God's mercy
Sort of a disclaimer: In this lesson, when I talk about people sinning against us, I mean it more in the personal sense...as in when someone insults you or I personally. If a brother or sister urepentantly leads a life that is against God, it may be our duty to go so far as to not call them a brother or sister in Christ any longer and hopefully this shame might lead them to repentance as we read about in the Corinthian letters. But when I speak about people sinning against us in this context, I mean more personally directed things...insults and personal attacks and things like this.
Our Mercy Compared to God's
Imagine if everyone had as much mercy as God does.
You'd mess around at work not getting any work done for ten years and then you'd say to your boss, "I'm sorry. Please give me another chance." And he would say, "Ok, but don't be so lazy this time."
Someone would insult someone else and nobody would try to avenge them. They'd just forgive them. There'd be no gangs fighting eachother. There'd be no wars. But it's just the way man is naturally, to be angry and vengeful. Kinder behavior has to be learned. And God teaches us this in his word through examples and commands.
God is merciful. We all deserve punishment for our sins and yet he withholds it. And for those who turn to him and give their lives to him, he has mercy in the end. If we give our lives to him we are rewarded.
His son, Jesus was merciful. He forgave sins of those around him. But he also told them to stop sinning.
Luke 6
27 ¶ But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.
30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
[This is an amazing amount of mercy expected from us. No revenge. Somebody mugs you and takes all your money, you're not to try to get back at them. Somebody does something terrible to you, and you don't try to take revenge. So many times in life we get annoyed with people and have a desire to get back at them. For me, for example, it's telemarketers who wake me up when I'm sleeping in on Saturdays. I just get annoyed more than I should. Of course, there's being on the road too. Rather than just letting that guy cut in front of me and backing off, I want to tailgate him. That'll show him. Well, Jesus says we have to fight these impulses.]
31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
These things Jesus was saying were revolutionary. What should I do if someone humiliates me? I should sue them! I should attack them! I should put them down! I should make fun of them! I should get them back! I should spread rumors about them and talk about them behind their back. We're surrounded with this kind of thinking. No, Jesus had a different idea. Treat them nicely. Be kind to them. Provide for them when they're in need. Help them up when they're down. Look at the mercy God has shown you. He does not destroy you in your sin, but sent Jesus as a sacrifice in your place.
And, speaking of backbiting (to say mean or spiteful things about), an interesting verse I want to point out:
Proverbs 25
23 ¶ The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.
When we see people spreading things about other people behind their backs. Let's not join in. We should separate ourselves from this. Avoid the temptation to join in. When we join in, we only encourage it.
Again, this strange behavior of just letting things go and showing mercy is confirmed by Paul in
Romans 12
10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
I've read this passage so many times, and yet, what happens when someone wrongs me? I want to get them back. I'm angry. Sometimes, in the heat of the moment all I can think about are my rights and my feelings. Well this says I'm to honor others above myself.
More about considering others better than yourself
Phil 2
3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Let it go. Show mercy. Treat others as well as you want to be treated. You can see what happens when people don't do this in gangs; in places in the world where there are constant conflicts. They attacked my people. Now I'll pay them back. I'll get them twice as bad. And they do. And it just goes on and on indefinitely. Each side just getting angrier and angrier and things getting worse and worse until everyone is poor and wretched and downtrodden but they don't stop even then.
As we read in other verses how we are to react when someone repeatedly sins against us,
Mat 18
21 ¶ Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
We should have infinite mercy. Someone keeps sinning against me personally and then saying, "sorry, I messed up. Please forgive me." Should I eventually get angry and hardened against them as people tend to? Or should we just keep saying "yes, I forgive you" with patience and love as God would have me to. If people around us can see this merciful behavior in us, it reflects much better on God than when we become angry and lash out when people sin against us.
God's Mercy and His Example
So we are to show mercy and reflect God's mercy in our behavior. As with many things in life, we are trying to become more Godly, following his example.
Ephesians 2 [NIV]
Again, God showed us mercy when we least deserved it. That's our example. We have all been that person in the midst of sin. When God sees us in our sins, it must be so frustrating for Him. Perhaps he's thinking, "I created them with the choice to love me and serve me but they so often turn away!" He could have just reached out and wiped us out. But he delays his punishment and gives us time to repent.
Titus 3
1 ¶ Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
[Again, we have all been that person caught in the middle of sins and we should remember this when someone sins against us personally so that we would show mercy toward them as God showed to us. Jesus reminds us of this when he says in Matthew "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors"]
4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
Paul, himself is very grateful for God's forgiveness and we see this in his writing.
1 Tim 1
12 ¶ And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
What if God had not shown such mercy to Paul? He could have just reached out and destroyed Paul for his persecution of the church and his consenting to the deaths of some of the saints. But he showed mercy to Paul and we see this beautiful turn-around in Paul's life as he became a humble servant of God.
Example of the mercy of Jesus
John 8
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
[In the old testament we can read this law that said that those caught in adultery were to be stoned. This woman was probably sure that she was done for and there was no hope for her.]
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
So this mercy comes with the exhortation to sin no more and to live as we should in Christ. Now at this point, this woman could have said, "ok" and returned immediately to her adultery. But I think she probably learned her lesson and walked away from her adultery. Imagine how grateful she was to be let off. By Jewish law, she would have been stoned but now she had a second chance. Jesus showed his mercy to the Pharisees here and I think to us today as an example.
We have forgiveness through Jesus
1 John 1
5 ¶ This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
[Again, we can't just obtain God's mercy and then walk right back into our old lives of sin and expect his mercy to continually cover us. We can't walk in darkness.]
8 ¶ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
We need God's mercy. You and I and everyone else. If we think we can get along without his forgiveness, we walk into a deadly trap and many people in this world choose to do this even though they've been warned about the consequences. But if we walk in the light, he forgives our sins.
Let's reflect God's mercy in our own lives. Not taking revenge. It's not our job to repay others for their evil deeds against us. So, I hope I've given you some things to think about on the drive home when somebody cuts you off or when the telemarketer calls and wakes you up or in whatever situation you're in.