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Blessed are the Merciful During the past two weeks while on holiday - I have enjoyed four things in particular - the sun and sea, some peace and quiet, the view looking across the channel to Waiheke, and 4thly, the opportunity to read some books. One of the books I have nearly finished , by the popular author Philip Yancey, is a collection of reflections on life and faith. In it, he writes these words under the heading of “The Way Up”. He says :- “My career as a journalist has afforded me opportunities to interview diverse people. Looking back, I can roughly divide them into two types: stars and servants. The stars include football greats, movie actors, music performers, famous authors, TV personalities and the like. These are the people who dominate our magazines and our television programmes. We fawn over them, poring over the minutiae of their lives; the clothes they wear, the food they eat, the aerobic routines they follow, the people they love, the toothpaste they use. Yet I must tell you,- he says,- that in my limited experience these, our “idols”, are as miserable a group of people as I have ever met. Most have troubled or broken marriages. Nearly all are hopelessly dependent on psychotherapy. In a heavy irony, these larger-than-life -- heroes seem tormented by incurable self-doubt. He says - “I have also spent time with servants. People like Dr. Paul Brand, who worked for twenty years among outcasts – the poorest of the poor, leprosy patients in rural India. Or health workers who left high-paying jobs to serve with Menndenhall Ministries in a backwater town of Mississippi. Or relief workers in Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, or other such repositories of human suffering. Or the Ph.D’s scattered throughout the jungles of South America translating the Bible into obscure languages. As I now reflect on the two groups side by side, stars and servants , the servants clearly emerge as the favoured ones, the graced ones. They work for low pay, long hours, and no applause, “wasting”- as the world sees it - their talents and skills among the poor and uneducated. But somehow in the process of losing their lives they have found them. They have received the “peace that is not of this world.” As Henri Nouwen said , - “Keep your eyes on the one who refuses to turn stones into bread, jump from great heights, or rule with great temporal power. Keep your eyes on the one who says “Blessed are the poor, the gentle, those who mourn and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; Keep your eyes on the one who is poor with the poor, weak with the weak and the ones who shows mercy. In other words – keep you eyes on the servant, not the star.” (Philip Yancy- I was just wondering.P.90f.) If there is one iconic figure today who more than any other epitomizes that characteristic we are thinking about today – mercy – then it is surely Mother Teresa. Her life was one of wholehearted devotion to tending the sick and the dying from the gutters of Calcutta. Yet there are thousands more like her, men and women, in often quite different circumstances but just as demanding, around the world, who similarly give themselves without reservation to caring for others. Some are on the streets and in the slums of far away countries – but there are many others who are closer to home, often unnoticed but just as dedicated, caring for the family members, or others in the community who are in need. Those who enter deeply into the circumstances of others , who do more than just sympathise – but who extend their love in practical action, could rightly be called “the merciful”, those who show mercy. These are the servants of life, not the stars. Mercy is especially associated with people in their misery. Mercy looks upon the miserable consequences of sin and seeks to relieve it. In other words mercy is compassion plus action. Jesus always demonstrated such mercy towards others. Whether it was the ten lepers, the woman taken in adultery, the man born blind, or the man at the pool of Siloam, Jesus always sought to relieve the misery of others. And since Jesus did that, we believe that is indicative of the nature of God … that God is eternally merciful towards us as well. He sees us in our misery and seeks to relieve it. – so he came to seek and to save the lost. The parable of the Good Samaritan is a classic illustration of what it means to be merciful. Others saw the man but did nothing to help him in his plight. The Samaritan, however, crossed the road, dressed the man’s wounds , took him to an inn and made provision for his comfort. Jesus, as we remember, concluded the parable with the words – “You go and do likewise!” So the Beatitude today brings us two important reminders: 1/ It reminds us that according to the bible, the very nature of God is one of mercy. The prophet Isaiah says those incredibly important words to a wayward nation, which applies to us individually as well- :- In Isaiah 55: 6-7 “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon Him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, ---that he may have mercy on him, and to our God that He will abundantly pardon.” God is a merciful God, - and because of that, He came to seek and to save us, the lost. Will we respond more wholeheartedly to that call today? 2/ Those who are called to be Christ-followers are called to live a life of mercy towards others. Wherever there is need, we are called, each in our own way, to do what we can to respond to it, and to alleviate it. It may be of the magnitude of Mother Teresa, or it may be something far more simple but just as appreciated. A card, a phone call or a visit to a grieving friend; a plate of scones to a lonely neighbour; a listening ear to a troubled work-mate; often just simple acts of kindness according to whatever the need, may be what Jesus calls us to do today. And as Shakespeare said – “Mercy is twice blest; it blesseth him that gives,… and him that takes.” “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Do we act as a star, or as a servant? |
