Pastor Thanael Certa-Werner
Scripture | Matthew 5:1-12 (NIV)
5 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. He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 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.
When I was growing up, my family and I would travel to Chicago to visit my grandparents every year. Whenever Thanksgiving or Christmas would roll around, we’d spend the night before packing up, making sure that we had everything we needed – not only for our stay in Chicago, but for the 9-hour ride there. We brought Gameboy Advance SPs, Nintendo DS’s, movie players, books to read, all kinds of things! Of course, as we got older, we also had our phones to keep us busy. As we got older, the ride got shorter too – less breaks needed – and so we started to head off later and later in the day. But when I was really young, I can remember waking up at 3:30 in the morning with joy and excitement to head to Chicago.
My parents drove mostly in the early morning so that we kids would sleep much of the way, and then we would only be awake in the car for four hours or so. But with all that we brought to do to distract us from the long car ride, one thing sticks out in my mind. As we were driving, I would be staring at the widow of the van that I was sitting next to. It was always frosted over, covered and decorated with beautiful designs left by the frozen dew on the car. As we would travel, I would watch the lights of the world scatter and dance across these designs. It was truly beautiful. I would slowly fall back to sleep, while my parents drove and I watched the lights dancing on my window. What was so strange and wonderful to me was how this plain window, that was covered in frost and ice, completely changed how the world looked around me. It turned the mundane lights of the city into something beautiful and soothing.
It’s very similar to when I got glasses in kindergarten. I was so mad that my parents were forcing me to wear them because I thought that I didn’t need glasses. I could see just fine. But after a while, those glasses cleared the world up to me. It wasn’t until I wore them that I saw in a literal sense how much I needed them. It also reminds me of the many vistas that I have taken in over my life. I’ve climbed to the tops of mountains, or to the edges of canyons, and inevitably, there is always a pair of binoculars waiting for me there. The scene is always beautiful even before the binoculars, but as a kid, I always loved looking through them to see the finer details of what I was looking at.
Really, throughout our lives, lenses are important things. They can help us see things in a different way, find the details in the vastness of life, and explore the beauty hidden in simplicity. Like when we want to remember the past in a more beautiful way, we look through rose colored glasses. Jesus, in our next beatitude, knows that we view all of life through a lens and that we each choose what lens we view the world through. We can choose blind optimism, cynicism, rose colored glasses, the list goes on. But what Christ invites us to do is to look at the world through the lens of mercy. He says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” In other words, the next step for Christians into the Kingdom of God and the happiness and blessing which come with it is to be merciful.
This, obviously, begs the question, what is mercy? Mercy comes directly from the beatitude which precedes it: it comes from our hungering and thirsting for righteousness. The reality is that our beatitude for today, as well as the next two beatitudes, come as direct results of hungering for righteousness. In mercy’s case, as we hunger and thirst for God, we choose to let nothing satisfy us except from the reality of God dwelling in us, and us in God. Through this, we are filled with life and the more we are filled with this Godly life, the more our hearts ache for the hurting, the suffering, the lost, and those trapped in sin who surround us. The original Greek word that Jesus uses specifically implies compassion, being tender-hearted, to earnestly grieve for those who do not have the same hunger and thirst for righteousness. John Wesley states that it is in this way that, “the merciful, in the full sense of the term, are they who ‘love their neighbors as themselves.’”
So, mercy stems from our hunger and thirst for righteousness, and is rooted in love. It is this, Godly and full love for others which builds the lens of mercy which can completely change our world-view. This is the love that Christ has loved us with. It is a love which is patience with everyone. It suffers through the frustrations, the stupidity, the nonsense and does not waiver. It does not stop when confronted with all of the weakness, ignorance, errors, pettiness, and lack of faith in the children of God. It continues in light of all of the hatred and wickedness from the people of the world and it does not continue through these things for only a while. It does not only bear them for a short time. No. This kind of love sticks with it through the long haul.
Wesley says, “It suffers all this, not only for a time, for a short season, but to the end: still feeding our enemy when they hunger; if they are thirsty, still giving them something to drink; and in so doing, continually heaping coals of fire of melting love upon their heads.” What Wesley is pointing out is the effect this kind of love can have on others, especially our enemies. With this kind of love which forces wonderful kindness towards all people, especially the people we can’t stand and who can’t stand us, we effectively kill hatred with the love of God in us. This Godly Love, therefore, is also soft, mild, and meek. It doesn’t get carried away, but stays the course and is only affected by the matters of God.
Because love is all these things, it inherently cannot have any room for envy or jealousy. It is impossible to have a deep love for all of humanity and to earnestly want all of the world’s and God’s blessings to be outpoured on all people, to want the world to be filled with all truly good things, to wish all people to know the goodness of God AND to be envious of others and what they have received. This means that when we receive blessings, the lens of mercy helps us to want to share these blessings for the common good of humanity. When we do not receive a blessing, the lens of mercy helps us to give God thanks that He has blessed our brother or sister with it.
Finally, this lens of mercy which stems from righteousness and is rooted in love opens our eyes to seeing things the way God does. This means that we don’t jump to conclusions or make false claims based in gossip or hearsay. In fact, we don’t even hold what people say against themselves against them. Seeing others and the world through this lens of mercy helps us to proceed through life with caution, taking each step with thoughtfulness and love. In this way, the lens of mercy helps us to not see others too lowly or ourselves too highly.
Using the lens of mercy in our lives empowers us to love all people, regardless of who they are or what they have done, it allows for us to be happy in all circumstances including when others are blessed and we are not; it allows us to have a true view on others and ourselves, always making room for grace and maintaining humility in ourselves. Just as watching the night lights of the city through the frost of a car window can turn the everyday into a thing of beauty, this lens of mercy which we are called to can turn the ugliness and sadness of our world into compassion, and love.
It is in our hunger for righteousness that this mercy comes about, and it is through Godly love that it is sustained. In mercy, we see others’ struggle and have compassion on them; in mercy, we see others’ mistakes and love them enough to help them past it; in mercy, we see others’ downfalls and shortcomings and cover them with grace; and finally, in this kind of mercy, we receive blessing. Because mercy in us helps to create mercy in others. Our love, righteousness, grace, and mercy calls out those aspects in the people around us and so, when it is our turn to make mistakes, have short comings, or to struggle, we will be surrounded by the same Godly mercy we are seeking after. And that is truly a blessing. For that, thanks be to God. Amen.