Mercy on DisplaySýnishorn

“I'll praise You now and evermore

You raised me up, Forever I am Yours”

MERCY - PAYING IT FORWARD

You’ve got to love the way Peter asks the questions that we all want to ask. He’s been travelling with Jesus for quite a while and he would’ve witnessed firsthand just how gracious and merciful Jesus was to anyone who joined them. Jesus preached a message of forgiveness, and he offered a fresh start - even to the people who we might write off as unlikely candidates. Jesus’ whole movement was driven by mercy and acceptance, and so naturally Peter is curious about just how far this idea should go - how much mercy we’re expected to give.

So he asks the question. “How merciful should I be?” He thinks extending forgiveness to someone seven times would be an exceptional effort. Jesus, as he often did, responds with a simple but powerful parable.

First we meet a servant who’s misused the funds he was responsible for, so now he owes the king an impossibly large amount of money. A gracious monarch might offer a loan extension, but in a moment of extreme mercy the king cancels the whole debt - literally billions of dollars. However, on his way home this same man runs into a fellow servant who owes him a few hundred dollars. In spite of his recent experience, he refuses to show mercy and demands full repayment.

What is it about his attitude that is so despicable? Well this servant doesn’t recognise the mercy he’s been shown, so he doesn’t feel any responsibility to extend that same mercy to another. Jesus is very blunt in his assessment. If we don’t show mercy we won’t receive mercy. If we don’t forgive we won’t be forgiven.

What Peter really wanted to know was how much mercy Jesus expects us to give. Is there a line we can reach to know we’ve done our duty? But Jesus exposes his, and our, flawed thinking. We don’t extend mercy to others to earn God’s approval. Rather, the more I understand God’s heart, and the more I recognise how merciful he is to me, the more merciful I become towards others.

We’ve been raised up and given a place in the royal household of God - by his mercy. Our blessing, our favour, our acceptance and our eternal hope are all free gifts of mercy. The clearer we see how much we’ve been given, the more liberated we are to be mercy givers. That’s our joy.

Being merciful when others are immature and selfish isn’t easy, and extending forgiveness and grace to people who don’t deserve it is often a complex journey. Jesus simply challenges Peter and us to focus on the immense mercy we’ve received from God, to live lives full of thankfulness and praise. God will grow his mercy in us, in his time, as we allow his presence and his word to renew our hearts and minds.

1. What are the things that remind me to thank and praise God for his mercy?
2. When is it hardest for me to be merciful? When have I needed mercy from God and others?