Sermon for November 14, 2021 25th after Pentecost “Blessed are the Merciful”

Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them. —Matthew 5:7
Again I am in debt to Richard Rohr for his wisdom and insight and to the writing of Mark Scandrette as I explore the Beatitudes. In this Beatitude Jesus again returns to the idea of flow. Notice that there’s an exchange going on here: we give mercy and we receive mercy. And this is not coincidental, for the root of the word “mercy” comes from the old Etruscan merc, which also gives us “commerce” and “merchant.” It’s all about exchange. It also has origins in the French word ‘merci’ which means thanks or gratitude. In essence mercy is an exchange woven with gratitude.
Usually we think of the mercy of God as a kind of divine clemency, and we pray, “Lord have mercy upon us” as a confession of our weakness and dependency. (Because these qualities are distasteful to a lot of modern people, the “Lord have mercy” prayer has gone a bit out of style.) But in the original sense of the word, mercy is not something God has so much as it’s something that God is.
Exchange is the very nature of divine life—of consciousness itself, according to modern neurological science—and all things share in the divine life through participation in this dance of giving and receiving. The brilliant young South African teacher Michael Brown writes in The Presence Process:
“Giving-is-receiving is the energetic frequency upon which our universe is aligned. All other approaches to energy exchange immediately cause dissonance and disharmony in our life experience.” Surely Jesus knew this as well, and his teaching in this Beatitude invites us into a deeper trust of that flow.
I believe that mercy and forgiveness are the whole Gospel. The experience of forgiveness or mercy is the experience of a magnanimous God who loves out of total gratuitousness. There’s no tit for tat. Grace isn’t for sale. That is the symbolism of Jesus kicking over the tables in the temple. One cannot buy God by worthiness, by achievement, by obeying commandments. Salvation is God’s loving-kindness, a loving-kindness that is “forever.”
More than something God does now and then, mercy is who-God-is. According to Jesus, “Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13; 12:7). The word used throughout the Hebrew Scriptures is chesed, “the steadfast, enduring love which is unbreakable.” Sometimes it is translated as “loving-kindness” or “covenant love.” God has made a covenant with creation and will never break the divine side of the covenant. The covenant is only broken from our side. God’s love is steadfast. It is written in the divine image within us. We are the ones who instead clutch at our sins and beat ourselves instead of surrendering to the divine mercy. Refusing to be forgiven is a form of pride. It’s saying, “I’m better than mercy. I’m only going to accept it when I’m worthy and can preserve my so-called self-esteem.” Only the humble person, the little one, can live in and after mercy.
The mystery of forgiveness is God’s ultimate entry into powerlessness. Withholding forgiveness is a form of power over another person, a way to manipulate, shame, control, and diminish another. God in Jesus refuses all such power.
If Jesus is the revelation of what’s going on inside the eternal God, which is the core of the Christian faith, then we are forced to conclude that God is very humble.
But how do I live into being merciful. A quick internet search gave these eight attributes and I share them with you knowing that I fall short in leading a merciful life but still engage in my potential to be merciful.

1. Be patient with people’s quirks. …
2. Help anyone around you who is hurting. …
3. Give people a second chance. …
4. Do good to those who hurt you. …
5. Be kind to those who offend you. …
6. Build bridges of love to the unpopular. …
7. Value relationships over rules. …
8. The first step in the mercy process is to be just

We do not attain anything by our own holiness but by ten thousand surrenders to mercy. A lifetime of received forgiveness allows us to become mercy: That’s the Beatitude. We become what we receive, what we allow into our hearts. Mercy becomes our energy and purpose. Perhaps we are finally enlightened and free when we can both receive it and give it away—without payment or punishment.
Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them.