fall
off,
there is
release,
and as
the jailer
comes to
his senses
and realises
what's going
on,
there is
terror,
isn't there?
If he
loses these
prisoners,
he might as
well give
up until
he's about
to kill
himself.
But what
do Paul and
Silas do?
Paul and
Silas show
him mercy
in his
distress.
Remember,
they were
regarded as
the enemy,
but they're
a different
kind of
enemy because
they're an
enemy that
loves Jesus
and so
they're
determined to
love and
show kindness,
to show
love and
not hate.
And what
happens is
that their
connection to
the God
of mercy
has kept
their hearts
soft,
has enabled
them to
present the
mercy of
Christ so
that they
spare this
man.
and when
he asks
them,
sirs,
what must
I do
to be
saved?
They say,
believe in
the Lord
Jesus and
you'll be
saved,
you and
your
household.
Their
mercy
received from
God is
a constant
supply that
they're so
conscious of
that allows
them to
share that
mercy with
others.
It's
mercy in
action.
What does
the mercy
that is,
in the
words of
Jesus,
what's the
mercy that
is blessed
look like?
How do we
see mercy
in action?
So I was
thinking about
sort of the
last few
weeks,
things that
I've heard
in church
or just
conversations
with people
because mercy
takes on
many forms.
When we
heard from
our friends
in Columbia
and they
were talking
about the
importance of
giving at
a place,
at a safe
place for
people to
share how
their
feeling,
to ask
someone,
how are
you really
to struggling
pastors and
to struggling
Christians,
that's a
mercy because
they're realising
so many
people are
in distress.
We talked
to our
friends in
India,
mercy looks
like feeding
the poor
in pandemic,
that when
the church
could have
their own
worries to
care about,
and they
certainly did,
they were
still going
to the
towns and
to the
villages to
try and
care for
others.
mercy looks
like gathering
online to
pray for a
sick friend.
Mercy is
being prompted
by the
spirit to
give a
homeless person
money to
stay in a
hostel and to
get a hot
shower and a
hot meal.
Mercy looks
like walking
with a family
that's going
through hard
times.
mercy looks
like leaving
everything behind
to go and
serve refugees
in another
country.
Mercy looks
like taking
the time to
call a
lonely friend.
Mercy takes
many forms,
but it's
whenever we
look someone
else in the
face and
we help
them in
distress.
let me ask
you today,
do you feel
tired?
Do you feel
weighted down
by your own
troubles?
Do you feel
powerless
when you see
so much need
around and
you find it
hard to
show mercy?
how can
we in that
situation
unblock
the flow?
It's where
we need to
look and
keep looking
to Jesus
and his
work on the
cross.
Look back,
look back to
God's response
to the misery
of sin,
that he sent
Jesus to
love you
and rescue
you and
now Jesus
lives in
you and
he's with
you always.
Look back
until your
heart bursts
with a sense
of gratitude
and from
that gratitude
look to
help and
extend kindness
to others in
the strength
that he
supplies.
But don't
just look
back,
look forward
also.
Remember that
this beatitude
promises
blessing.
Blessed are
the merciful
for they
will be
shown
mercy.
In this
life,
that ongoing
stream of
forgiveness
and
compassion
and the
presence
and help
of God
of the
Lord Jesus
but also
mercy and
glory,
treasure and
heaven that
can't be
taken from
us,
honour and
joy and
love and
life and
having that
treasure and
delighting in
that, we
can then lose
treasure to
show mercy to
those in
need.
Didn't
honor and
you
said it
so
it's
so
it's
great.
You
devotion