Oh, Mercy.

I was talking with my daughter the other day.  She was excited about the new church that she and her husband are attending in Southern California.  They are going thru the Beatitudes (or, Be Attitudes :-)).  This is the famous Sermon On The Mount that Jesus gave.  The term Beatitude comes from the Latin adjective beatus which means happy, fortunate, or blissful.  The sermon outlines the result for each of the attitudes that have to do with humility and compassion. 

 Matthew 5:1-12 – Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Brittany said that the focus for that week was on  “Blessed are the Merciful.”  Do we show mercy to others?  And what is mercy, exactly?  Compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm. Wow.  In other words, forgiving and being kind to someone who deserves just the opposite.  

Do I pick and choose whom to be merciful to?  Am I more merciful to the people whom I like or who think like I do?  What about people who rub me the wrong way?  People that are insincere or “incompetent” or flakey? What about people who are rude to me or are passive aggressive towards me (one of my hot buttons!)

A couple of weeks ago I had an encounter with a customer at work.  Well, actually, I didn’t have the encounter, but it happened right in front of me.  This woman, after talking with me for a couple of moments, turned to my boss and said, “What happened to the girl who used to do your staging?  She was so friendly….she was really talented!”

Awkward, to say the least.  She was standing only several feet away.  She meant for me to hear that.  I don’t know why.  To my knowledge, I hadn’t offended her.  I always chat with her when she comes in.  She has complemented me on the how great the store looks in the past.  It felt like a blow out of nowhere. Everything in me wanted to make some kind of retort back at her, like, “Hello?  Do you see me standing right next to you?”  Among other things.  I bit my tongue, my lip and anything else that would keep me from saying what I really wanted to say.  But did I really show mercy? No.  I rehashed it with my coworkers (and later found out this was her pattern) in my disbelief and anger over her words.

What should I have done instead?  I should have been merciful.  I should have recognized that when someone does something like that, they have some kind of hurt, some brokenness inside.  They have a raw sore inside that they are trying to dull by lashing out and hurting others.  We all know that misery loves company. I need to forgive her though she will never ask for my forgiveness.  And next time I see her, be tender towards a heart that must be hurting in some way.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t confront people when they are wrong.  But even confrontation can be done with forgiveness and mercy.  Is my Be Attitude love and compassion when I do it or is it vengeance and pay back?

Jesus said “Blessed (happy, content, fulfilled) are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.”  Lord knows I have more than my fair share of times when I need to be shown mercy.  By both God and others.  If I show that kind of compassion to others in their weaknesses, they will be more prone to offering me that same kindness when I fail.

It’s a tough world out there and mercy is hard to come by.  Voting day is a good time to start with so many opinions and passionate thoughts flying around out there today. Let’s be compassionate.  Let’s swallow our pride and be kind even when others are not.

Let’s be blessed…

Mercy me, Jesus.  Please…